Well, it is now Friday the 22nd of August. We have taken care of all the paperwork needed to officially leave Niue. Like everything out here the paperwork was a pleasure. Officials super friendly and happy to help a very nice treat for us. So, Willow is basically ready for a morning departure and I find myself sitting on board, hiding from the rain that has enveloped us. I decided to put up a few more shots Bonnie and I thought were pretty good of the natural world we have experienced.
Below is Bonnie checking out all the little critters that live in the coral. She can spend hours and hours in the water. By the time she usually get out, she is nearly blue from cold, and that is in water that is over 80 degrees.
Here is Jason, getting ready to try and spear a fish or two, not sure of the outcome on this particular day, but likely we did not end up with much. None of us have had great success with the spear guns, ah well; just the same, it is fun to swim around with the intent anyway.
Bonnie is the real water rat on Willow. She is getting very good at free diving now, able to get quite deep for longer and longer times. I tend to spend my time in the outrigger sliding along the surface. Here she is having fun with the cameraman.
Yep, we see lots of sharks out here, but they do not seem all that interested in us. Usually they come by to have a look at us, but then decide we are not of much interest and move on. On the other hand, we have met several local islanders along the way that have some rather nasty scars from shark bites. The young boy on Palmerston, John, had a very recent bite on his calf from a Moray Eel. Luckily it did not clamp down, just took a taste and let go. I am amazed how comfortable we all have gotten around the sharks; they are really fun to watch. A new game I have played is to put a big chunk of fish on a big hook and lower it over the side. We then climb into the water and hold onto Willow and watch what happens. After a few minutes the sharks show up and the show begins. It is really amazing to watch them hit the bait and not let go, not until we haul them out of the water that is.
This is Matt from the boat “Robyn,” doing a superman.
Back on land now, we have a few good pictures from here on Niue. There are numerous caves around the island to climb around in and swim through. Here is Jason after emerging from a cave walk onto the reef.
This is a shot of the mooring field off the west side of the island. It is rather deep and rock strewn for anchoring here, so all of us hook into the moorings set there by the local yacht club. That’s right, there is an official Yacht Club here, certified and everything. They serve cold beer and drinks, ice cream and other tasty treats. Not to mention being a nice shady spot with tables and chairs for us cruisers to take a break and meet one another.
A few more cave shots here. Jason looking a bit small in the cave.
Jason looking even smaller in another cave.
Bonnie is endless in here energy for exploration. Non-stop on the go. Niue was a good place to rent bicycles and spend days riding around to see what is out there.
There I am. I gave up the camera for a while I guess.
Bonnie and Jason doing a little water ballet for me. Guess you had to be there to fully appreciate the entertainment value. It was very, very funny.
My beautiful and entertaining Bonnie.
That is me in there playing cave monkey. It was good fun climbing around, then getting to jump back down into the cool waters.
Another parting shot of Willow as we look for a good place to anchor. Bonnie is up on the forward sail bundle getting a better view down into the water for coral heads and the like. You can also see the outrigger canoe stored up on deck. We did not move far that day, in protected waters, so, left the dingy trailing astern and the canoe just set on deck.
Well, there you go, a bit more to see I guess. Will likely be a while before the next update. We should be in Tonga within 3 days then to Fiji by the end of September. We will be moving onto the delivery catamaran and heading for Thailand by the 5th of October or so, but will try to keep up on our movements as I can.