After getting severely rained out last night and being awake much of the night listening to the wind howl through the rigging, we were not sure what today would bring. Don says he's had enough of trying to witness the spectacle of Heiva. Not me. I haven't yet seen what I'm looking for. So - today we left Buena Vista securely anchored (we hope) in 20+ knots and dinghied ashore to the final Heiva festival for the Leeward Islands. The best of the local islands would be competing. And this time they weren't dancing in front of alot of tourists. This time they were dancing in front of their peers...the other dance groups from the other local islands, local dignitaries and local residents. The voice on the loud speaker is not speaking French, nor English. Polynesian is the language here. It's a relief to my ears, even though I don't understand a word they're saying. I do know that the one time in the opening ceremony where they translated a few sentences of welcome into English the words were along the lines of "tend to your mother earth, love the sea and creatures there, and take your canoe on your own special voyage and be one with the creator." The show was held in a huge sand area. There were maybe 600 Polynesians in attendance along with maybe 50 white folks, mostly off of the 20 boats anchored in the bay. Don and I were at the 'Stompin Festival' in Broome, north west Australia in 1992 where there were 600 aboriginals and maybe 50 whites. I remember the same feeling...that we were very lucky to be here witnessing this event and that not many people ever get the chance to see anything like this. Three groups were to perform this evening. They were all terrific. Each group had between 60 and 70 dancers and their drummers and singers/chanters. Once those drums start up the sound goes right through me. It's totally primal. You can't help feel (a little bit anyway) what it must have been like hundreds and even a thousand years ago when the tribes carried out their rituals and then finished off a long hard day with dance and song. We got to see plenty of hip shaking and the sheer joyfulness from each of the dancers shone through. And thankfully the rain stayed away for the evening. Unfortunately, the lighting was not so great for pictures but I've tried to add a couple so you could see the scope of the event, a truly great event.