Day 45 - Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia

 I got up at 5:50, dressed and went to breakfast at 6:30. After breakfast, I picked up the paper and crossword and returned to the cabin. I read the paper and worked on the crossword until time to go get my tour sticker at 7:30. There was only one tour and when we got to the cars, a guy from North Carolina and me were placed in the lead Toyota Hi-Lux with air conditioning. Other were in the back of theirs or inside with no air. Our driver was also the guide and her English was excellent and so we arrived at each stop first and waited for the other vehicles to unload and then she gave very good information about each stop. I took lots of photos. I got back to the ship at 12:15 where I found an invitation to a Cruise Specialists cocktail party for November 14. I changed clothes and went to lunch at 1:15. After lunch, I returned to the cabin and uploaded my photos and updated the blog entry. I cleaned up for dinner and added comments to the photos. I went to dinner at 5. After dinner, I returned to the cabin to read and watch TV. We set the clocks forward 30 minutes again tonight and  I went to bed at 9:30.

 

Entrance to the Catholic Church grounds

Statue of a bishop that taught the mass in Marquesas language

Entrance to the Notre Dame Cathedral 

Our guide explaining the statues

Inside the cathedral

A scenic stop

Taipivai Valley where Melville deserted his ship and captured by indigenous natives and  lived there  for 3 weeks during which he observed their way of life enabling him to write the novel called Typee.

A stop at the sacred Te A'utya temple where we had refreshments

Another scenic stop along a river inlet

Tohua Temehea Ancient ceremonial site