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We left Bora Bora on Friday afternoon, 29th May and sailed towards the Cook Islands. The trip was a mixture of good winds and fast sailing at 8 knots or no wind and having to motor. During a period of light wind we flew the cruising chute. At 1 o'clock in the morning, it became wrapped round the fore stay, what's known as a wine glass, because that's what the sail looked like. Not much fun sorting this out in the dark. The next day William poled the chute out to prevent a repeat performance. Unfortunately it tore in half, again in the night and had to be removed. It was buried at sea. Next day William caught a 4.5 foot Dorado weighing about 12 pounds, with what is left of the fishing rod. We also had big waves for much of the passage and torrential rain for an entire day. Altogether not a very pleasant crossing, I took lots of sea sickness tablets. We did not stop in the Cook Islands but went the direct route to Niue, arriving Sunday morning, 7th June.
Niue is a coral island raised on a sea mount. It is quite large, 269 sq. km. Much of it covered by tropical rain forest. It is an independent island with close ties to New Zealand, the currency being the NZ dollar. The people are very friendly and speak English which helps us. In recent years the population has fallen from over 5000 to 1200, resulting in many abandoned houses and villages. Apparently when the airport opened there was a mass exodus to New Zealand. We visited the Yacht Club, at Mamata's café and ice cream parlour. It is known as the biggest little yacht club in the world and none of the members actually sail. It's certainly one of the friendliest yacht clubs and Mamata's ice cream was delicious. The yacht club provides a number of mooring buoys just off the wharf at the main town of Alofi. We went ashore by dinghy, an interesting experience. There is nowhere to tie dinghies up safely because of the strength of the surge, so on reaching the wharf you attach the dinghy to a crane and haul it right out of the water.
We hired a car for a day. Niue has an amazing coral coast interlaced with caves. We went to Talava arches. It was quite a trek through woodland and over coral but the three huge coral arches over the sea were spectacular as was the sea cave. Nearby was Matapa chasm where freshwater from the land mixes with the sea in a steep narrow inlet. I snorkeled, the water was crystal clear and cold. I snorkeled again at Limu pools, which are enclosed by the reef and again are a mixture of fresh and salt water. There were lots of colourful fish. We finished the day with a curry at the local Indian restaurant.
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