Well, we finally made it out of French Polynesia! We caught a weather window and we took it! It was some sporty sailing, to be sure. We had a few days of winds between 22-27 knots and seas of 4-5 feet, so we were rocking and rolling! Sleeping was hard to come by and everything, including us, is covered in salt from dried seawater. But we made it to Niue. Our approach was novel. Normally, we always arrive in a strange port during daylight, but we arrived this time around midnight. Because the harbor (such as it is) is open to the sea (rather than through a pass in the reef) and involves grabbing a mooring rather than anchoring, we elected to come in while it was dark. All went well, and we even got a dolphin escort!

We spent 2 1/2 days in Niue and we are enchanted. It is an absolutely beautiful place with perhaps the friendliest people we have met so far. Niue (Nyoo-Way) is the world’s largest coral island and is home to 1700 people. Getting ashore is, shall we say, an adventure. There is no dinghy dock, because the ocean swell comes all the way to the shore, making a dock impossible. Instead, we hitched Piccola to a big electric crane, hoisted her completely out of the water and parked her in a spot on the wharf. Then we were off to explore.

We met another cruising couple, Tom and Karmen on Sauvage and shared a rental car for the day. We started the day at the local market, where we sampled the local breakfast dish: Nanē Pia (a coconut porridge). This consists of a gelatinous mixture of coconut and a ball of cooked taro root (looks like a Matzo ball). If it doesn’t sound too appetizing, well, it’s not really. At least to us. Niueans love it. After that it was off to explore Niue’s natural beauty.
We hiked to a variety of caves, pools, and arches. Because the island is made completely of fossilized coral, it has formed beautiful limestone caverns.

We also met one of Niue’s exclusive fauna: the katuali. The katuali is a venoumous, flat-tail sea snake found only in Niue. Happily, it is quite shy and it’s mouth is so small that it poses little risk to humans. That’s good, because they are pretty easy to find here. Exploring these was a real treat. Niue also has an excellent supermarket, so we were able to do some reprovisioning after 3 weeks away from civilization!
On our final day, we went to “Show Day” for the capital village of Alofi. Each village on Niue has an annual “Show Day” where they get together to celebrate their culture and community. The event included local foods (including coconut crab, of course-they are monsters!), music, and dance. It’s also an opportunity for local organizations to raise funds and it was a great feeling to contribute to the community.

Niue is quite remote. Because it has no harbor, there is no visitation from cruise ships. All imports are done via air freight, as cargo ships also cannot dock here. Tourism is limited-the only air service here is a twice-weekly flight from New Zealand. Even most cruisers pass Niue by because it can be dangerous if the winds are from the west-a cruising couple lost there boat here in May when the winds switched and a storm came through. I think that’s why everyone is so friendly. This is the first place we’ve visited where there is not a major tourism industry. People still welcome and value every visit they get. As we drove and walked around the island, nearly every single person waved or said “hello”. Imagine that. It’s fantastic! We love it here. Unfortunately, one of those westerly wind events is due this week, so we could not stay as long as we wished. As you read this, we are on our way. Next up: Tonga!