Adventures on Niue

Whales, Speight’s, road-tripping, cave-diving, snorkeling, curry and nightclubbing sums up our sensational 2 1/2 days stay on Niue. Talk about a whirlwind tour of the island. We got a premonition that the stop would be mayhem based on me having an awesome Angel of Death sweat-patch on my back when I checked us in with Customs and Immigration.

Right next to Customs you could buy duty-free beer when you checked in. Since I’ve been taught never to say no to a drink, we bought a slab of Speight’s. It goes without saying that nothing goes down the hatch better, while watching the sun dip below the horizon, than the Pride of the South.

What happens when you drink a “couple” of Speight’s?

Mayhem! … ehm … The picture is from our dinghy ride to land. There we proceeded to devour some delicious curry, before we went nightclubbing. Luckily only 2 pictures survived to tell their tale of the evening.

Early the next morning we had the Niue Whale Research Team onboard AI, because we had agreed to take them out for the day, so that they could look for whales. Their original research vessel capsized en route, so they asked any boat that came in, for a ride for the day. Though we didn’t see any whales, they had brought hydrophones with them, so we got to hear the whales singing.

The following day we rented a car and set out early to explore the island. Our first stop was the market, where we drank coconut milk and Kjersti and I enjoyed some delicious chocolate cake.

We headed over to Vaikona Chasm and went for a scenic hike. We followed this by a trip to Anapala. Where the colors of the reef and water was amazing. From the awesome shoreline, we headed into a cave where we went swimming. I had heard there were water-snakes there, so when I swam through in the dark, it is safe to say I was extremely alert to any movement.

After a relaxing lunch at the super friendly Niue Yacht Club, we headed north and went cave diving at Avaiki.

When we finally exited the caves after a 1000 dives and jumps, the sun was dropping towards the horizon and it was time for us to return the car, and retire to AI, because the next morning we were setting off for Tonga. I’d like to think that we had a power-stop at Niue. We could easily have stayed longer, but because it was so short and intense I think we got much more than we could have hoped for out of it. One thing is for sure: I’d like to return there!