Tag Archives: gambiers

Hiking Mont Mokoto

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For the past month we have been hiding out in the smaller motus due to the quarantine.  Which has been good in that we have more liberties and no people.  But they are super small and do not offer many opportunities to walk, let alone hike.  Mangareva offers the best hiking in the Gambiers.  There are two mountains, Mont Duff and Mont Mokoto.  Last year we hiked Mont Duff.  We decided to hike Mont Mokoto this year with our friends on HooDoo.

Mont Duff is 441 meters tall and Mont Mokoto is supposedly 423 meters tall.  I say “supposedly” because two of our devices showed it at 430 meters.  So, your guess is as good as mine.  You start out taking the same route for both hikes.  The hike up is about 2.5 miles to the top.  At about 1.5 miles there is a split off where you have to decide which Mont you want to ascend. 

First you hike to the top of the saddle on a paved road under the intense sun.  Then at the turn off you go straight up but you are in the blessed shade of the trees.  Our young friends (under 30) and my goat of a husband attacked the hill with great speed.  I was a bit tamer and slower.  They kindly waited for me several times.

Mont Mokoto’s Trail

This is an example of the path we hiked through the trees in the shade.  There were some areas with boulders and rocks to climb over, but for the most part it was straight up on a nice cleared path.  Half way to the top we had a pretty view of the bay.

Yanell was kind enough to grab a few photos of the photographer. The first is in the midst of the trees

At the top of one of the mountains we could see the view of the top of Mont Mokoto.  In the shot below you can see Missy and Yanell in the foreground.  If you zoom in, you can see Matt almost at the crest of Mont Mokoto.  He is a small speck on the left side almost to the top.

Me trailing behind again, but still on the move!  Almost to the summit and I am so ready to be there already.

Bird Population

There are tons of birds in the Gambiers.  Just before the summit there was a sign explaining a little bit about them.  The four main birds are the white-tailed tropic bird, brown noddy, white, tern, Herald Petrel.  The Herald Petrel is slowly going extinct on the island.  There are less than 50 in the area and only one chick is produced per brood.  They are seen primarily between May and September which is the breeding season.  Their greatest enemies are the rats, cats, dogs, and goats.

View from the Top of Mont Mokoto

We had arresting views at the top of Mont Mokoto.  You could see Rikitea bay (left bay with boats) and the opposite bay which is home to several pearl farms.

Being at the top gave us great views of several other islands in the Gambiers.  First is a photo of Taravai (large island on right) and Agakauitai (smaller on left).

This is a photo of the three “rocks.”  Kamaka is the main island in the center where you can anchor.  The others are either not suitable for anchoring or only suitable for a day stop.

Three rock island

Three rock island

This is Bernard’s island or Aukena.

Aukena Island

Aukena Island

And of course, a photo of the four of us at the top of Mont Mokoto.

Overall, I walked 7.9 miles and over 19,000 steps today.  I made two runs to all the markets and put in extra miles before the hike.  Let’s just say that I was exhausted by the time we got back to the boat.  I showered and crashed on the couch.

One Palm, Two Palm, No Palm

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Many of these motus are just flat specs of land covered in dead coral and broken shells.  But there are a few with bushes, trees, and a few palm trees.  We anchored in front of Two Palm island.  It is one of our favorite places.  Last year we called it three palm island.  However, when we returned this year we had to rename it as it lost one of its palm heads.

We found another motu with one palm and decided to do a short exploration. I say short because it is super small.  We left Sweetie at the beach side (leeward side facing the lagoon) and walked over to the windward side where it is mostly coral.  We found a fresh fish trap which is unusual as these usually show up all used and abused from the ocean.

A lovely eel was hiding in the rocks trying to be “not seen”.

The last motu we came to today as called headless palm.  Poor thing lots its topper. (last photo above).

Tauna – Bird Refuge

Our friends told us about this little motu which is on the southern side of the lagoon in the Gambiers.  We found a beautiful, sandy spot in 3 meters of water to drop the anchor.  The motu is almost surrounded by a reef.  You have the large archipelago reef on the windward side and two small reefs on the lagoon side.  The waters are stunning.

It did not take us long to hop on the paddle boards to head to shore.  This is one of the rare motus that actually has a sandy beach.  Usually they are covered in broken coral or sea shells.  We ventured around the entire motu which took all of 15 minutes. 

It was so nice to walk on the beach and sit in the shallow waters.  Just soaking up the beauty of the island. The island has a lot of “walking trees” and low bushes for the birds to nest in. 

 

This little motu is a bird refuge and has its own headless palm tree.  We are still in quarantine and it appears so are the birds.

The birds were not too happy to have us on their motu.  They flew all around making all sorts of noise.

Snorkeling Adventures

In the northern end of the Gambiers are several little motus or islands.  They are all uninhabited and surrounded by large coral heads (bommies) and the reef.  Many will be gone in the years to come with the beating of the ocean slowly eroding the sand and foundation of the sandy spits.  But for now, the snorkeling around these motus is pretty good.

During the quarantine period, we would hop on the paddle boards to a new motu or bommies.  Drop the anchor to secure the boards in one place and snorkel with the sea life.  On this particular day it was choppy so the photo of the boards above water is not so great.  But the photo below shows our little dinghy anchor and the undersides of the boards.

There was a large school of blue parrot fish swimming around.  It would have been great if we had the spear gun out – dinner!

Some really interesting coral formations including tables, brains, bommies (bottom photo).

A white tip shark followed us around which was a bit unnerving.  He had 4 yellow fish that led him around by the nose.  It was rather amusing when looking back on it.  Why would they trust the shark not to eat them?

