Why this ride
A 215 km round trip from Atuona - roughly 3 h 54 in the saddle. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ensemble mixte de Fatu Uku and Ensemble mixte de Fatu Iva
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 215 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 54
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata
Hiva Oa is the second largest of the Marquesas, a long ridge of green peaks leaning into the Pacific, and Tahuata lies a few kilometres off its southern coast like a smaller shadow. The main settlement is Atuona, on a deep bay beneath the mountains, and it is known to the world for two famous graves. Paul Gauguin came here in 1901, tired of Tahiti and the colonial authorities, and died in 1903 in his house he called the House of Pleasure. Jacques Brel, the Belgian singer, arrived in the 1970s, flew his little plane between the islands, and died in 1978. Both lie in the same hillside cemetery at Calvary, looking over the bay, and it is a more moving place than the cheerful frangipani suggests.
Read the complete Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata comes up about 0 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ensemble mixte de Fatu Iva.
2. Ensemble mixte de Fatu Iva
Fatu Hiva is the most remote of the inhabited Marquesas, the southernmost island of this far-flung French Polynesian group, and it feels it. Steep green mountains rise straight from the sea, and the two villages, Omoa in the south and Hanavave on the north-west coast, sit in valleys so tightly folded that you can look up from the beach and see rock walls running to the clouds. Hanavave's bay was originally called the Bay of Penises by French sailors for its rock spires, then prudishly changed to the Bay of Virgins.
Read the complete Ensemble mixte de Fatu Iva write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 108 km into the recorded legs you reach Ensemble mixte de Fatu Iva. Next is back through Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata.
3. back through Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata, late in the day. Next is Ensemble mixte de Fatu Uku.
Leg by leg
Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata to Ensemble mixte de Fatu Iva
Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata → Ensemble mixte de Fatu Iva is 108 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ensemble mixte de Fatu Iva to back through Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata
Ensemble mixte de Fatu Iva → back through Ensemble mixte de Hiva Oa-Tahuata is 108 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.