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COOK ISLAND - Nuie
Anyway you choose to leave the Society Islands and head towards Australia the first stop is a range of islands of which only 5 are inhabited. From the Cooks you can head NW to the Samoan Islands or directly W to Tonga. These islands are the protectorate of New Zealand but they don’t receive as much support ( financial aid ) as do the French Polynesians. At one time the Cook Islanders use to be invited to compete in the French Polynesian annual dance competitions but they won three years in a row so they are not invited back anymore. Supposedly the best dancers in all of the South Pacific Islands come from the small and isolated island of Puka Puka.
RAROTONGA
June 15 – 20, 2010
Rarotonga is the only island with a port deep enough to support larger yachts so this will be our only stop in the Cook Islands.
The concrete jetty at Avatiu Harbour is only large enough for a dozen yachts, two fishing trawlers, and a French Navy cruiser. The French boat was interesting because they shot the mooring lines out of a gun to the shore. It was not only the seabirds that took off in fright.
I remembered this as one of the favourite stops in 2008 but other than more sane prices than French Polynesia I could not remember why…until I stepped off the boat and the memories came flooding back. Who needs graffiti, pollution choked roads, and materialism
when you can have women wearing floral headpieces even when grocery shopping, the smell of Tiara in the air, and well priced black pearls. It’s too bad you cannot settle here unless you are a New Zealand national because it is very tempting.
The first day we concentrated on getting our act cleaned up. 5 days of off shore creates a lot of salty decks, wet clothes, and uncompleted jobs. John had to go to customs to check in and the mandatory roach bombing would come later. Later a kid showed up, filled out the paperwork, took $20NZD and when John asked where his equipment was and was it toxic he looked bewildered and just walked away. It rained most of the day and night. We spent several hours getting reacquainted with the two rally boats that had been here for awhile and decided the second day we would reserve for fun.
Gilly wouldn’t be caught dead on a scooter ( actually that is what she is afraid would happen ) so we rented a car and went for a tour of the 19 mile island. All the residential, resorts, and commerce resides on the round-the-island road built by the American Corp of Engineers during WWII.
The Ara Metua is the centuries old plantation road and gives a better view of native living. It has deteriorated in some places so doesn’t circumnavigate around the island anymore. We tried to see all the sites; laughing like crazy at the shipwreck ( or what is left of it ), trying to find the palaces with no street signs ( John doesn’t give up easily ), and me being the first one to say lets not snorkel because it is so cold and windy.
Gilly can walk up to anyone / anywhere and start a conversation. We had stopped at a whale meusum and across the street was a school.
Of course we didn’t know it was a school. There is formal schooling till around the 5th grade then you choose a trade
( if you can afford it ). This school taught traditional wood carving. Island history, and agriculture. The current project
was commissioned by a Chilean citizen. The whole class was working on it. Surrounding the shop was fields of spinach like greens.
We finally found the Papua ( Wigmore ) waterfall and had another good laugh as there was nothing except a wet rock with an ankle deep pool. How can it rain so much and have no water in the stream?
The next day as John was servicing the engines and Gilly was busy gossiping over the proverbial fence Peter from Peregrina and I decided to hike to the very top of the island and
stroke ‘The Needle’ for good luck. We took his scooter to the end of the road and began our hike up into the mountains. The way started out fairly smooth but soon turned up into dense woods with lots of ankle twisting roots. There was a strong wind so the mosquitoes were busy with other things besides bothering us.
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The last 100 feet found us grabbing roots to haul ourselves up the steep incline to the most spectacular view. I stopped to stroke the needle for good luck but Peter wanted to go further. “Go ahead! I’m not risking a fall!” and as he turned the sheer cliff corner I saw the sign that said end of trail to go further was nuts. He came back and said it was smooth rock with chains and then rope and then a cliff hundreds of feet down to the forest canopy. As we marveled at the view, out of the greenery comes a handsome rooster. He seemed to be begging but we didn’t have any treats for him. He followed us down the trail until another rooster crossed our path and they both disappeared. And you thought roosters were domestic creatures. More like lord of the mountains on this island.
Saturday was market day so Gilly and I started off early enough to get in some of the better deals. Since most of the commerce seems to be Chinese there was dim sum and Mongolian lamb. I got papayas and bananas and Gilly bought a beautiful string of pearls. Her reasoning was when you die the British taxman will take all your money so no one needs to know about the pearls for her future grandchildren. I’m getting very good at determining quality and love looking at the luster, colour, and shape of God’s creation.
