After a year of the CNED (French home-schooling program), we have decided to enroll the children for school at Atuona, on the island of Hiva Oa, in the Marquesas. We think we’re going to spend the year here, as Maui is in need of a scrub-off, at the ‘MMS, Maintenance, Marquises Service’ boatyard, run by Vincent, and opened a few months ago. The boat will be sheltered during our trip to France, planned for December 2016, and Alice will be able to sit the national ‘brevet’ diploma more serenely. School went back a few weeks before we arrived, but the children quickly caught up. We get up early; at 06h40, Alice, Gauthier and Maxence await the truck which takes them to school.
The boys have already made lots of friends, who meet up on the quay to fish and paddle their outrigger canoes in the afternoon if there is no school. They have rediscovered the life of children ashore. Alice has also made some friends, both boys and girls, at the secondary school. The pupils in their class were told about their arrival, and gave them a great welcome. The classes are not overloaded; 17 in the 1st year, 20 in the 4th. We will therefore be staying in the Marquesas until June 2017, before continuing our route towards the Tuamotus and the Society Islands. The children get one week’s holiday for every five weeks of school, so we can sail to the neighboring islands: Tahuata, Fatu Hiva in the south, Ua Pou to the west, Nuku Hiva and Ua Huka to the north. We (the parents) have got to know the locals close to the bay, thanks to the evening aperitifs every Wednesday evening at the signal station at the entrance to the port. We get together there and exchange information and interesting tips about the island. Life here is peaceful in this authentic environment.
Who: Christelle, Patrick, Maxence, Gauthier and Alice
Boat: Catana 50
Where: Marquesas, French Polynesia, Pacific Ocean.
Blog: www.mauicata.blogspot.fr
