The day began with a nice sunrise as we sailed towards the island of Niue. The seas had been rolling during the night, but not so bad that it made walking impossible. And it sure did not look rough when we approached the town of Alofi, located on the milder side of this coral atoll. Actually, this island is possibly the world's largest raised coral atoll gaining it the title of "the rock of Polynesia". This oval-shaped island is 40 miles in circumference, and houses less than 1000 residents. Alofi is the smallest national capital city in population, and consists of two main villages…..the north and the south. The name of Niue literally means "behold the coconut", probably because the entire island is covered with them.
The island of Niue (pronounced new-way) was first populated with Polynesian sailors from Samoa in 900 AD. More settlers, probably invaders, came from Tonga in the 16th century. And as is the case in most of these islands, Captain Cook sighted the island in 1774, naming it Savage Island, since he may have gotten a less-than-friendly reception. Missionaries arrived in the late 1800's, and eventually Great Britain took over. In 1901, the island was turned over to New Zealand, who ruled until 1974, when it became a sovereign nation. So today, the locals are citizens of New Zealand as well as Niueans.
So what does one do in Niue on a day visit? We have read that the coral reefs make for great snorkeling and diving, although there are no real stretches of sandy beaches. Mostly rocky cliffs are on the shoreline, with pounding waves that have created interesting caves and hidden pools. During the right time of year, there is whale-watching and swimming with dolphins. Inland offers many hiking trails, and there are a few restaurants in town.
And to truthful, we have never done any of those activities on our previous visits here. Access to the water is not easy, as you have to negotiate steep stairs and cliffs. Once down at the water's edge, there are coral beds and no sandy beach. You can swim, but you must be mindful of the crashing waves from the ocean swells. And we have always missed whale season. But what we have enjoyed is talking to the locals, and taking one very long walk. We did see a lot of the damage that Cyclone Heta caused back in 2004. It had destroyed much of the infrastructure. It is understandable that many of the residents migrated to New Zealand during that period.
However, today tendering ashore was an impossibility, which the Captain announced before 8am. Even if they were able to bring guests over early, they may not be able to bring them back by the afternoon. So the decision was to cancel the port, and take a 4 hour ride around the entire island. All of the boats had been lowered, so after they were lifted, we began the circumnavigation. Many were disappointed, but for us, we really enjoyed the sight-seeing tour. This was the first time in all of the four visits here that we saw the other side of this island. And it was just as we expected…….there was nothing there but steep cliffs, high surf, and green hillsides covered with jungle growth and coconut palm trees. Talking to Christel this morning, she mentioned that we were the fourth HAL ship in a row that failed to connect here. This was our second miss.
We ended up going out on deck six forward, and watching the bird life. That was a real treat for us as we saw many white terns, brown boobys, and even the pretty tropic birds. At one point, we spotted a feeding frenzy as hundreds of birds gathered and picked off a shoal of small fish. We even saw something jump about the size of a sailfish, but were not fast enough to get a picture. We do remember that the locals have a deep sea fishing contest, where people come to compete.
The next best sighting had to be the numerous blow holes that spewed water like a fountain. They put on quite a show as they exploded up the 30 foot cliffs. We did keep a sharp lookout for some whales or dolphins, but they must be long gone by now. And by 2pm, we were also long gone.
The When & Where was revised with "day at sea" activities added. No need for anyone to be bored. And to brighten up everyone's day, there were Christmas decorations beginning to appear everywhere on the ship. The "elves" had been busy during the night we think. Even a train scene was added to the atrium on deck three. When it is complete, we will take some photos for all to see.
This evening, one of us was promised an entrée of swordfish wrapped in a banana leaf and cooked with spices. It had appeared on the menu one evening that we were dining in the Pinnacle. So tonight, it was served and it was totally appreciated. The other entrée was meatballs and spaghetti, a favorite dish for one of us.
The entertainer this evening was Dick Harwick, a comedian we met several years ago. Catching some of his show, we do think it was similar to his original act. The show lounge was full to the brim with the early diners.
And we had to put the clocks ahead one hour to put us on the right time for the next port of Rarotonga, Cook Islands on December 1st. But with another tender port, we never know for sure it will be a go.
Bill & Mary Ann
