My small but fairly new and clean Nissan Note car was delivered on time at 8am and I was off on the first of four days of covering every inch of ground of Niue. I made a stop at the police station to get my plastic drivers license in only 10min !!! If only it was like that in Australia !!! I divided the island into four quadrants over four days: West-South and West-North, East-South and East-North. This post covers the first two quadrants or the entire West Coast of the island.
The weather during the West-South was terrific – almost no cloud and plenty of sun. Most attractions are “Sea Tracks” or pathways from the road down to the reef and water. Niue suffers from the same problem as Pohnpei Island in MICRONESIA – there are no sandy beaches !!! Instead just basalt cliffs with coral reefs at the base. Pohnpei swaps the cliffs and reefs with mangroves – lots of them. Niue also features many caves and rock pools as a result of its geography but it is almost impossible to find a stretch of coastline calm and clear enough to ocean swim. During my West Coast adventure the wind was up and there was plenty of chop in the sea so I had to rely on my snorkeling boat trip to get a 2km swim notched up. I saw the following attractions during my West-South drive: Amanau Sea Track & Pools (Snorkel) near Pacific Way Bar, Anaana Lookout & Burial Cave, Foiama Beach Cove, Avatele Beach (Snorkel), Pofitu Sea Track & Beach, Matavai Resort. My favourite was Anaana Lookout – it was one of the scariest cliffs I have filmed from – huge ocean waves crashing against the scraggy sharp basalt cliffs below me, sending water many metres into the air above my head together with the loud hiss and roar of the smashing waves. I ended up in the Matavai Resort – easily the best hotel on the island with jaw-dropping views of the south-east bay and definitely not a place for me to stay !!!
The highlight of my West-South journey was the afternoon of boat snorkeling and the quite unexpected whale watching in the afternoon for 3-4hrs. Our boat was launched from Robertson’s Wharf in Alofi and we headed south along the coast to Amanau where we snorkeled for an hour. The coral here is spread out with limited colours. What is different is underwater landscape that the coral clings to. Huge underwater canyons and caves !!! Another differentiator is the myriads of coloured fish feeding feverishly on the coral and not that camera shy !!! I also saw three reef sharks, a green turtle and plenty of sea snakes (harmless). Then a surprise call from the skipper to return to the boat – he had spotted a Humpback Whale !!! We sped off into the deep approx. 2-3km from the coast and there they were. Two males, arriving ahead of the July season on a reconnaissance mission ahead of the pack to find the best place for the still-travelling mums to give birth. Amazing creatures. I have seen them before but it was a treat to see them here in Niue.
My West-North expedition, the following day, started overcast but gradually the sun made guest appearances. This day featured many more Sea Tracks and easily the best caves. I visited: Omahi Sea Track, Togalupo Sea Track, Vaila Sea Track & Beach, Namoui Reefs, Nukai Peniamina's Grave (Nukai Peniamina was a Niuean who brought Christianity to the island of Niue in 1846), St Joseph Catholic Church & Mission (Est 1955), Namoui Point, Makefu Sea Track, Avaiki Cave (Snorkel), Palaha Cave, Hio Sea Track & Beach, Limu Pools. The Avaiki and Palaha Caves are a masterpiece and jaw-dropping. They both have cavernous interiors full of stalagtites and stalagmites but they are open to the sea. So strange to see what you think is a subterranean cave right next to a seething frothing ocean – once again the wind was up and the coast very choppy and turbulent – still no 2km swim !!! Finally I came to my last stop, The Limu Pools which are a maze of rock pools set back from the ocean and potentially swimmable but I would need to circle them several times so I decided to wait for a better location. I headed home early arvo to wait for low tide and headed back to Avaiki and Palaha Caves and saw their fabulous much praised rock pools, which appear at low tide (1630-1730 in Niue). They are simply amazing as you will see below.
Just a quick note on food. The local food is very basic – talo (taro), cassava, breadfruit and shellfish. The local delicacy is Uga (coconut crab). I will show you in my next post. Most locals however eat what we eat thanks to plenty of shipments from Woolies in New Zealand. I had a fully stocked kitchen so cooked rump steaks, chicken breast, crumbed fish fillets, chips and plenty of mixed frozen veggies with pasta sauce - much like home.
Enjoy the West Coast of Niue...
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