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Above
the steady rumble of the Pacific surge, the sharply sculpted mountains
of Hiva Oa (Marquesas map : click here)
hide their summits in the mists of rain-filled clouds. The largest
and most fertile island in the southern group of the Marquises,
Hiva Oa has deep valleys, lush plateaus and thickly wooded forests.
Located 1 184 km. (740 miles) northeast of Tahiti the town of Atuona
is the administrative center for the southern Marquises. Framed
in a theatre of mountains with the Bay of Traitors providing safe
anchorage.
Atuona
is a favorite port of call for yachts and copra ships. Atuona village
has a gendarmerie, small hospital, post office, banks, weather station,
Air Tahiti office, pensions, restaurants and snack bars, stores
and shops, telephones and TV. There is a Catholic mission with a
boarding school and a Protestant church.
A
path up the cliffs behind the village leads to Calvary Cemetery.
Here are the simple graves of two men who chose the Marquises as
their final home and resting place the French painter Paul Gauguin
and Belgian singer Jacques Brel.
Points of interest
Sightseeing
highlights include a visit to Puamau Village, where Gauguin descendents
live. In the steamy jungle above the village is the Oipona me'ae
temple and the 8-ft. tall tiki Takaii, the largest stone tiki in
Polynesia. Several other stone carvings adorn this quiet spot. Visit
the very picturesque village of Hanaiapa; the petroglyphs carved
in stone in Eiaone and Punai; the me'ae temple and black sand beach
of Taaoa and the pretty bays of Nahoe and Hanamenu.
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