Alofa, Niue

Another gorgeous island in the Pacific! We were in the Queen's Lounge for tender tickets by 6:45. Only 1000 people live on this island so I figured the taxis would go out to the first people on shore. We had planned to go with another couple. Somehow John ended up with tender 3 tickets for us even though there were only 3 other people there when we arrived. I guess it was a feeding frenzy (I'd gone to get coffee) and he's not pushy like the rest of the passengers. At any rate, 1 and 2 went on the first tender, we were on the second.

Once on the pier, I looked for a taxi to take us to the Limu Pools, tide pools where it is good for snorkeling. There was a gentleman selling tours. He already had 4 people for his car but said his wife was on the way. The tour was for 3 hours around the island but said we could snorkel and not see as much, which was fine with us. We rode thru the small town of Alofa to get a rental car for the tour. We stopped at one church which was quite new. A cyclone came thru this area about 7 years ago and wiped out a lot. There were many abandoned building and houses everywhere we went. Of course the main town consisted of a few buildings, nothing more. The main road around the island barely held one car, we had to move over to the side when a car was passing. The jungle was dense on both sides of the road in many places. It is a coral island, so you could see huge chunks of coral covered with ferns and other plants.

Our first stop was the Limu Pools. We'd heard about that area on the ship. We had to walk down a trail to get to the water. It was beautiful. There were a few fish and small, living coral. They had regrown since the cyclone. A new thing to swim with here too.......snakes!!! I was in the water first and had headed thru a natural arch. I saw a snake at the opening of the other side so went back to let someone else go first. We had been told that the snakes are harmless, but it was still a bit creepy to be swimming with them. There was quite a current in that area so we didn't stay in too long.

 

Up and over a large rocky/coral area was another pool. That one was calmer. It was really beautiful with different kinds of fish than we'd seen at other places. Mel got a great movie of a snake with his Flip Video. We hiked back up to the car and took off toward the northern most point of the island. We kept passing other buses and vans full of ship folks. It was a crowded day on Niue!

 

Next stop we got out and walked down a road to the sea. There were steps taking us along the side of the cliff to some caves. Some of the natives keep their outriggers in the caves. One was pretty destroyed by the last cyclone. That one didn't hit Niue but caused the ocean to swell a lot.

 

Along the road our guide stopped to show us a small field of vanilla plants. I don't think I've ever seen it growing before. It is a vine that will grow on another plant, interesting. We stopped at another place with a path thru the jungle, along a cliff. At the end was a chasm, cliffs on both sides of a beautiful pool. We snorkeled there also. Not as much to see but the water was crystal clear and beautiful. Very different to snorkel with cliffs on both sides.

 

It was finally time to go back so we were taken to the main little shopping area, a U shaped place with a few very small shops. Not much to buy other than shell necklaces and T shirts. There was one shop with beautiful baskets, but most were too large to carry home. We headed back to the pier.

 

At the pier, there were steps down to a reef area. The tide was out so we could walk right across to a large almost flat area. There were indents with fish in them as well as some live coral. Very nice. We were back on the ship by 1:00. Sail away today was 1:30, the earliest yet. We will hit Tonga at 8 a.m. tomorrow, which to us will be February 3....we cross over the International Date Line tonight.

 

You may have noticed that there are more pictures on my blog and they are posted in a more creative way! I have my own person blog master. :) After spending almost 30 minutes trying to upload a picture to the blog, I emailed a friend to see if he would do it for me. It's much faster to email a picture than to try to upload it. He just happens to be an excellent graphic artist and web site creator, so I picked the right friend! He actually did a bit of magic on one of our pictures. Mel hadn't gotten me standing just right so my nose would be touching the Moai on Easter Island. Michael fixed it. Thanks Michael! I'm sure everyone is enjoying seeing more pictures.