403: We Had to Leave Again...GRRR…But Niue Was Worth It

Last week we spent three days drifting behind Nui Island on a passage to nowhere, waiting for the west winds to ease before returning to the harbor. Now we're finally getting the chance to fully explore the reefs and unique limestone features that make this island so special. But the clock is ticking once again and our time in Nui may be cut Good morning. Wow it's the day after we got back in from our crazy three days at sea. We slept like champs last night. Brian had like a three hour nap and then slept I don't know 10 hours last night and I slept 13 straight. It feels so good to have caught up on a little bit of sleep. I know it's gonna take a few more days to get finally caught up but wow it is just so good to be at rest and everything went well with being on the ball we've turned around which is good that our stern is no longer up against the lee shore. This morning we are going diving finally after being here for a week we finally are going to get in the water Scuba diving in Nui is unlike anywhere else we've visited. The island's uplifted limestone geology and lack of rivers create some of the clearest water in the world, often with visibility exceeding 100 feet. Dramatic underwater caverns, arches and swim throughs are carved into the coastline while healthy coral reefs team with marine life. Among the most notable residents are sea snakes which are considered among the most venomous marine animals in the world. Fortunately they are not aggressive and generally show little interest in humans making encounters even in dark caves fascinating rather than frightening. Two dives down that was a lot of fun soaking the gear got to get it cleaned up. We enjoyed the two dives we probably won't go again because i think we're gonna be exploring the island for the rest of our time here. We're super excited today i'm just getting stuff together now for our day on land. We have rented a car and our friends Todd and Catherine on Lickety are gonna go with us and we're gonna explore the island. There are a number of really famous chasms and caves that we want to see. There's some that are up on the northwest side and then there are some down on the southeast side so we've got a really busy day and not all of it can be explored at low tide which is what you want to do to be able to have access to all of these places so we're just going to have to do our best in terms of what we see and when we see it so that's the plan for the day but we're first going to go to Todd and Catherine's for a little breakfast so we're excited about that. It's going to be a great day. Well the dolphin show made for an exciting start to the day and the topic of conversation as we use the crane to haul out our dinghy onto the wharf. A process that we didn't want to screw up or risk losing our only mode of transportation. Beautiful. You're lifting more than I am. Good job guys. After our dinghy was safely parked we walked up to the rental car agency which was closed but they left the keys in the car for us and a note with my name on the dash. All right here we go. Talava Arches is one of Nui's most iconic natural landmarks. A short walk through the forest leads to a series of massive limestone arches sculpted by centuries of wave action. Wow that is stunning. Set against the turquoise waters of the pacific the arches create a dramatic coastal landscape and offer a glimpse into the powerful forces that have shaped this unique raised coral island. Our next stop was Malapa Chasm another one of Nui's hidden gems. A short walk through the jungle led us to a narrow limestone passage that opened into a stunning natural chasm filled with crystal clear seawater. Sunlight filtered through the cliffs illuminating the turquoise pool below. It was the perfect place to cool off relax and enjoy a refreshing swim. We just arrived at Togo Chasm. They recommend that you come here during low tide and it is high tide. No choice. So we're not sure what this is going to look like but we're going to go anyway. It's about a 20 minute hike down and we'll see what we find out but the good news is there are other cars here so it means that it must be passable to get there so it'll be interesting to see what we see. Beware of wave surges. Wow. Togo Chasm was probably our favorite site on the island. It was also the very place we had stared at for three days during our passage to nowhere. After a long walk through the jungle and a scramble across what looked like a moonscape of jagged limestone pinnacles. This is like a whole nother planet and that is where we spent two and a half days three days out at sea all along here. We emerged into a hidden oasis tucked between towering cliffs. At the heart of the chasm a cluster of coconut palms stood amid a patch of sand and lush vegetation creating a striking contrast against the rugged limestone walls. What made it even more remarkable was its location just a few feet from a powerful blowhole