Notes on Niue

In our last installment we mentioned the coral limestone of Niue. The rain is filtered by this so that the waters surrounding the island are among the clearest in the world. Niue is an independent country, one of the smallest in the world. I have mentioned coconut crabs previously. Here they are endangered; only those that are too old to reproduce are allowed to be taken. I have seen some of these on leashes. They weigh as much as 22 lbs and with a claw can snip your finger off. On my last day on the island I rented a motor bike. I had never ridden anything like that, so initially the learning curve was a bit steep compounded by the fact that traffic keeps to the left. But I made a complete circuit of the island. At Rarotonga we saw some evidence of cyclone damage, but nothing like that on Niue. As I circled the island it seemed that ca 60% of the homes were damaged or razed, and abandoned. More Niueans live in NZ than in Niue. On the windward side of the island I hiked to Vaikona chasm and cave. This was a rough hike over a track that was at times obscure, involving scrambling over frothy coral limestone. The shore there consisted of a shelf above the water against which the waves crashed with water flooding over the shelf. A nightmare for anyone approaching in a boat. The next morning Karin and I set sail for Tonga, a distance of only 230 miles. This was directly down wind, so we had the genoa poled out on the spinnaker pole. I hate this arrangement: the boat rolls, stuff below crashes around, and the boat seems vulnerable. Initially the winds were strong and we made 146 miles in the first 24 hours. The sea was rough the whole way. By the second evening the winds were down to 12 kts, we were doing 4.5 kts and were intending to heave to off of Vava'u. At 2 am we were just N of that island when suddenly the wind came up out of nowhere. Our instruments said 35 kts and we later heard 45 or 50. The genoa was flailing about and the pole was flexing appallingly. We worked like demons trying to get it all put away. Then we hove to on the spot. I must say that even though conditions outside were ghastly, down below it was relatively quiet and I was able to sleep for a couple of hours, the first sleep since leaving Niue. The next morning we motored in to the harbor at Neiafu on Vava'u in the Kingdom of Tonga. That evening we were at the Mermaid, a bar on the waterfront, reunited with Susan, visiting with people some of whom we hadn't seen for months. The rain was dripping in through holes in the thatched roof, and there was a Tongan fire dancer performing. The contrast between the two consecutive nights is just another aspect of the cruising life.
Kit (and Susan)