UA POU: A stop in Ua Pou was not originally in our float plan. But word spread through the anchorage at Tahuata ("Steven's bay") that Hakahau (oh, these names!), the main settlement on Ua Pou, was hosting a series of events for the "cruisers". Not ones to miss a party, we readjusted our very loose itinerary and arrived here prior to our cruise buddies to drop anchor behind the breakwater in this tight port.

It is fortunate that we did not miss this island as Ua Pou is spectacularly picturesque, with dramatic vertical mountains and a skyline of pronounced towers and spires, including the tallest in the Marquesas: Mt Ovae, a volcanic plug reaching a height of 4040 feet. Given this island's relatively drier climate, we were even granted an exceptional cloud-free, unobstructed view of this imposing backdrop from the comforts of our cockpit. The image was impossibly beautiful, with a surreal grandeur, as if a digital fabrication of MGM proportions; one to etch in my memory banks for years to come.

Arriving pre-festivities as we did, we set out on our usual activities of hitting the ATM (which ate Eric's card..but that's another story) and the endless chore of provisioning. Limited to what we can carry, we make several trips for canned goods and other staples. We are delighted to find fresh eggs - many with feathers still attached - free-range, you bet! We buy 5 dozen, which will still only last us 7-8 days. We also grab our daily dose of baguettes (the crustiest yet, thanks to this drier air). And, now that we are inching farther and farther West, we finally see and treat ourselves to frozen New Zealand lamb chops in addition to wiping out the store's sparse supply of whole chickens (3). But we are in hottest pursuit of spirits, as we - unbelievably - have run dry at the worst possible, most expensive region for such purchases. After price shopping from magasin to magasin, we commit to as many bottles of the passable local rum as we can tote (at nearly $30 a quart), but skip the Absolute Vodka at the equivalent of $80 US dollars. Ouch. How we miss Panamanian prices!

With food and booze safely stowed and time to explore before the night's festivities, we locate Eglise Saint-Etienne in the village. The use of local wood in the construction of this church is extraordinary, featuring massive etched doors and a pulpit elaborately carved in the shape of a boat's prow. Open-air transoms above the side walls bring in cooling afternoon breezes and create exceptional framed views of the serrated peaks in the distance. In the nave, a veneration to the Virgin Mother was adorned with colorful, fragrant local flora.

We mill around the Artisanal Market and I am drawn in particular to the Tapa Cloth. I have read that it is only here in the Marquesas (and perhaps in Tonga farther along in our travels) that this ancient craft is still practiced. The cloths are produced from the inner bark of the indigenous trees, the color determined by the source: dark brown banyan, medium brown breadfruit and off-white mulberry. Each is then intricately designed with the traditional ancestral symbols (also prevalent in their tattoo art) to impart power and status and blessings. I choose two breadfruit cloths - totally in favor of a double dose of blessings.

That night, as soon as we hear the band start playing we mix up our BYO "walkers" with our new, not-so-cheap rum and dinghy in. We learn that the festivities are actually intended for the hundreds of passengers in port on the visiting ARANUI 3 - a cargo vessel that does double-duty as a passenger ship and brings goods from Papeete every three weeks. But no worries; a more-the-merrier atmosphere means we DIY cruisers were also very welcome. On this clear balmy night, we - villagers and cruisers alike - enjoy the live music, the Polynesian dancers, the kids under foot, and even the behind-schedule, smoke-choking BBQ, as kindred spirits grateful for an excuse to congregate and celebrate.

NUKU HIVA, our final stop in our Marquesan adventure, is a large, lush green (we arrive in rain) island that serves as the administrative hub of Marquesas. We pull into the main port to fuel up and buy some coveted produce, but spend just one night in this rockin' and rollin' anchorage. Instead we sail up to the next bay, push through the breaking waves in the cut and tuck into a quiet cove with only 4 other boats. Here in Daniel's Bay (we can see Daniel's now abandoned hut on the beach), we are surrounded by a panoramic view of formidable deeply- creviced, moss-covered steep slopes rising from the emerald green sea. We set out early the next morning across the black sand beach to follow the trail leading interiorly. Our goal is to find the 2000 ft waterfall in the adjacent valley (the 3rd longest in the world). Just a handful of decrepit huts flank the path which is easily demarcated by rows of fruit trees, bushes and flowers. An older gentleman in soil-stained clothes stops his work in his yard to greet us and, having insider information from other cruisers, we ask if he is Monette's husband. Oui, oui .... and do we want to pre-order our lunch in their home for our return trip? You bet. (One of those many, many times we are grateful for Eric's fluency in French).

Continuing on, the trail narrows and the brush thickens to thigh high in many places. I am glad Eric found me a walking stick to bat away spider webs and to help with the river crossing through knee-high water. We spot several ancient, eroded tikis along the way and also, with a fortuitous side glance, locate a lovely double-tiered marae in the serene, shaded woods. These ceremonial platforms, once used only by priests and chieftains for worship, burials and sometimes human sacrifice, are now often repurposed as with this one, which serves as an open air church with a handful of plain wooden pews and an elaborate floral arrangement adorning the simple altar; A place for peaceful worship in God's amazing setting.

Trudging on we finally reach a break in the brush after about an hour and obtain a clear, unobstructed vista of the impressive waterfall. We assess that hiking farther will only bring us deeper into the thick with no better vantage so we take perfunctory but inadequate photos, relish the moment and start the trek back already salivating with hike-enhanced appetite over what lunch will bring.

Laid out on Monette's family table we three enjoy poisson cru (a ceviche preparation plus coconut milk), slow-cooked chicken, deep-fried bananas, rice, salad of watercress and shaved green papaya with Dijon vinaigrette, and homemade ice-cold lemonade - all for 1000 cfp or about $12 each. Eric's linguistic skills once again allow at least some modest level of connection and conversation as we woof down generous helpings of these delicious local dishes while numerous kittens run underfoot, entrepreneurial Monette finishes up in the kitchen and her husband (like those the world over) sits looking on.

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Nuku Hiva is the island where Herman Melville jumped a whaling ship in 1842 and is also the setting of his book, Typee, which I wish I had read for its depiction of this rugged terrain and way of life prior to any western influence. However, in my book (so to speak), given that life here remains quite simple if not "primitive" relative ours, perhaps it is not so hard to squint and imagine how these Marquesans - these descendants of proud warrior Polynesian tribes - lived in earlier times.

As we leave the Marquesas behind I remember that it was the allure of crossing oceans to sail, most specifically, to these legendary islands that so drew my husband. The Marquesas: raw, remote, simple islands of unparalleled natural splendor. Some might even call them a modern day Eden......especially now that they have dropped the human sacrifice part.