ISLAND CALLING

A sailing adventure to the remote Marquesas Islands - that was 35 years in the making - proves positively life-changing, writes Cynthia Dammerer.

- Cynthia Dammerer

Why do we create a bucket list? Why is it so important to us to tick things off this list, even if it takes us years, and substantial money to do so?

I am flabbergasted by the answers I receive as I chat endlessly to other guests from far flung parts of the world. I am aboard the supply ship Aranui 5, as we sail from the bustling port of Papeete in Tahiti to the remote and relatively uninhabited Marquesas Islands.

Most have read about the ship somewhere, this unique voyage carrying much-needed supplies to the local communities, but also how it has adapted over the past 40 years of operation to now comfortably carry 230 guests in a range of suites and deluxe cabins, most with balconies.

Others have been told tales by past sailors, embellishing their exciting stories of the cultural history (including cannibalism), and immense beauty of this far-flung archipelago of islands, some 1,500km sailing distance from Papeete.

Thirty-five years ago at a bar in Thailand, a stranger I met told me simply, “Just go and do it in your lifetime.”

He had just returned, armed with tales from sailing on the inaugural vessel Aranui, and 35 years later I sat next to a young American man on a flight to Fiji, also telling me of his father’s travel to a fairytale-like destination. You guessed it. The Marquesas.

It was too much of a coincidence to ignore, so now I find myself on the Aranui 5 in search of my own adventures. Pinching myself, I touch ground in Fenua Enata, Terre des Hommes, the Land of Men. The Marquesas Islands.