Oct 1 -5, 2014 Niue

Niue has surprised us with its beauty and hospitality. It is the world's largest coral island. There are 1,500 people in this country and all of them are extremely friendly. Everyone driving waves at all the other drivers and even the people walking down the street. When we arrived at the Niue Yacht Club they told us it was difficult to get cash so they would advance us money until we could get cash. This was 5 seconds after meeting us. I don't see SDYC advancing me cash and I have been a member for years. Although then we went to get cash and realized how difficult that was. The bank does not exchange cash or give credit card advances, not sure what they do. But the car rental agency will exchange cash and do credit card advances. We found out that even they can't change the foreign currency at the local bank, they must wait until they travel abroad to change it.

Niue Yacht Club

Shopping is fun as most stores serve more than 1 function.  The ladies fashion store is also the produce store. The gas station is also the bakery. The yacht club is also a backpackers hostel and the concrete construction business. The restaurant is also the scooter rental agency. …

We have thoroughly enjoyed touring around Niue. We rented a car for 2 days so we could see the sights. There are spectacular hikes, caves, chasms, coral and swimming holes. They have these hikes they call sea tracks. They all seem to lead from the main road down to the sea, but that is where the similarities end. The first one we went to was called the Avaiki Cave. We did a short walk from the road down into a cave that spilled into the ocean. It was low tide so you could walk along the reef and snorkel in a few deep pools in the reef. The main part of the cave rose magnificently above the reef, reflecting in the clear water. You could stand in the cave and peer through the clearest water below you at brilliant purple and yellow corals.

At the Matapa Chasm the fresh water draining off the land floated onto of the salty ocean water, making the top layer of the water refreshing, but dive down and you warmed up. Here we swam in a chasm that is about 40 feet wide and 5 to 20 feet deep under water, soaring to about 100 feet above us. We snorkeled with tons of different fish, some large enough that Gary had wished he brought his spear gun with us. Where the chasm spilt into the ocean you have to climb precariously over coral rock to view a spectacular blow hole. Harrison decided to check it out up close, but unfortunately it blew his snorkel right off his head.

We enjoyed a tranquil picnic lunch at the Talava Arches. Here we climbed into a cave that over looked a stunning natural arch perched in the ocean. After our lunch we realized that we were in one side of a double arch.

There were 2 sides to the Limu pools where you could snorkel inside the reef amongst the coral. We saw a huge red and orange octopus on one side, then climbed over to the other pool and snorkeled in 2 different caves amongst the tropical fish and sea snakes.

We hiked down to the Palaha Cave tucked nicely into the rocks above the ocean. The ancient stalagmites were massive and the new ones as they grew were stunning in color. The kids climbed up to a hidden platform high above the main cave floor.

We were all tired after touring all of those spots in one day, so we stopped at the Sails Bar and met a group of people that used to live in Niue 37 years ago. They were so nice they invited us to stay and join them for a BBQ that night.

We took the next day off touring to do boat chores, such as laundry, grocery shopping, internet, autopilot compass fixing, …  But we did end the day with going to the coolest mini golf in the world. This might be the most beautiful course I have ever seen. The course is built around and through the existing coral rock. It is perched on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the ocean, with the anchored boats in the background. Plus the owner was soooo nice and he loved NZ wine, so he and I bonded and enjoyed some of his wines. 

After golf we went to the church and watched the annual singing competition. We saw a number of troupes, but the best 2 were the entire 6th grade class singing and playing ukuleles, and a huge group of older ladies singing a traditional song with the oldest lady, probably about 90, hamming it up while all the rest were seriously singing.

The following day we went touring again. This time we went to the southeast corner of the island. We started by going to the local fishing tournament at Avatele Beach. Almost all of the guys were fishing from outriggers, only a few from skiffs. The biggest fish caught from an outrigger was a 14 kg tuna. The biggest fish was a 20 kg yellow fin tuna caught from a skiff. They also had a free diving category. And after all the fish were weighed they had a huge BBQ. We came too early for the BBQ, but we did get to see the biggest fish.

We hiked through a tropical jungle emerging into a moonscape of coral rocks, then shimmied down a steep ladder to the Togo Chasm. This chasm had white sand and palm trees, which lead to a further chasm with a fresh water pond and also lead to a cave that emerged at the ocean into the crashing sea.

The Anapala Chasm is a narrow chasm filled with refreshing fresh water that only allows light in when the sun is at its midday high. Here we snorkeled though the dimly light passage looking at eels swimming through stalagmites underwater while touching both sides of the chasm. This one ranked high as a truly unique experience. Plus everyone really enjoyed the 156 steep and narrow stairs leading down to the chasm.

The last chasm we will visit will be the Vaikona Chasm today. This one requires a guide or a hand drawn map from a guide to navigate the caves. You have to bring underwater flashlights as there are 2 places where you must swim underwater to pass below rocks to get to the next part of the cave. Axel is so excited about this one!

As you can tell, we really have enjoyed our time in Niue. I have only briefly touched on all the amazing things we saw and did, and I would strongly recommend coming here to anyone that might already be considering it. It is extremely difficult to get to from the US as there is only 1 flight a week from Auckland on Friday afternoons. We know this as we could not clear customs until they were done with the flight. We are so happy we decided to stop, we kept extending the amount of time we spent here as none of us wanted to leave.

This afternoon we are heading out to the Vavua group in Tonga. 

Julie