Niue "the rock"

Our 2 day sail to Niue wasn’t as bad as the previous trip but hey nothing can be that bad! The seas were still pretty big & it was an uncomfortable trip. Heartbreaking to arrive at night & have to sail in circles awaiting sunrise to head into the anchorage!

Niue was discovered by Captain Cook in 1774. It is a coral island with limestone rising steeply out of the sea at over 30 meters. It is a diver’s playground with numerous caverns, caves, arches, chimneys. Teamed with the crystal clear waters & amazing visibility to 70 meters other divers couldn’t get enough. Unfortunately the injury prone Bobby managed to get a badly infected insect bite that just grew & grew. He was treated by a doctor & fellow yachtie but it got so bad Bobby eventually headed to the islands hospital. They cut it open so it was now a huge crater, prescribed huge antibiotics & told him to remain out of the water. Not an easy request to follow when you live on a boat! & diving was a definite no, no!

Luckily there was plenty to explore around the island. Bobby patiently sat watching whilst I snorkelled in the various breathtaking spots around the island. Despite having no yachts Niue had a small Yacht Club, everyone’s social meeting place with the huge plus that served the best ice cream I have had since my last pot of Ben & Jerrys in England! As always the people here were friendly & inviting, they couldn’t do enough to help. With no buses on the island hitchhiking was the only option. The local people would go out of their way to take us to where we needed to go even if wasn’t where they were heading.

We waited out a bad weather front with help from another boats DVD collection & continued to tune into the South Pacific Net on the SSB (boats under sail check in twice a day giving their location & weather conditions on the radio). s/v Journey lost her head stay in the terrible conditions & was getting hit by huge waves. They were concerned her mast would come down & would therefore not be able to use the radio to call for assistance. Bobby & I woke through the night checking in with them on the hour, recording their position in case the worst should happen, updating them on weather & the layout of the anchorage. We knew what it was like to be out there & wanted to do all we could to help. Cruisers never fail to rise to the challenge to help each other even if they have never met & I still get a lump in my throat each time.