Niue and Tonga February 1st and 3rd. No February 2nd

We continued our journey across the South Pacific with a stop at Alofi, the capital of Niue.  Niue is one of the smallest countries in the world covering just 100 square miles.  The population runs ~1000 people descendants from Samoan, Tongan and Cook Islanders.  While we found the natives friendly when Captain Cook happened upon the island he was driven off and not allowed to land.  He named the place “Savage Island.”

Unlike the previous volcanic islands, Niue is formed by solid coral limestone.  Thus there are none of the high cliffs we saw on other islands.

You can see how flat it is.

While small, it does have a yacht club.

The island coast line is very sheer and rocky.

One of the interesting pass times is to wander over the tidal pools left behind by the receding tide.  They are like small aquariums full of sea life and coral.  In this picture you can see an expanse of tidal pools and some folks wandering over them.   They can also be very deadly and a slip will result in a number of cuts and bruises.  You also have to watch the tide as it changes very quickly. 

  

I haven’t shown you that we are working with a number of different languages and currencies.  Here is a sign in Alofi.   Niue uses the New Zealand dollar.

Couldn’t resist a south pacific paradise shot of our ship.

We set sail on Feb 1st and arrived the next day, February  3rd, at Nuku’Alofa, Tonga.   An explanation…we crossed the International Date Line that evening and lost February 2nd.   I’m not going to try to explain that here.  If you are interested in why there is plenty of info on the net.

Tonga (known locally as Tongatapu) was our last island in the Pacific.  The currency is the Tonga pa’anga (1.85 p to 1 USD).  I’d love to show you pictures of Tonga but it isn’t going to happen.  I went on an early morning SCUBA dive with a local company and it lasted all day.  In the Caribbean we’d be back by noon.  Here we got back at 3:45, 30 minutes to sailing.  I forgot about Island time.  Anyway, I dove with a fellow shipmate.  Just the two of us.  This is the dive boat we used.

Their small boat was in the shop so we set off in this.  It was a very nice boat, roomy for the two of us.  It went about as fast as the African Queen (if you are a movie buff).  Yes, that is a thatched roof.  This is a picture of our divemaster/Captain (center) and crew.  It was a very interesting diving.  I was very impressed with the visibility, under seas life, and colorful coral at all the islands.  The average water temp of 82f was not bad either.  Our next dive is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Since I have no pictures, a couple of interesting items.  Faka Tonga (the Tongan way) permeates the island.  They don’t like to brag so will generally not tell you about the history or the sites of the island.  You have to ask so they can answer with the story.  Tongan society is based on the extended family.  Children are often shared with relatives and there is no notion of a child belonging to a parent.  There is no language distinction between brother, sister and cousin.

They had a cyclone in 2004 that did a lot of damage.  Many of the homes and businesses have not been rebuilt yet.  This is a picture of an island freighter blown ashore by the cyclone.

That is all for this issue.  It is a two day sail from Tonga to Auckland, NZ, our next port of call.  I’m writing this on the evening before we arrive.  I’ll go ashore and use an internet café to send it and catch-up with all our electronic stuff.  Much less expensive and faster than the ship.  This ends for a while our extended sea days.  We’ll be stopping at seven ports in NZ in the next eight days.  We’ll write again when we catch our breath.

Our best to everyone.    Ken & Noreen