Palmerston, Cook Islands to Niue (previously known as Savage Island) 407 miles
Monday, 25. August 2008, 23:18:58
From a group of white sandy islands to a big, high and flat rock with no sand all alone in the ocean. We pick up the last of 20 mooring in even clearer water than at Palmerston. 120 foot down and you can see the sea bed.
Niue is totally different. The islands entire fabric is woven through with an extensive cave system. A big chunk is covered by virgin rainforest and coral surrounds the island, mostly at a depth but there are level patches making stunningly clear turquoise pools, grottos, caves and chasms all around the coast. The lack of sand keeps the water clear. The effort of walking down to sea level is always worth it. Before we could explore any of this we had to land.
On the cliff side about 100 foot (30 meters) above sea level was a huge storage tank with the side all caved in. We puzzled over how it had been damaged but didn’t guess it was wave action! Suddenly we felt a little small and vulnerable on Mind the Gap.
There is a concrete wharf built out from the town. With the swell running into the bay dinghies tied to it take a bit of a beating. The ingenious locals have installed a crane and all we needed to do was rig up a bridle in the dinghy, loop it over the hook of the crane, leap out at the steps, one of us holding onto the painter (rope on the dinghy) while the other pushed the lever to lift the crane. Once clear of the side wall and we could swing the dink over the land and above a small one size fits all trailer while the other pushed the lever to lower the crane. Move the trailer to an empty spot, slide off the dink and set the trailer and crane ready for the next user. It was such a novel way of landing and launching that it wasn’t until we were leaving Niue that we realized we didn’t take any photos of it.
Niue has more than its fair share of attractions and we hired a car for the day to take them all in. We took the time to walk down to all the hot spots usually having a swim in yet another pool before heading back to the car.
The only sand on the island is at an inland beach. From the car park a trail leads through the lush vegetation until it comes out and descends through a mass of jagged coral pinnacles to a little clear area. From here a passage leads off to a ravine with a ladder set against the rock down to a fine sandy beach with palm trees barely reaching to the top of the ravine.
We climbed down and explored through the tunnels to watch the waves thundering against the outer rocks before filtering through to the beach. Because we were in a car I kept changing out of my wet bather but here the water was just too deep for me to make it through without getting my trousers wet. We were the only ones at this beach so I took them off and left them on a rock. We were only a couple of minutes but long enough for another couple to arrive. Whoops!
Niue to Tonga 256 miles
Niue is totally different. The islands entire fabric is woven through with an extensive cave system. A big chunk is covered by virgin rainforest and coral surrounds the island, mostly at a depth but there are level patches making stunningly clear turquoise pools, grottos, caves and chasms all around the coast. The lack of sand keeps the water clear. The effort of walking down to sea level is always worth it. Before we could explore any of this we had to land.
On the cliff side about 100 foot (30 meters) above sea level was a huge storage tank with the side all caved in. We puzzled over how it had been damaged but didn’t guess it was wave action! Suddenly we felt a little small and vulnerable on Mind the Gap.
There is a concrete wharf built out from the town. With the swell running into the bay dinghies tied to it take a bit of a beating. The ingenious locals have installed a crane and all we needed to do was rig up a bridle in the dinghy, loop it over the hook of the crane, leap out at the steps, one of us holding onto the painter (rope on the dinghy) while the other pushed the lever to lift the crane. Once clear of the side wall and we could swing the dink over the land and above a small one size fits all trailer while the other pushed the lever to lower the crane. Move the trailer to an empty spot, slide off the dink and set the trailer and crane ready for the next user. It was such a novel way of landing and launching that it wasn’t until we were leaving Niue that we realized we didn’t take any photos of it.
Niue has more than its fair share of attractions and we hired a car for the day to take them all in. We took the time to walk down to all the hot spots usually having a swim in yet another pool before heading back to the car.
The only sand on the island is at an inland beach. From the car park a trail leads through the lush vegetation until it comes out and descends through a mass of jagged coral pinnacles to a little clear area. From here a passage leads off to a ravine with a ladder set against the rock down to a fine sandy beach with palm trees barely reaching to the top of the ravine.
We climbed down and explored through the tunnels to watch the waves thundering against the outer rocks before filtering through to the beach. Because we were in a car I kept changing out of my wet bather but here the water was just too deep for me to make it through without getting my trousers wet. We were the only ones at this beach so I took them off and left them on a rock. We were only a couple of minutes but long enough for another couple to arrive. Whoops!
Niue to Tonga 256 miles
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