We arrived the afternoon of the 14th, at about 3pm. We had read in the guide books that the harbor was small, but we had no idea just how small. There were about 6 boats medmoored on the quay and not really enough space for any more. We contemplated just going on to Niue, but we were both too tired. So we managed to squeeze in between a New Zealand boat, Libelle, and a Finnish boat, both of whom were very helpful. We got tied up and the boat cleaned up and went to a hamburger stand just up the way to grab dinner. Being that we had no NZ dollars, they let us give them an IOU in exchange for our burgers and fries. I think we were both asleep by 8pm.

In the morning, we checked in with the very nice harbormaster and then rented bikes to ride around the island. Like Bora Bora, the other side of the island, away from the dirty harbor, was absolutely gorgeous with white sand beaches and huge breaking waves on the reef. It's too bad that most boats don't get past town. After a grueling and hot ride, we treated ourselves to lunch of Ika Mata, the local version of the Tahitian poisson cru. That afternoon I splurged on a pedicure and in the evening we went to dinner and an "island show" at a local restaurant??"both were great.

On Saturday morning there was a fantastic farmer's market just up from the harbor. They had everything from fresh produce to BBQ to arts and crafts. We got some produce and local prepared foods, including coconut rolls, pumpkin pudding and creamed yucca leaves. Rode into town for a great cappuccino at Mama's Caf� and went to the internet caf� and a very modern grocery store. It was a nice change to see New Zealand products, rather than the French products we have been seeing for months. Prices were quite nice too. Had la wonderful lunch at a little snack stand on the water and left that afternoon around 3pm for Tonga. We got off the quay without a hitch and we had a wonderful first night of sailing.