2:00am Wednesday 8/21:
We left Niue at 12:45 am…..ugh!!!! As a parting gift from Niue as Kathy and I were retrieving the flopper stopper, I inadvertently stepped on a bee….oweeeee……and, I’m allergic…..so, a couple of Benadryl and some hydocortisone cream and I’m good to go….of course, the foot is now a size 20…yuck!!!!
We are heading to the Vava’u group in Tonga…..this is a collection of small islands with 20-30 different anchorages…..maybe similar to cruising in BVI.
The ride has been fairly comfortable…..15-20 kt winds behind us and a 2-4′ sea…sweet!!
We loved Niue…..wow, what a place, very remote and has some of the nicest people we have met!! It is supposedly the smallest independent island/nation in the world…..but, it still gets a lot of support from New Zealand…..the population is ~1300 people down from ~6000 people maybe 10-15 years ago. It seems after the airport opened there was a big exodus to New Zealand! It is an island that used to be underwater and is mainly coral and limestone and has some very interesting sea caves, rock formations and chasms. We rented a van with sv Bravo (Adam and Cindy) and sv Bella Star (Aaron and Nicole) for our stay and toured the island one cave/formation at a time.
We also did several local events…..went to Jenna’s for a local buffet and dance show…..the food was all local…..the Uga (coconut crab) soup was outstanding as well as the tuna sashimi…..they put hot pepper in the soy sauce instead of wasabi….I still can’t seem to acquire a taste for taro…..tastes like a potato but w/no flavor….very starchy. 3 former Miss Niue’s performed some local dances…..the dancing is more sensual than in FP…..yeah baby 🙂 ))))!!!
We went to a local “sizzle”……happy hour with New Zealand sausages…..maybe not as good as Wisconsin brats….but very close…..we played a trivia game……30 questions from a bar in Dundee Scotland…..needless to say we did not win 🙁 (((((
We also went to a local “gala” or “show day”. Each village hosts a local fair annually…there are about 14 villages so an event every month. There are many “booths” with local food…..fish, bbq chicken and steaks as well a roasted/smoked pig…..plus lots of taro!!!! There were many games….like “seka” a type of spear throwing, basket weaving contest and more dancing…..a very good time by all!!!
We did do some snorkeling and got one dive in. There is only one diver operator on the island and they were booked…..this is their high season and are very busy with NZ tourists. Supposedly there are some excellent caves to dive but we did not get to do any of that….bummer…..the one dive we did was off the boat…..a good dive…..many sea snakes that we also saw snorkeling….3-6′ long….they were a little curious about us but mainly shied away…..good thing as they have similar markings to a rattle snake…..whoa….but these guys were harmless and it was a treat to see them swimming along!!!!
Niue is also well known for whale watching…..we did see quite a few whales but nothing up close and personal…..darn, we were hoping to swim or dive with some…..maybe in Tonga?????
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Stats as of 7:00am 1800 UTC 8/21:
Position: 18 56S 170 40W
Traveled: 44nm today; 200nm to go; ETA Friday noonish
Course: 264M COG
Wind: 15-20 kt SSE
Waves: 4-6′ SE swell long period; 2-4′ wind chop off port aft qtr short period
Speed: avg 7.0 kts SOG; 1400 rpm
Weather: 20-40% cloud cover; no rain; sea temp 80.1 deg F
Boat sightings: 0 today
Fishing: will start fishing soon!!
Sail: not up
Fuel burn: no reading yet
Hope all is well!
John
Mystic Moon
