Here I am on the internet and I’ve prepared no new post. How about some new pics? Here’s a few from our last day in Niue. What an amazing place!
Blog
-
Neiafu Harbor, Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga
What a cool place. We cruised in early yesterday morning after probably the best sail we’ve ever had. We flew the spinnaker right up until dark the day we left Niue ghosting along at 7 knots. The next morning I flew it again for a couple of hours till I started seeing 9.5 knots. I figured maybe it was a good idea to keep the mast standing upright and I took it down. We stopped briefly at an anchorage right around the corner from the main harbor (Lotuma Bay #5) to take showers, clean up the boat, and give a couple of other guys the chance to check in and get off the wharf before we made our triumphant entrance. We could already hear our friends from Zen and Honeymoon on the radio so we gave a call and announced our presence. It’s was like entering a reunion. All the boats we’ve met along the way and all the people whose voices we’ve heard and never met all seem to be here. Even Jeff and Julie from Flashback who we affectionately call Ma and Pa after someone mistaked us for being their children! Check in was relatively simple. The Quarantine and Health officials were standing at the dock when we tied up so they came aboard first. I handed over the papers they needed with a couple of candy bars and some diet coke hoping to speed up the process. Twenty minutes later, paperwork done, we couldn’t figure out why these guy were still sitting on the boat. They were thumbing through some of Margie’s magazines, hanging out like they were right at home. I guess they needed a few minutes to study up on the latest Cosmo and Vogue before they decided it was time to go and finally they dawdled off the boat. Next came Customs. Simple. Then I took a walk to the bank and Immigration while Margie, sitting on the boat at the city dock, somehow ended up with some fresh bread after a local paddled by and made her a deal. Ten minutes later we were tied to a mooring owned by the Aquarium Cafe with three dinghies and all our friends hanging off the side of Dosia. Nice.
Then came our first Friday night in Neiafu. Picture it. A georgeous harbor surrounded by hills and mangroves. A hundred plus sailboats, some charter, but mostly cruising yachts from all over the globe. Huge multimillion dollars catamarans with paid captains all the way down to 27′ single handers. Converted race boats, sleek lined Italian yachts, refurbished classics, and junkers. It doesn’t matter. On Friday night, everyone gathers at the Mermaid, home of the Vava’u Yacht Club for drinks. Right on the water with its own dinghy dock. T-shirts, burgees, and flags hanging from the ceiling. Happy hour prices on a selection of beers from Oz land, NZ, the local Ikale and Maka brews. Heaven on earth. After losing hope in French Polynesia and the Cooks, here it is. The perfect image of a south seas sailor bar in its truest form. It still exists. Where else can you find a 70 year old single-hander with a white beard in crocs and a tie-dye shirt arguing with a pressed linen German couple off a sleek 60 footer about the finer aspects of rum distillation? Classic.
When you wake up in the morning and can’t remember what you had for dinner or if you even ate dinner or where you might have tried if you were so inclined, you had a good night. If it weren’t for the missing cash, I might have thought we missed my favorite meal of the day. I know it was pasta and I’m positive it had bacon in it because that’s something I rarely forget. Each bacon experience should be cherished. I haven’t a clue what Margie ordered but that’s alright…neither does she. We haven’t had a night like that in a long, long time and even though I felt like a million bucks this morning when I woke, I would have preferred to not wake up belching vanilla infused rum. In order to not take responsibility for the over-indulgence, I need to blame someone else. So Flashback, you’re it. It’s all your fault. 🙂
-
The Wildest Place I’ve Been
I keep on saying it…Niue and Beveridge Reef (a part of Niue) were the wildest places I’ve ever been. Here’s why:
1) The anchorage at Beveridge alone was an experience with the high winds and waves coming over the reef coupled with first time anchor drags and the resulting late-night, pitch-black resets. We haven’t sat calmly still at anchor since Aitutaki. It’s not comfortable but I guess one could see it as part of the wildness. I’d like to say we’ve grown accustomed to rolling around and sudden shifts of the boat while we’re “safely” anchored but screw that. Nobody likes that stuff. It was all part of the adventure though.
2) The whales. From the first sighting outside Beveridge to basically living among them in the mooring field at Niue, the whales defined this part of the trip. People pay loads of money to experience nature like that. We had it outside our backdoor for free.
3) Spearfishing at Beveridge. Patrick and I were all by ourselves in the water for hours on end while the only other people within hundreds of miles, Marge and Rebecca, were still over a mile away on an upwind dinghy ride. It was surreal. Hunting fish through underwater ravines and avoiding the curious grey sharks and the white tips will be a memory long after my blisters heal. The fact I duct taped my feet and ignored the pain of each fin stroke shows just how much fun it was. I’ll never forget losing that last really nice grouper to the white tips. Little f_c_ers!
