Safe arrival in Niue - will we ever get a good nights sleep?
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Thu 29 May 2014 21:47
We were told to go ashore and wait on the wharf for the customs people to come to us. The rule here is that you are not allowed ashore until customs give you permission and you then have to wait for them to come to you. They refused to allow Keith to drive us to their offices, as that would mean we would be leaving the wharf, quite what way thought we would, get up to on an island that is about 10km long and 12km wide at the furthest points is a mystery.
Landing the dinghy in Niue is very different to anywhere else due to the surging water at the dock. When we first arrived, Stuart took us in to show us how it is done. There is a mechanical crane at the wharf with a large hook that you attach to the lifting bridle that you have already rigged in the dinghy. You then lift the dinghy clear of the water and place it down on the trolley. Once balanced on the trolley, the hook is removed and the trolley is used to wheel the dinghy into a 'parking space' and then the dinghy is taken off the trolley - simple! Actually the whole system works very well and is a lot easier than it sounds. There are almost always people on the dock, other yachties or anyone else who will help if you need it.
Operating the dinghy hoist - a simpler system than it looks!
After clearing in and having a well deserved beer at the yacht club, we went to Brizo for afternoon tea and ended up staying for dinner. The first night was very rolly, so much so that John ended up sleeping in the lounge and we even thought about leaving the island early, we got more sleep doing watches on the way here!
We did have to stay another night though as we had a tour booked in the afternoon. In the morning we cleaned the boat - I haven't seen her as salty as this for months, everything you touched was caked in salt!
The tour in the afternoon gave us a taste of the main site on the eastern side of the island. There were a few snorkelling and swimming opportunities, but neither of us really felt like it, and the weather was overcast, so stripping off and getting wet and salty wasn't hugely appealing.
The trail down to the caves
Beautiful clear water
The coral formations make for interesting colours!
John walking out where we would have snorkelled - as you can see it was a bit grey and cold!
Recognise these 2?
More pics from our tour - mostly coral caves!
Niue is one of the smallest countries in the world and the largest raised coral atoll in the world. It is small as I have said, and there are about 1,500 people living there. Of these, there are about 800 of working age, and over 450 of them work for the government. Although self governing, Niueans have New Zealand citizenship and the island is under New Zealand's protection should it ever be needed. There used to be many more people on the island, over 6,000 up until the airport was built in the 70's. As soon as that was complete and people had saved the money for the airfare, nearly 5,000 people left, never to return.
When people left the island, they still retained the land their homes were built on. This land is unlikely ever to be sold as all the locals have their own land and foreigners aren't allowed to buy any, only lease it. The houses that were on the land have been left to decay, which is a shame as for every two nice houses together there is at least one total eyesore, and the people who own the houses are reluctant, to say the least, to do anything about the state of them.
See what I mean?
Tourism is the main industry on the island and there is 1 resort and a few smaller B&B type places. Nothing grows here so, apart from coconuts, everything is imported. The supply ship, which was in when we arrived, brings everything from New Zealand. If the weather is too bad for the ship to dock, even on the second attempt, which happens a couple of times a year it simply leaves and comes back next time it is due. This means that basic necessities do run out from time to time. Also, when the ship is delayed docking, the quality of the fresh food deteriorates somewhat.
The diet on the island is suffering from the same problems as many other islands we have been to. Fresh food is expensive, whereas processed food is not. Potatoes for example are currently about 6 New Zealand dollars a kilo, (£3 ish), whereas a kilo of oven chips is about 2 dollars. Also the quality of food is an issue. Most of the processed food sent out to the islands is of a lesser quality anyway, so you can imagine what it is like by the time is gets there, is unpacked and then sold. The best thing to buy here is alcohol. As Niue is, to all intents and purposes, part of New Zealand, the alcohol comes from New Zealand and is sold at duty free prices. All the boats were stocking up on good wines at good prices - a far cry from what we have been used to in Polynesia, which was average wine at high prices.
In all, it was a great place for a stop over. The second night the rolling stopped and we all slept better. Brizo had however given up and went to sea early to avoid another rolly night, we will catch up with them again in Tonga. The island is beautiful and everyone is friendly and helpful. We didn't manage to dive here as we ran out of time having to get to Tonga for the rendezvous and taking into account losing a day on the way.
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