Just like kids!

Yesterday we snorkelled again at Hanamoenoa Bay of the Marquesan island called Tahuata and then went ashore to collect some fruit from the many trees that we had seen yesterday. We collected only a couple of papayas as they were still a bit small and not quite ready yet. But the pamplemousse trees were full of these very large and very sweet grapefruit-type fruits.

We ate 3 on the sandy beach with juice dripping down our faces and bodies, feeling like little kids again! With 10 more in bags along with the papayas and a few limes, we swam out from the shore to where our dinghy was anchored and headed back to Sea Turtle.

We finally pulled ourselves away from this splendid bay today at 11:00 but only went to the very next bay, Ivaiva, a few minutes away. Ivaiva (S09°54.750' W139°06.450') had better visibility for snorkelling and we saw an array of very bright coloured tropical fish in the warm water.

Jordan deep snorkelled on the other point searching for supposed lobster, but no luck. He did spot one 6-foot black tip shark though (they do not pose a threat).

We pulled anchor 3.5 hours later at 14:30 for the next bay about half an hour away. We dropped the hook at Vaitaha Bay, also known as Resolution Bay (S09°56.200' W139°06.620'). Captain Cook landed at this same bay with his ship Resolution back in 1774.

Vaitaha Bay

We dinghied ashore, bought a couple of things from the store, and asked where we could get bananas and mangoes. The store clerk said to just ask around outside so we did. A man took us to his house where he handed us several bananas on a stalk and then we followed him outside to a tall mango tree which he climbed in bare feet and tossed several down to Jordan's waiting hands. He charged us a meagre $5 for all this fruit which we happily paid.

As we settled in for the evening on Sea Turtle, we watched several children frolicking in the warm ocean water.