Day 24
Spicy salami, aromatic swiss cheese and tomato all stuffed into a crispy baguette, followed by another 2 of the above. Then a raid on the ice cream fridge in the shop. Andy was physically shaking as he was peeling the wrapper off his magnum. Then off to the local restaurant where we hesitantly ordered pepper steak and chips. But have no fear about the food when the country is run by France! Washed this delicious meal down with a few ice cold Hinano beers. On the walk back to shimmi we demolished another few baguettes and ice creams. No this is not a dream Yes we have arrived in the Marquesas and we are safely anchored near the village of Atuona. The scenery is dramatic, the land is BIG. Towering green mountains and crags rise vertically up off the ocean floor, its similar to the area around Chapmans Peak drive and the Twelve apostels.
Andy spotted the islands first during his afternoon watch yesterday evening, just dark smudges on the horizon. We motored through the night with a full moon rising, slowly revealing a scattering of majestic mountains rising out of the ocean, huge cumulus clouds forming and dissipating above the peaks. By 6am we were getting ready for TOUCH DOWN. The Musty smell of wet soil hung in the air. We made it.
All of us on shimmi say HUGE THANKS to all of you for your encouragements, good thoughts, sailing advice, weather info, medical advice and surf investigations...Merci!!!
I am doing much better w.r.t. Eczema, i have started reducing my cortisone intake.
We will not be doing a daily update for a while, but i will post more about our stay in the Marquesas in about a week or so.
Signing out
G