Lunch was great in Hakahetau, with, as appetizer, a short comedy played by four members of the collège staff. They did very well!
A short walk to the Hakahetau waterfall allowed us to briefly enjoy the native forest (and Eric the water!) before heading back to Hakahau to set up the equipment for the evening.
Christophe did a nice advertisement effort to announce the evening activities, as you can see from the flier he posted around town. The mayor had authorized us to use the city hall plaza, which was an ideal place for the event.
Once more, we installed the telescopes under an overcast sky. As one of the flagpoles was flag-less, I decided to use it to raise the G5RV up over the plaza, to set up the radio, and put TX5VT on the air. A quick check showed us that at least our friends close to Tahiti could hear us!
People started to gather at around 6pm. It was still cloudy, so we moved to a presentation on astronomy for everyone around. Great to see so many people showing up! Plenty of questions and more pictures to show made everyone wait for a clearing in the clouds… which came at the right time! From there on, the evening moved to stargazing mode with some amateur radio action too: many French stations contacted us!
We ended the evening late… packing everything before heading back home for some food. Thanks again to Armand and Edwige for treating us so well! Ua Pou is a wonderful island with wonderful people…
It is Sunday morning and we will leave soon for Ua Huka. Stay tuned…
