Greetings from The Rock of Polynesia

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Trip Start Sep 27, 2011 Previous
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  Niue, Niue
Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Gone are the welcome leis of flowers, coconut drinks, overwhelming supply of fresh fruit, idyllic sandy beaches and blue lagoons. Between the Cook Islands and Tonga and well off the tourist track lies the small coral island nation of Niue (about half the size of the Isle of Wight). Niue is different! Known as 'The Rock', Niue is a raised flat platform of fossilised coral almost entirely covered in forest. It is surrounded by razor-sharp eroded coral cliffs with some unusually high and wide sea arches and caves filled with amazing stalactites and stalagmites. Steep, narrow sea tracks have been carved out in places down to some of the caves and pools and there are several canoe landings (usually with several traditional wooden outrigger canoes moored up and covered with a coconut frond to keep the sun from damaging the wood) but otherwise the islands surrounding reef is difficult to reach. Stout footwear is essential!

Since 1974 Niue has had its own government although it is closely affiliated to New Zealand. Thirty years ago the population was about 7000. It has now dropped to around 1250 and it is sad to see so many abandoned homes all over the island. Niue was hammered by category 5 cyclone Heta in 2004 when monster waves and 250km/h winds flattened the main centre of Alofi. Signs of the damage remain and Alofi and other villages on the island have still to make a full recovery.

The people of Niue are friendly, welcoming and trusting. Homes and cars are all left unlocked and you are given a strange look if you forget this custom and are seen locking your car in town! There is a police station here but what little crime there is seems to be the result of arguments over the ownership of pigs and land. I did look in to the police station however, to get my Niue driving licence (of which I am now in proud possession!). I had to put on a smile for the photocard as miserable faces are not allowed here. The rule when driving is to acknowledge every passing motorist or pedestrian with a wave. Indeed it is also customary to greet everyone you pass in the street! I think I will try this in Waltham Abbey when we get back just to test the reaction…

There is currently one flight a week from Auckland and no other flights to or from anywhere. A cargo vessel from NZ delivers goods once a month and this takes many days to cover the vast distance. Fortunately for us the vessel arrived last week so the main shop is well stocked at the moment, mostly with tinned and packet-type supplies. The trick is not to be too fussy when you are shopping so we snapped up a few tins of Watties baked beans and a packet of pasta to last us for a while! We found that some of our shopping (eg.yoghurt) had passed its ‘eat before’ date but it seemed to be fine.

It is remarkable that so little fruit and vegetables are grown here (possibly due to the poor and rather thin soil) and only a limited supply is imported from New Zealand. Michele needed an onion for something the other day – no luck! Yellowfin tuna, wahoo (no, not yahoo...) and mahimahi, is caught locally and is prepared in large pieces weighing several kilogrammes, frozen and available at the store in town.

There are two bakeries on the island which open for a short time in the early morning on certain days with the emphasis on early. Yesterday we made an effort to get to the RockBak bakery early only to discover all bread and cakes had gone. It was a little before 6.45am!

Then we discovered Falala Fa café and restaurant in ‘town’ that serve the best fish and chips we have probably ever had. Wonderful taste (wahoo) great portions and great value! What a haven – we will be returning!

There is a bank but ATMs have yet to reach Niue. Surprisingly, there is free internet all over the island and local telephone calls are free at our villa.

There are a handful of other visitors to the island this week – almost exclusively New Zealanders. Michele and I seem to be the only European visitors to Niue at the moment. We can verify this as we have met most of the others regularly on our days out! There are a number of places to stay on Niue and our secluded self-catering apartment here at Stone Villa has remarkably comfortable facilities and includes the use of a car. Another bonus is the unlimited supply of good fresh rock-filtered drinking water (in short supply on other islands we have visited). Never before have we valued good drinking water so highly. On the subject of water; it has been raining heavily for a few days – not surprising as this is the rainy season…

Not even in the Cook Islands have we seen sea water so transparent and full of life. The sea water here is renowned for its astonishing clarity. The corals are bright, full of colour and seem to be recovering relatively well after the cyclone. The species of fish are more diverse and numerous than we have seen elsewhere in Polynesia. They also appear to be more inquisitive. Niue is also home to a unique species of banded sea krait, a type of black and white coral snake that grows to about a metre or so and appears to be quite numerous in both deep and shallow waters all around the coast. We spotted one less than a metre from where we were standing on our first visit to the shore and watched it regularly swimming to the surface for a gulp of air and returning to its hide-away under a coral. We have since countless numbers since then. The Niue sea krait is highly venomous, in fact their venom is ten times more deadly than a rattlesnake, but they are docile little chaps with mouths so small they would find it very difficult to bite even if they were in the mood – at least that is what we were told! They will often swim up to you when you are snorkelling.

One afternoon we spent an entertaining hour or so at the end of the main landing. There are no large boats in Niue and none are moored to the landing or off the reef for any length of time in case of rough weather. Instead, all boats are hauled out of the water using the crane and gear on the landing, an interesting operation to watch. Watching the colourful sea life in the deep water kept us happy for quite a time. Briefly, a white-tipped reef shark swam past right under where our feet were dangling and we watched many sea kraits rising for air, having a bit of a swim and then returning right down to the depths. Most entertaining were the flying fish, flapping their oversized pectoral fins just like the wings of a bird, swerving through the air just above the surface of the water in groups of about ten. We reckoned they covered a distance of about a hundred metres or so in perhaps nine seconds. Another entertaining fish is the surf tang. They dwell in large shoals and can be clearly seen in the transparent wall of the wave just before it breaks, apparently anticipating the thrill of being thrown across the reef. As the surf recedes, they then scatter in all directions trying to stay waterborne ready for another pounding on the next wave. Comical!

Niue is an excellent place for watching humpback whales. From July to October each year, they are seen daily, often with their calves and frequently caught breaching in the very deep water off the reef just a short distance from the shore. Their song can be heard throughout the night. Sadly, we were just too late to see any although we saw a school of spinner dolphins swimming past this afternoon.

Niue is one special place!

Hope you are all well. Do keep sending us your news.

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Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Alofi-Lakepa Road	Coast near Alofi	Purple-capped Fruit Dove	Blue Moon Butterfly
No way through! Jagged fossilised coral.	Huvalu Forest Conservation Area	Puluhiki Sea Cave	Limu Pools - Good place for a snorkel!   Comments!
Avaiki Cave	Anemone	Deep reef rock pools	Matapa Chasm for a cooling swim
Camera shy Combtooth Blenny	Reef Coral	Convict Tangs feeding	Reef Corals
Colourful fish - not sure what type!   Comments!	I'll be safe hiding here!

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