Today’s Chronicle can be found here.
Our morning at sea passed in a blur. We continued to bash on with reading / writing / homework as well as the usual suspects of cornhole and trivia. Cornhole ended with a boys versus girls round that led to prize points for all – and big thanks to the former Cape-to-Cape passenger who tracked us down so that our daughter could get her runner-up points. No podium finish at trivia this time around, sadly, though we did learn that Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota, and not North Dakota as we originally thought.
Midway through the morning, I got a call from Head of Kayaking Tyler. He wanted to check my ability level, as I was the only person slated to go kayaking that afternoon – and confirm that I still wanted to go. I mentioned that the hike was tempting so he spoke to the Expedition staff. There’s little in the way of hiking tomorrow, so we agreed it would be better to postpone to another time. Tyler generously offered to prioritize including me on future kayaking trips.
We also went to an excellent lecture by Nikita, who presented on manta rays:
I was fascinated to learn that manta rays have a brain the size of a human fist, and are actually able to pass the ‘mirror test’ in which they are able to recognize themselves in a mirror. (In contrast, elephants often struggle to pass the mirror test.)
We were also interested to learn that rays engage in cyclone feeding. Our son asked whether there were similarities to humpback whales’ bubble-netting – Nikita complimented him on asking such an insightful question.
My wife and son went for lunch at La Terrazza, while my daughter and I went to the Restaurant.
Today’s menu:
I had the chicken korma:
While she had the chicken nuggets:
My new favourite off-menu meal – chicken nuggets dunked in korma sauce. Yum.
Chocolate torte for dessert:
My daughter was curious as to where they got the iridescent colouring for the torte. We asked the Restaurant staff, who informed us that these colours are often naturally derived – sometimes from reducing blueberries, or otherwise rendering fruits and other foods to produce the desired colours.
We arrived at Hatihue, Nuka Hiva shortly after lunch. Time for a hike!
In a way, visiting Nuka Hiva is stepping back in time – geographically, this is how islands like Tahiti would have looked millions of years earlier before their volcanic rock eroded to the extent it has today.
We set off at a brisk pace. There were stops to examine plants, but some of the passengers struggled with the heat and the speed of our ascent.
But the scenery was absolutely stunning.
Nick stopped to show us many of the local plants, including this little fellow – who has a self-defence mecahnism to prevent grazing:
We also found the rare and elusive Nuka Hiva Imperial pigeon! A mega-tick for those bird watchers in the group. It was a tough photo to take, but I got there in the end:
I even managed to get a picture of it making its call.
We continued the ascent and – we made it!
We paused for a while to catch our breath and admire the stunning scenery. (And to collect some of the passengers who had given up on the ultra-strenuous hike.)
Time to head back down the hill:
I would say that the strenuous hike lived up to its name. It was challenging, but not insurmountable. We’re so glad that we went, but equally glad that we didn’t overdo it by adding on the second leg to the beach (not to mention the following ascent).
While wandering back to the ship, we saw a family working on training a horse in the surf in front of the village – only for the horse to briefly escape! It was an exciting end to a lovely hike.
Back to the Cloud!
We were back in time for tea:
I particularly enjoyed the smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches, while the kids are partial to the chocolate cake and the meringue with fresh berries.
Off to shower and change for dinner – and, in my wife’s case, to take a truly spectacular sunset photo:
Off to the briefing. Tomorrow’s trip to Fatu Hiva is complicated, but there isn’t a tremendous amount of choice – there will be a village ceremony in Hanavave, and we will be running a circuit that will take us to and from the island’s capital of Omoa.
There aren’t enough vehicles to take us out and back, so they will alternate a round of shuttles with a zodiac cruise. Rather than place us in zodiac groups, they have broken us into four equal groups – as Group D, we will be visiting Hanavave in the morning and Omoa in the afternoon.
To further complicate matters, my wife and daughter are going to attempt to do two zodiac cruises instead of taking the vehicles back. The Expedition Staff seemed to think it might be possible, but it will need to be a game-day decision depending on how many people elect to go on the afternoon excursion.
Also – kayaking! I’m hopeful that I will have the chance to go tomorrow if I am indeed selected for the next group as Tyler has suggested. Fingers crossed it works out this time!
Recap time. Nick had a humorous presentation about spiders and other arachnids:
And Chris showed some pictures from today. Amazing to think that there are only 200 Imperial pigeons left in the wild. Also – we apparently saw some cashew trees earlier today:
Off to dinner at La Terrazza. It’s the second menu tonight:
The kids had the thinly sliced striploin:
My wife had her perennial favourite, the lasagna:
And I had the shrimp in cognac sauce:
And then it was time to head to bed – another busy day ahead of us.