Leaving Niue
26 August 2009 | Niue
Paula
We have had a fantastic time here in Niue, but it would have to be one of our worst anchorages, extremely rolly...so we're heading off because we figure it can't be as bad at sea! Niue however was great. The day before yesterday we got directions from a friend and did an extreme cave walk/dive. It entailed taking dive torches, mask & snorkel, head lamps, good footwear and foot to head clothing. It started with a 40 minute walk into a place where there was a fissure in the rocks (the rocks on Niue are lava & razor sharp), sliding into a limestone rock formation using head lamps to see and traversing across to a rope and making a wide step across a drop off onto a huge boulder. Picking the way around the boulder and down to the crystal clear pool in the chasm. Put on our mask and snorkel, triple bagged our head lamps, (and the instructions) and swum across the pool to a 'v' shaped gap. Dived under that and into a cavern using our dive torches. Snorkeled across that cavern to some rocks on the other side and climbed out and over to one of 3 pools. We jumped into the left hand pool and snorkeled across to the other side of that pool (of course this is totally dark now, hence our lights). Unfortunately we couldn't find the way out, the next step of our instructions had us looking in the wrong direction for the exit, so rather than risk anything, we came out the same way as we came in which was lovely with the sun shining in under the gaps in the rocks as we made our way toward sunlight.
Yesterday was a diving day. We did two excellent dives in the morning. Both cave dives and in quite unique terrain. One was predominantly swim throughs and large caves with sunlight coming in through the large openings, lots of fish and some sea crates (which basically look like banded sea snakes but are endemic to Niue), and the next dive was a bubble cave where we dived in through a entrance and into a dark cave and surfaced inside the cave to see stalagmites & tights with the air misty with the compression of the sea, then onto more swim throughs and canyons.
In the afternoon we went out on a whale watching/swimming encounter and were rewarded with a very co-operative whale who into 10 minutes of our trip did a barrel twisted breach within 30 feet of our boat...unfortunately no time to get the photos! We did manage to get in the water and swim with him/her for a while until he/she got bored with us and dived. But not before we got quite close. A very majestic animal and a unique experience for us. We saw lots of tail soundings and waving pectoral fins, although I'm not sure that I caught any on the camera or if I only got the big splash after.
It's 250 miles so we should be there on Friday morning (yours and our time as we will be crossing the date line on this passage).
When we get to Nieafu it will be the completion of our circumnavigation!