4) The hikes to the chasms and caves on Niue aren’t too long but nobody can deny they are dangerous. The eroding limestone is sharp and at some points you are basically crawling over the stuff. At other places large holes are hidden by decaying vegetation and still other places are covered in slippery rock. It seems the whole island is made for breaking ankles. And then there’s those huge dropoffs, cliffs, deep chasms and caves, massive seas crashing around everywhere throwing spray 30 feet in the air….basically everything you’re there to see. Check out these videos of us pushing the limits or being just plain stupid. Whichever, it was an adrenaline rush. The rock Allan and I were standing on was actually moving with the power of the waves coming in!
**video will be inserted here** whenever I come to the realization that, yes, sometimes you have to pay for internet and I realize that internet is slow as crap here and I just have to be patient!
5) Vaikona Cave. This place is wild and dangerous and scary and it’s almost ridiculous they allow people to explore on their own. That being said, I loved every minute of it. I’d do it again in a hot minute.
6) Even though we don’t have a dinghy at the moment and didn’t have to deal with it, you gotta love a place where the only dock in the only “safe harbor” on the island has a crane to lift your dinghy out of the water so it doesn’t get destroyed on rocks in the swell.
7) Sea Snakes. I saw them on a dive I did with Seth and Elizabeth from Honeymoon and I saw them on the surface but one morning when I answered a call from a neighbor boat looking for a diver to untangle their anchor from the rocks I saw way too many of them. They are funky and weird and venomous as hell (harmless to humans because their mouths are too small) and Niue was my first time being in the water with them. One more wild thing to experience.
So there you are. The wildest place I’ve ever been. Looking back on the last month, we’ve had crap weather and lost the dinghy but I still can’t complain. Somebody sent us an email saying we should put a donation tab on the site to try and recoup some money for what the dinghy mishap might cost. I considered it for a moment and thought about how much it ticks me off when cruisers or travelers ask for donations on their blogs. Margie reminded me of how f-ed up I thought it was that a certain cruiser was (and still is) bumming money off Latitude 38 readers and they keep on giving it to her. If you don’t have enough to be out here and pay for your lifestyle and your repairs and your f-ups, you shouldn’t be here. Don’t give me money to perpetuate my dream while putting yours off. So Get Lost On Purpose shall remain free of that crap. After all, I’m out here on a sailboat in the South-freaking-Pacific. What could I possibly have to complain about?
-
Niue, Niue, ohhhh baby, I said we gotta go….
Bound and determined to see the Northeastern side of Niue before departing for Tonga, Drew and I braved foul, rainy weather and set out Monday on a couple of bikes looking for some adventure. A half hour bike ride later, we found just that in the Talava Arches, the Matapa Chasm, and the Limu Pools. Prior excursions in Niue had stenciled imagery of clear water pools, caves, and jagged coral in my mind and these three places did not disappoint in living up to those visions as well. The Talava Arches was a maze of caves that all led to what can only be described as a massive eye to the south pacific. What remained of the cliff side was the result of hundreds upon hundreds of years of incoming and outgoing tides and waves that crashed against the shores, creating giant holes in the limestone. The ocean-the artist, the land-its canvas, its work-magnificent. From my view, perched up high and safe in the cave, Drew appeared to be nothing more than a tiny speck as I tried to capture with a camera the grandness of the arch. I was instantly reminded of years ago when my Aunt Cookie, my Uncle Gary, and my cousin, Holly all took me along on their vacation out west and we visited arches quite similar to this one. Only difference in the two was here on the other side lie the south pacific, out west on the other side was about a 2000+ foot drop. I didn’t have to be QUITE as careful here…
From there it was a short walk to the Matapa Chasm, which, according to guidebooks, was the favorite swimming spot of prior Niue kings. One quick glance and I instantly knew why as what lay before me was the clearest of blue, natural pools nestled amongst the limestone walls. In less than a minute I’d stripped off my hiking clothes and was diving into the water as I found it completely irresistible. I couldn’t risk looking back on this one day and wishing so much that I had jumped in. Refreshing would be an understatement and for about fifteen minutes I FELT like a queen as the water washed away the evidence of the bike ride before. I hated to get out of the water but we’d seen pictures of our final destination for the day and if it was at all possible, the Limu Pools were even more of a sight to see…
So off we went and this time it was Drew’s turn to dive in the cool waters and refresh himself. The damaging effects of Cyclone Heta were evident amongst the coral here although slowly but surely the sea life is beginning to return. Try as I might to describe it’s beauty, try as I might to capture it with a camera, sometimes I just don’t know if there are words possible or a photograph worthy. We returned the bikes that afternoon and although my butt was sore, as rental bikes never are very comfy, I felt I could leave Niue with a better sense of what the island had to offer and all I can say is wow…what an experience. We sadly said farewell, donning our best Finding Nemo whale voices, to our newfound harbor friends and set sail for Tonga yesterday afternoon. I honestly can say that being amongst those gentle giants ranks up there as one of the top highlights thus far in my life. It was absolutely incredible.
Granted the trip continues to go well, we’ll arrive in Tonga tomorrow morning, having lost a full day so it will be Friday for us and still Thursday back home. Lots of friends will be in Vava’u and we are anxiously awaiting a reunion with all of them and the joint birthday party on Honeymoon Saturday night!