We made it to Marquesas in French Polynesia!  We anchored on the island of Hiva Oa.  There are 10 islands that make up Marquesas Islands.  French is the language and Francs are the currency. The passage across the Pacific was long.  As I mentioned before, we made it sooner than we anticipated due to the winds being in our favor most of the way it wasn’t necessary for us to go out of our way.  This place is mind boggling beautiful.  As soon as I am able to download pictures, I will.  Upon our arrival, Mike and I walked 2 miles to town….and welcomed walk after being on a boat for 18 days.  We needed to check in but they were not open.  This is not a commercialized island.  It is very quaint and beautiful.  Not much in the way of provisions but we make it work. It is definitely expensive here.  $100 for a simple lunch for 3 people and $150/day to rent a car.  We did rent a car a cruised this magnificent place.  We made our way along dirt roads and I can not communicate properly the beauty of this place.  We found a plantation along the way a bought fresh cut bananas, pamplemousse, citrons, honey….welcomed local fruits after our passage.  The only funny story I have is about the Marine base here.  In our travels walking to town we happened across the military base and stopped to ask directions.  If I could have picked my jaw off the ground and stopped laughing long enough I would have taken a picture of Mike standing in a group of 5 or 6 French soldiers asking directions, in English ofcourse.  The funny part is the uniforms the French Marines wear……camoflouge fatiques that are a sleevless vest as a shirt and very tight short shorts and military boots!  It is quite astonishing to see and for me very hard to take a Marine in short shorts seriously! 

Mike and I had to unexpectedly return to Denver for business.  We arrived Saturday evening after 28 hours of flying from one island to another….talk about scary flights!  We will be here for the week and will return to the island of Nuku Hiva.  Gary is enjoying the islands and will take the boat to meet us in Nuku Hiva.  We have been granted a 90 day stay in French Polynesia and we plan to also see Tahiti and Bora Bora.  Our plan is then to head to the Cook Islands and then Tonga.  This should take us to mid-late November at which time we will head to New Zealand.  We will most likely haul the boat to have repairs and maintenance done and will stay in New Zealand for about 4 months.  That is all for now….Love to all.