In July of 2018, I traveled solo to French Polynesia in order to explore the Marquesas and the Austral Islands, covered as their own chapter of the apart project.  For the first half of my time there, I visited three of the six inhabited islands of the Marquesas -- Hiva Oa, Tahuata, and Nuku Hiva -- after which I took a few days in the middle of my trip to explore Tahiti and Moorea, before embarking on the cargo ship Tuha’a Pae IV to see the Australs. I was traveling as lightly and cheaply as possible, and had brought a tent and some camping gear in the hopes of saving some money on accommodation. 

The flight from Tahiti to Hiva Oa was approximately 3.5 hours and was a smooth and pretty ride on a very small propeller plane.  We had no assigned seats, and the flight attendant arranged the passengers to make sure the plane was properly balanced.  We flew in over Tahuata, the island to the south of Hiva Oa, before coming in low over Hiva Oa itself.  The airstrip was on high ground, on a small plateau up in the mountains.  We had a smooth touchdown, but I shudder to imagine what a landing might be like in high winds. I collected my bag and set to figuring out how to get a ride down to the town of Atuona, as the walk would have easily taken me two hours and there are no taxis at the airport.  I was almost at the edge of the airport area with my bags, preparing to hitchhike, when a tremendous Marquesan man waved and gestured me over.  He addressed me in Marquesan, then French.  I stared blankly, as my French at this point was pretty non-existent.  Then he said "Hotel?".  I said “No, not yet.”  He and the three elderly Marquesan women that were with him went into a rapid conversation in their local language, which I find quite beautiful.  He indicated that I should put my bags in the back of his pickup and get in the cab.  The women crammed into the back seat.  As we drove down the mountain to town, they chatted with each other and said things to me in French.  I did my best to nod and smile politely, but unfortunately couldn’t contribute much to the conversation, though I was extremely grateful for my first dose of Marquesan hospitality.

Over the following two weeks, I spent several days in Hiva Oa, sailed to Tahuata and back, and took a short flight to Nuku Hiva for the remainder of my time in the Marquesas before flying back to Papeete, all of which is described in more detail in the following sections.