IT'S A DOGS LIFE
SAILING AROUND THE WORLD WITH SPIRIT OF ARGO
IT'S A DOGS LIFE
SAILING AROUND THE WORLD WITH SPIRIT OF ARGO
French Polynesia

Hao, Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia – Month long Heiva celebrations – photographs

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Some times I worry, when I write blogs, what am I trying to accomplish?

My primary aim was to share the human’s experiences with family and friends.  To kind of take you guys along with us through adventures and all our silly mistakes.  But then I worried I was ‘glory mongering’.  “See how wonderful our life is”  when the truth is we almost spend as much time fixing our old beast of a boat as we do sailing her.   Still if your adventurous, it is a great life style.

Then I read some other boats blogs.  Many seemed to have been written to share information.  A much more ‘noble cause’.   We used a few of these to find  anchorages and the courage to explore areas not charted.  I started to think I should put that kind of helpful information in my blogs.

But here is the problem.  If I do that, will more sailors go there?  Will little places, no one used to go, get ruined?  Since  a sailing vessel shared tracks and different safe anchorages  in the isolated Gambier Archipelago, the number of boats visiting has quadrupled.  Since a boat wrote on the Tuamotu Companion (info booklet) that the  Atoll of Hao has a small protected inner harbour, the same has happened.

Before I do share our story of this wonderful Atoll and the amazingly friendly people that live and work here remember, it is our responsibility to be ‘gentle tourists’, and not upset the fragile balance of a place like this.

Because we have one of those rare times to have enough internet to share pictures….I will let them do the talking.

 

Welcome to Otepa village in the Atoll of Hao
Spirit of Argo moored up in the tiny boat harbour just north of the village

Great sheltered beach at the harbour for me
The local neighbours were so lovely to us all the cruisers throw a BBQ to say thank you
Life is simple here
Kids are the same the world over
Supply ship day is very exciting! Everyone queues up to purchase supplies and fresh produce.
No ‘petrol stations’. You must purchase fuel from the supply ship in 200 litre drums. It is good to have some neighbours to split a drum with.
With the whole village out to meet the supply ship, it is a good time to exchange info. This is the boys exchanging dive site info.
Normally the village would return to a quiet sleepy pace once the supply ship leaves, but not this month, as it is Heiva time!

HEIVA CELEBRATIONS

Every day for a month the village hosted events large and small
The humans up for the fun
Day events could be tests of skill
For men and women
Female champion
Traditions run strong in the village
The cruisers joined in on the pètanque. But none of them got past the first round as the locals were seriously good!
Copra production is a way of life here, so of course there was a coconut cleaning competition
Also a lots of fishing competitions.  This one was for Yellow fin tuna.
There were also competitions in traditional shell work
It is lovely to see the children engaged in traditional crafts
We have not got enough space to include every competition
Canoe races. Solo and group.

Mad dogs and Englishmen out in the noon day sun
Bastille Day Parade through the village
More events when the sun went down
Dancing
Young and old in a whole host of catagories
Fashion shows
For young and old
So much work on the costumes

The humans enjoying themselves
Ti-manu taught the ladies traditional palm weaving
They put a little fashion show on for the village showing off their handy work.  There is proud Ti-manu in the middle.
The Grande finale of the Heiva was approaching
The theme this year for the main dance competition is birds. As the costumes are made of natural materials, they are all made at the last minute

LET THE MAIN EVENT START

Absolutely amazing!

Amazing dancing, music and incredible costumes

An impossibly decision for the judges.

In the end the group our friend Ti-manu belonged to won
Ti-manu was nice enough to let us get some extra pictures of her groups three costume changes from the dance competition the evening before

All the costumes carry the bird theme and are made of natural products

Ti-manu and her sister Ti Kaure in the Grande finale out fits

Videos still loading, so you will get those next.  Stay tuned!

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