Niue (pronounced new-way) is the second smallest country (only the Vatican State has less inhabitants) in the world, with only 1,500 inhabitants. Niue has only one habituated island, and another 3 reefs with no land mass. We stopped by one of those, Beveridge Reef, on our way to the main island.
The nickname for Niue is “The Rock”, as this is exactly what it is. It is one of the largest raised atolls in the world. There are cliffs all around the island, as the island shoots out of the sea. At low tide, there is a reef shelf that becomes visible around most of the island. It is possible to walk on the shelf, and snorkel in the many tide pools that become accessible.
We arrived in the “port” of Alofi, Niue in the early morning hours after a one night sail from Beveridge Reef. As long as the wind comes from the southeast, it is fairly calm there. However, if the wind turns (as it tends to do about every ten days this time of year), we need to either leave the anchorage and sail on the other side of the island and wait there by sailing back and forth, or continue to our next destination.
There is really no official port here, and nowhere to leave the boat close to shore. The anchorage is very deep, so the local yacht club installs moorings that are available about six months per year. During the cyclone season (December to May), boats are not allowed to visit the island.
At the dock, there is nowhere to leave a boat, which means that every time a boat is going into the waters, a crane is used to lift it in and out. The locals all have boat trailers that they put the boat, and drive it to and from the docks. For the cruisers, there is a trolley available to put your dingy on, and then you roll it over to a parking lot. This was certainly one of those occasions where we would have liked to have our original dinghy, which was a little smaller and lighter than the one we ended up getting…
Right now it is winter in the Southern hemisphere. This means that it gets colder the further south we go. We were warned before we left Penrhyn (which is north in the Cook Islands) about the low temperatures in the south in July. We quickly learned to put on our long sleeved sweaters during the early morning tea routine. And, we even saw the need to pull out our Norwegian summer duvets, as we had less than 20 degrees Celsius at night. It seems we have really gotten used to the warm, tropical climate….
Niue is known for its many caves, which we explored both onshore and diving. Onshore, there are several hikes, and sea walks that take you to the caves. There are also several narrow chasms, where the daylight just barely seeped through the rock formations.
There were so many awesome photo opportunities on our cave and sea walks. The captain brought the big camera along, and took some awesome pictures.
And the admiral also took some photos of our tour of the island, which do not look as amazing…
Niue is a sovereign state, but in free association with New Zealand. That is also where most of the land based tourism comes from. Due to this, we could splurge in New Zealand merchandise in the stores, and enjoy several cafes and restaurants with “kiwi” specials.
Travelling through Polynesia so far, we have noticed there is not really a coffee culture amongst the locals. Even though we are not big coffee drinkers, we do like our occasional latte and some baked goods to go with it. We were so happy to discover that there were several coffee shops in Niue, and the baked goods were delicious.
Alofi town also had several decent restaurants, most of them serving lunch only, but a few were open for dinner. We had two dinners with fellow sailors while we were there, some of them we hadn’t seen for more than a year. It was fun to compare notes of what we had experienced as well as sharing future plans.
We were also cultural while we were in Niue, and visited the high school that had a celebration of the end of the first semester before having a winter break. Each of the four levels had several impressive performances, both songs and dances where the students were wearing amazing costumes.
Another cultural experience we had, was visiting a sculpture park, which was a community project with many people contributing. The visitors were also encouraged to interact to the sculptures, so we ensured we contributed our part!
We have noticed that the Polynesians bury their loved ones on their property to keep them close even after they pass on. Normally, somewhere in their garden, as the land is regarded sacred and an integral part of the family and its history. And, when it comes to public figures, they are often buried along roads and other public places. So, normally not in association with a church site.
There are a lot of abandoned houses in Niue. There was a cyclone that had a direct hit here in 2004, and much of the island on the western side got destroyed – especially in the capital, Alofi. Many islanders decided to move to New Zealand afterwards, and the rebuilding of the island has taken a while.
Compared to many other island communities we have visited over the past 1.5 years in the Pacific, Niue seems to be in a decent place in terms of surviving, even with many inhabitants choosing to relocate to New Zealand. The uniqueness of this rock is so special, that there seems to be a steady flow of tourists that come here to seek a remote and genuine holiday away from the more beaten tracks.
We really loved Niue, and had so many awesome onshore and underwater experiences, that we will share our dive experiences in a separate blog post coming soon!