Quarantine Island Style

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We have been holed up on our boat for 17 days and have another 9 days to go (due to another quarantine extension).  Of course, that could be extended again based on the number of confirmed cases, but as of now the quarantine ends 15 April.  We decided take a few, small, safe liberties, being that we have been isolated on our boat with no contact with other humans. 

Another cruising boat, HooDoo, with two young Americans (Missy and Yanell) has been anchored near us since they arrived.  They were quarantined on their boat for 23 days during their passage from Galapagos to FP and then again for 14 days once they arrived.  So, we were confident they we no sick.

We moved up to the northern motus in the Gambier archipelago which are all uninhabited.  They are small spits of land with shells, dead coral, bushes, (some debris), and a few palm trees.  Last year, we anchored near three palm island and got some of the best photos of Sugar Shack.  This year we returned to the same motu but had to rename it to two palm island as it lost one of its palms.

Two palm island

Two palm island

Even though we are still in quarantine, we took a few liberties – only because we are far away from the population.  We are able to swim, paddle board and go to the motus to stretch our legs.  For the most part we stay to ourselves, but we have had HooDoo over for cocktails (maintaining the 6’ distance).

Night Out on the Town

Yanell had a great idea to do a beach BBQ.  We were getting cabin fever and needed to get off the boat.  Yanell has a nifty charcoal grill.  We set up camp and tried to maintain the 6’ distance even on the beach.  We went to 2 palm island because there is some coverage with the bushes, a little sandy area, and it is close to the reef.  The bottom photo shows our view. With the outgoing tide you can see more of the reef and in the background you can see where the waves are crashing.

Beach BBQ

Beach BBQ

There are a bazillion crabs on each motu and this one is no exception.  These crabs are curious little guys and are willing to explore anything.  They climbed on top of the cooler, on the grill (see photo below) and on our blanket.  They seemed to like human food too – we gave them the chicken bones.  Why aren’t they in quarantine?

We had a feast with marinated chicken, coleslaw, pasta, hot dogs, and cookies.

Missy and Yanell from Hoodoo

Missy and Yanell from Hoodoo

Parking Lot Issues

When we anchored our dinghy she was in water (see top photo). We are the dinghy in the background.  HooDoo’s dinghy in in the foreground.  However, within a few hours, she was beached on the reef as the tide went out.

The moon is nearly full and the sunset was spectacular.

Just after the sun completely disappeared it produced an amazing purple hue that changed our perspective!  I did not alter these photos at all.  Matt is moving our dinghy back in the water in the top photo.

After our meal, we took flashlights and went to walk out on the reef.  We were lobster hunting.  You have to walk to where the waves break which was about a mile from our motu.  It was really strange being out at night, using the moon beam and our torches to see the critters of the sea.  We did not find any lobster but we had fun looking for them.

Odds and Ends in Quarantine

We had many amazing sunrises.  The sun comes up behind two palm island.

We did a lot of paddle boarding as it is the only exercise we can get right now.  We paddle boarded up to several of the motus and collected lots of sea shells.

Not very productive while in quarantine.  But we have managed to do a few boat projects.  We have no internet which is disappointing, but we do have our satellite communication which is a life saver.

I know it does not seem like we are in quarantine, but we are.  We just have different restrictions.  Like you, we maintain our 6’ distance and where our mask and gloves when near the population.  However, we cannot go to shore except for food, fuel or medical care.  Only one person can go for one hour at a time with prior permission from the local police.  In addition, a government issued form must be completed and carried, with your passport, stating your business and time ashore.  It is very restrictive.  So imagine not being able to leave your boat for weeks at a time.  This is why we moved our boat to a remote part of the archipelago where there are no humans so we have a few more liberties….

Reservations at our Favorite Eatery

We were joined by two other boats later in the week.  Our friends on Sea Jay (Chris and Fred) and our friends on Luci Para 2 (Ivar and Floris).  We made reservations at our favorite restaurant, Two Palm Island for the next day.

Sea Jay and Sugar Shack have dinghies with long drafts, about a meter each.  What does that mean?  It means that it is difficult for us to go in shallow waters because our outboard shaft or the dinghy bottom will hit the coral or the bottom of the sea.  In addition, we have heavy dinghies and outboards.  Sweetie weighs in at about 300-325lbs and McRib (Sea Jay’s dinghy) weighs about 550-600lbs.  So, trying to maneuver them is difficult if the dinghies get beached.

So, we try to anchor the dinghies in an area where we hope there will be water during low tide.  For the past 3 nights we had successfully chosen a place where that worked.  However, tonight, we did not do so good.

The evening started out just beautiful!  We warmed up the grill, started cooking the chicken, dogs and various meats and settled in for a gorgeous sunset.  Top photo (foreground to rear) Floris, Ivar, and Yanell.  Bottom photo (left to right) Fred, Chris, Missy, Matt.

After Dinner Show

It is stunning to watch the sky change into various outfits throughout the setting of the sun.  It provided a beautiful back drop to Sugar Shack.  You can also see the change in tide from the top photo (early in the night) to the bottom photo (just an hour later).

After dinner, a team of people went looking for lobsters.  Yet, again they evaded us.  We built a bonfire and chatted.  Around 800p, we were about ready to leave and realized we had a problem.  McRib and Sweetie were beached with no water under the boats.  Crap!  We looked up low tide and it was at 9p and water did not start to come back up until 10:30-11p.  Well, we settled in for a few more hours, chatting, and stoking the fire.

Just another night in paradise, despite the quarantine.