whose deep bellow echoed across the coastline. It was a sound we had heard every day while drifting offshore and now we were finally standing beside it. Togo Chasm. Not to be trifled with at high tide that's for sure. I'm glad Todd didn't get swept out to sea. Our final stop was Anapala Chasm, a hidden freshwater pool tucked deep within a limestone cavern. After descending a long staircase through the jungle we arrived at a peaceful oasis surrounded by towering rock walls and lush vegetation. The water was so clear that we almost stepped right into it without realizing it was there. While it was probably our least favorite of Nui's natural wonders it may have simply been the timing. It was the final stop after a long day of exploring. On the way out however we found a beautiful lookout point overlooking the ocean and couldn't resist taking a few photos in the iconic Nui tourist frame. Keep going, keep going. From there we headed off to find an early dinner before returning to the wharf and beginning the reverse process of making our way back to the boat. We finally got back after a nice long day. It was fantastic. Good morning Nui. It is one of our final mornings here. We are heading now into the customs office clear out from the country. Our plan is either to leave tonight or tomorrow but before we do that we're headed over to Lickety to have some breakfast again. They're so cute. Every morning they have us over for breakfast. That's right. Wow we're so spoiled. Look at this. Iced coffees. Wow. Oh my word. There's nothing better. You spoiled us. Ravi Shankar. I wonder if that's who Todd is. So he's a sitar player and I saw him in concert. All right big adventure here. We are off. Keep me from backing into something. Our final journey on land. This is it. You got to get some groceries, return the car. Actually we really did this for the air conditioning. That's why I'm here. That's right. Grocery's done. This is Swanson's. It's a great little grocery store. Today we're knocking out the tasks. We might leave today. We got a lot to do. Hopefully the car rental company is chill and we're gonna be a couple of hours late. So make sure you go see New Zealand. It's awesome and then fly from New Zealand to Nui and check it out. Follow in our footsteps. It's worth it. It's worth it. This place is incredible but we're so glad that we had a couple of days here where we could enjoy it in the sunshine and now we're super glad we've got a decent weather window to get over to Tonga. That's it. I'm happy because the Admiral's sweet All right next stop customs. This is customs ready to go in and clear out. We could not check out because the customs agent is down at the wharf checking in another cruiser so we are gonna come across and hop into the visitor center. It's a little late but it's the first day it's open. Oh that took a long time. Oh my goodness that was crazy but the Nui people are so nice. It's so sweet. They do everything slow. Yeah very slow. Okay this is Nui Rentals and it is unbelievable. Look at this. Fresh fruits and vegetables. We I'm not sure what we would do. Oh my gosh they were absolutely adorable in there and we are so sad. We're going to definitely miss Nui but we just got the green light that we could leave today so yay. That's it we're all cleared out and we're going. What a special place. I'm so glad we got to stop here. Doing great Catherine. Thank you Catherine. All right down. We love your beautiful country. Last time. Goodbye Nui. We're preparing to go. Finishing our bacon and egg pot pies. We have loaded up with fun things to get us through the next two days. Pressed pretzels. Honey mustard pressed pretzels. Those look really good. They're gonna be great with our hummus and ginger nuts. These are the best. We absolutely love them and then we still have a little bit of pistachios so I think we're golden for this passage. The fridge is now packed with fruits and veg which we haven't had in a while and bread which is wonderful. In a couple of hours we'll start heading to Tongam. We're just like so excited. We can't believe it's finally here. Many of our friends have been walloped by 30, 40, 50 knot winds, big storms, squalls. In the north, in the south it's been an equal beating so it's not like you know the people in the north have escaped any kind of bad weather but we caught up with our friends Boris and Clara this morning and they had one really tough crossing from Aitutaki so we are just incredibly grateful for the three days of motoring we had. Okay yeah we also ended up with the three-day passage to nowhere behind the island but in the end we would take that any day over being in seas that are you know 15, 20 foot and crazy electrical storms and 50 knot winds so nothing is broken. Everyone else has broken something, rip sails. It's been a wild start to the season. Boats are coming in now so it's getting busy here in the harbor. We're getting excited to take off. We've got full fridges and we're ready to go.