Blowin' Bubbles Our Story ~ 2011-2019: Niue

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Thursday, August 25, 2016

Niue

Welcome to our Blog. Our latest entry always comes up first...
Click this link if you want to start at the beginning:
FIRST BLOG ENTRY
If you want to start at the beginning of our trip:
START OF TRIP
If you want to see the story of our trip from South Carolina
(where we bought the boat)
to Lake Ontario Click this link:
SOUTH CAROLINA

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After such an incredible visit in Palmerston we wondered what our journey would bring us next....

Niue is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, 2,400 kilometers (1,500 mi) northeast of New Zealand, and east of Tonga, south of Samoa and west of the Cook Islands. Its land area is 260 square kilometers (100 sq mi) and its population, predominantly Polynesian, is around 1,190. They commonly refer to the island as "The Rock", a reference to the traditional name "Rock of Polynesia".

Niue, whose capital is the village of Alofi, is a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand; and New Zealand conducts most diplomatic relations on its behalf. Niueans are citizens of New Zealand, and Queen Elizabeth II is head of state in her capacity as Queen of New Zealand. Between 90–95% of Niuean people live in New Zealand, along with about 70% of the speakers of the Niuean language.

The most distinctive characteristic we found was the peoples friendliness... No one passed without some kind of greeting... Even in a vehicle, people waved as the vehicles passed.... The one thing we struggled with was the incredibly high cost of everything on the island. A Coke cost $5, Beer is $5-$8, and a loaf of fresh bread is $5.... Don't even ask what Doritos cost!

That said, we realize that everything here must be brought in via a container supply ship so it stands to reason, everything must cost more.... The one item I just couldn't get over was the price of a replacement spark plug for our generator... I last purchased the very same plug from Amazon for $4. Yesterday, I found the only supplier on the island who had one, and he asked for $20.... Ouch!

The price of things aside, what a beautiful place. Niue is one of the world's largest coral islands. The terrain consists of steep limestone cliffs along the coast with a central plateau rising to about 60 meters above sea level. A coral reef surrounds the island, with the only major break in the reef being in the central western coast, close to the capital, Alofi. Yesterday we rented a car and explored the island and the most notable feature we found was the number of limestone caves found close to the coast.

The bay here is very deep 30+ meters (100+ feet) so the Niue Yacht Club has provided a number of moorings for visiting yachts for $20 per night. There is also almost nowhere to land a dinghy here so the Niue Yacht club as seen to it that we have access to a crane to lift our dinghies on to the wharf...