The wind howls all night and the boat swings around so much that the anchor alarm keeps going off. It wakes me up and in turn I wake Mike up and he goes to investigate. He comes back saying that Chessie is having to re-anchor – as it turns out to only be 4.30 am, this is not a pleasant chore. The Danish boat alongside us is swinging very close at times but never comes within striking distance. At least the boat gets a good clean as the wind brings with it rather a lot of rain.
Most people are late risers today, having been kept awake by the weather in the night. The poor crew of Chessie continue to re-anchor time and time again. We find out later that it is not until around 11 am that their anchor finally sets firmly enough for them to feel safe.
A party of us decided last night that we would go looking for the waterfall that we have been told about, but set off considerably later than we anticipated. Thankfully the sun is partially covered by cloud otherwise the hike would be unbearable. Paul has a map with directions to this waterfall – it consists of a road, with a road going off to the left. Nothing else. The crew from Eowyn did this hike a few days ago and it took them two hours as they got lost. With maps of this quality, I’m not surprised.
You can see from the boat how lush the island is – the high peaks create more rainfall than most – and this is evident by what grows. Everywhere are coconuts, breadfruit, lemons, grapefruit, oranges, noni and mangos, and there are flowers round every corner. I make a mental note of where some of this fruit has fallen onto the road as I intend to gather some of it on the way back. Tethered in people’s gardens are pigs (looking pretty fierce and more like wild boar than pigs), goats, chickens and dogs.
The hike (and I call it a hike not a walk for reasons which will become obvious) begins innocuously enough. Concrete paved road starts us off. We go past the one and only shop, and most people go in to have a look at what they have, returning a few minutes later looking a little disappointed. Mike goes in to see if they sell beer (he only has one left in the fridge) – they don’t. Shucks.
Photo: No matter how small the village, there’s always a church!
The flat road soon turns into a very steep road, which in turn becomes a track, only recognisable as such because of the wheel ruts.
Photos: OK, this is definitely jungle now!
We continue to climb. I had thought that we would be going to the bottom of the waterfall, not the bloody top!! Anyway we plod on, and it is getting very, very humid as the vegetation starts to close in all around and we are no longer following tyre tracks but a single track through lush jungle. If a tiger had appeared I would not have been surprised – terrified, yes – but not surprised.
Suddenly two little piles of tiki stones mark the beginning of the climb up the river bed just at the point where I think we should be there because I can hear water, but it’s the sound of the river flowing, not the waterfall.
We continue to climb. Having had no real exercise, certainly nothing aerobic for weeks, and given the heat, it is exhausting work and I can start to feel my legs beginning to wobble. I am last in the line of little human ducks, and start to fall behind. Mike occasionally looks behind him to make sure I haven’t fallen over the edge, but I would probably make a lot of noise if I did this so he doesn’t check very often. There is no track as such now, just a gap in the undergrowth between the rocks which is occasionally marked with a pile of tiki stones and flower petals. The way is slippery at times, as the rocks are mossy, and the fallen leaves all around are slick with spray from the river and the rain which fell last night. and I begin to worry a bit as I know that coming down is often harder than going up (especially in my slippery deck shoes). At times it is no wider than a foot, with a steep slope going straight down to the rocky river bed below. I am too scared to get my camera out again in case I drop it.
Suddenly, we round a corner and we can hear it, and another corner brings it into sight. I wish I could say it is spectacular, but it isn’t. Maybe in the rainy season it is, but today, after that hike, it’s a bit of a disappointment.
The pool at the bottom of the waterfall is distinctly uninviting, being a rather murky colour, so no one feels like going in. Instead, we drink our water supplies, pose for photos to prove that we were there, and after about half an hour we start back down. Going down is not as bad as I feared, although about half way down the river bed, my left knee starts to play up, which, by the time I hit the steep road back down, is nothing short of painful.
Back at the village we buy a hand of bananas from someone’s house and I am invited to look at his wood and stone carvings. They are good but not to my taste so after giving everything a good perusal, I leave. I am almost tempted by the single pearl necklaces but am holding out for that really special one!
On the way back to Jeannius, we call by Chessie to give them the lowdown on the waterfall, and end up staying for drinks. This is the first time that I have really had a chance to talk to Jutta and Jochim, a lovely couple from Munich, and we end up staying for most of the afternoon. Jutta is multi-talented, being a doctor, psychotherapist and successful artist all at the same time. She gives Mike and I a tour of their boat, an Irwin 54, which I have to say is lovely, even though it is one hull short of a full boat!!
Having been forced to drink copious amounts of Sauvignon Blanc by Jutta, we leave for our afternoon nap, but not before she gives Mike a 6-pack of beer, as she takes pity on him only having one left in the fridge. When we wake up, we find a bag of fruit on the back step of the boat, as Jutta has bought too much and it is rapidly ripening. I have to call her on the VHF to find out what some of it is, and discover that I now have a papaya, some guavas and some small green mangos which will ripen in a few days. Lovely.
Again Mike and I dine on leftovers (a legacy of still cooking for Jim) and watch TV in our cool room. I’m actually going to have to cook something tomorrow. We end up going to bed late – at least 10.30 pm!
Our position is: 10 deg 27 min S, 138 deg 40 min W
Distance so far: 5649 nautical miles
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