News from the road – Marquesas by passenger freighter – August 2024

Looking back on our 12 days aboard the passenger freighter Aranui 5 the expression ‘he tangata, he tangata, he tangata’ springs to mind. The people, the people, the people. From the moment you step on board it is the smiling, friendly people of Tahiti and the islands who are your crew, who become your on-board friends and the islands you visit whose inhabitants seem to be related to every crew member in some way.

You quickly learn three ways to say hello or thank you in Tahitian, French and Marquesan. And you also learn from the fascinating on board lecturers, how closely they relate to people of the ‘Polynesian Triangle’ and who they consider family. This includes New Zealand and Māori people. Perhaps this would explain how we might have also earnt a little bit of extra care and attention while on board. To them we were whanau. If this produced an extra bottle of French wine at the table with a wink, well who were we to complain.

A look at the map at our first ship meeting to outline the next day’s activities, showed just how remote the Marquesan Archipelago is. And how dependant each islands inhabitants were on the fortnightly visit of the Aranui 5, for food, fuel and visit of people keen to experience their welcoming warmth, culture and the opportunity to purchase a black pearl or exquisitely carved souvenir.

Each island in the Marquesa’s offered something different. All were without exception, stunning and dramatic with soaring peaks, lush forests but also some had arid landscapes which contrasted with the verdant green on the other side of the island. Ua Huka offered the most heart in mouth way of entering a narrow harbour. Most of the 180 passengers were up at dawn to watch the ship execute an arrival which is possibly unrivalled. The crew attaching massive ropes from either side of the stern, by jumping off a pitching flat deck tender, onto rocks and hurling them over a bollard. This secured the ships stern to either side of the entrance and the anchor, secured the bow.

At each island we were either tendered to the shore or moored at a wharf and then explored the island by 4WD, some could choose to hike or to swim. There were three stand out swimming beaches, bearing in mind most of the islands had rocky shores and not accessible for swimming. One area we did snorkel was a wonderland of vividly coloured tropical fish, clams and for the brave, friendly stingrays and reef sharks. We had picnics on craggy peaks overlooking incredibly beautiful scenery and on a private motu (island) with no one else but sand crabs and fairy terns for company.

Our group was diverse and bonded very quickly over our shared adventures every day and the interesting stories people chose to tell of their lives. We learnt a little of the complex relationship the Tahitians have with the French Government. For us as visitors this added to the rich tapestry of the interwoven cultures of the five archipelagos and French culture.

Two nights at the end of the cruise, to connect with the next flight home to New Zealand was the icing on the cake. We spent this at a resort south of the capital Papeete. Brilliant sunny days, an infinity pool looking directly across to Moorea Island, a swim up bar. We all decided another day would have been, well, perfection.

We will be running this tour in August 2025 and it is available to book now.

Participant feedback from this tour:

  • It was fantastic, thank you. It was so novel for me to go away and not have to think about what I was doing, let alone have to organise the rest of my family.  There was a perfect mix of activities to opt in or out of.  Penny was fantastic, super organised, full of information, if she didn’t know, she would find out.  What an amazing group of people – you managed to get together.  So good for the soul!  Thank you.