The sound of horns could be heard across Tahauku Bay to celebrate the arrival of
Rubicon IV, the final boat in the World ARC 2019-20 fleet to arrive in the Marquesas.
After settling in the anchorage and finding their land legs, participants of the Rally have enjoyed exploring the beautiful island of Hiva Oa.
With only a population of 2,000 people the locals are always excited to welcome the World ARC fleet and go to great efforts to prepare tours, shows and dinners for everyone to enjoy.
The World ARC were officially welcomed on Tahauku Pier by Hiva Oa Comité de Tourisme and Heremoana food truck. The evening’s entertainment began with welcome speeches followed by traditional dance performances by the Ori Hau Iki Troup. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed a typical Marquesas buffet of spit roast goat and pork along with a variety of raw fish served with traditional side dishes and local desserts made of bananas to finish.
Hiva Oa Hanakee Pearl Lodge, the main hotel on the island, not only offers a day package for participants to make use of the hotel facilities and have lunch in the restaurant, they also hosted 2 spectacular evenings where World ARC participants had the opportunity to experience a colourful dance show and feast on another delicious buffet dinner.
The show was made up of 30 dancers from Groupe Te Pua O Feani who performed traditional dance rituals and moved the crowd with a powerful display of their own Haka exclusively from the Marquesas.
The island is made up of magnificent steep cliffs rising from the ocean and rugged volcanic mountains above topped with white fluffy clouds. Below are valleys full of lush vegetation made up of tall tropical trees, an abundance of fruit trees (mango, pamplemousse, avocado, banana, start fruit) and beautiful flowers such as the Hibiscus, Tahitian Gardenia, Frangipani and of course great big bundles of brightly coloured Bougainvillea which are a consistent site at every stopover.
The island is also famous for the final home of the French painter Paul Gauguin and also the singer Jacques Brel whom are both buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Atuona. It is also home to the Tiki which are located near the village of Puama'u on the North Eastern coast and are the largest stone sculptures in the French Polynesia.
With views not to be missed, many of the participants have hired cars or booked tour guides to explore this historic and quite magnificent corner of the Marquesas.