Later that afternoon we went to Peregrina for cocktails and discussed the approaching high weather pattern. We argued whether it meant no wind or steady strong winds. The final census was we needed to leave soon to be on the high seas for the winds and waves. John & Gilly went to a Rarotonga uma ( dinner ) and troupe dance while I stayed on board and made coconut bars, lunch, and dinner for the anticipated bumpy ride tomorrow.
It is well documented that the Polynesians love to sing so I suggested we go to church to hear some hymns. Sunday was pouring down rain, very cold, and we had to walk too early in the morning to get to the church.
I bowed out and tried to get on the internet for the last time before we leave. No luck so I spent $15US for about 10 minutes of service. Frustrated I swept the sole ( floor ), scoured the life lines of salt stains ( using baking soda ), and tried once more to rescue the bathroom items that fell under the sink into the belly of the hull ( I was not successful ).
It has been amazing the people walking, riding scooters, or driving their cars that come down to the jetty to look at the boats. They pause at every one and, if someone is on board, will have questions for you. For us the most asked question is “What and where is that boat from?” The answer is an Antares 44, model PDQ (of which ours is the last one – # 25 ) built in Toronto, Canada…the boats registry on the stern says she is from BVI’s.
We left at 3pm and immediately hit big seas and a following wind. We are lucky as wind off the stern is great sailing for SofN but not so for Perigrina. They quickly fell behind. For three days it was Rock-n-Roll and both Gilly and John had put on their pressure cuffs to avoid seasickness. They didn’t want to eat my lunch or dinner so I had wonderful meals for several days. The fourth day the winds diminished but we still were doing 7 knts. in 15knts of breeze with partly cloudy skies. It is starting to warm up so off comes the heavy foulweather coats but we are still in sweat suits.
Most other boats follow a very strict night watch system. You can’t be 2 minutes late so generally you get up a half hour early to get your bearings and make a cup of tea. On SofN we can do anything from a 2 – 5 hour watch depending on how awake you are and how badly the person after you needs to sleep. So far it has been a very pleasant way to conquer the nights. I still do my watch somewhere around 2 – 4 am to sunrise so I’m still getting my favourite part of the night.
NIUE
June 24 – 27, 2010
Fakaalofa Lahi Atu!
Centuries ago the natives called this island Motusefua – island on its own. When James Cook discovered it in 1774 the natives were so hostile he called it ‘Savage Island’. It is 580 miles W of Rarotonga and is the world’s smallest self-governing state ( 1974 ) – with a little free association from New Zealand. The best place to anchor off the capitol, Alofi, is not the best place for your anchor so your best bet is to pick up one of the 16 mooring buoys ( and you think parking downtown is a problem ). Undaunted you then take your dinghy to shore and look up at a 12’ concrete jetty with a crane on one side.
No problems as you use the electronic crane to hoist your dinghy up onto the top of the jetty and repeat the procedure for the return.
When we arrived the other boats were exuberant and gushing over with glee about the island that was raised from the ocean floor. Basically Niue is a solid atoll or coral garden that has risen from the depths to 100’s of feet above the sea level. Capt. James Cook noted a variety of curious caves. Niue is well known for its spectacular limestone caves and chasms and every point of the compass gives you a different facet.
Here are highlights of the points of interest we visited.
AVAIKI
Recorded history was word-of-mouth and folklore but this is where the first canoe landed…and such a site to see! For some reason there is no swimming on Sundays so we showed up on a Friday.
You go through a tunnel to the stalactites and stalagmites with no restrictions at all.
PALAHA
Interesting formations that you just walk up to and explore to your hearts content. No fees, no guide, no guardrails. You are in the bush and yet there are few insects and lots of butterflies.
LIMA POOLS
This is touted as the most beautiful snorkeling on the northern coast. It is said that the aqueduct of the porous coral rock could give the islanders enough fresh water for 7 years.
Snorkeling you can see the fresh water swilling around in whorls and eddies before it mixes with the sea water. The coral and fish were not affected by the 2005 hurricane.
MATAPA CHASM
This is another place where the fresh water meets the sea. The sheer sides of the chasm protect you from the wind. This was a favourite swimming hole for the kings of the olden days.
I never tired of going through the caves to get to the sea.
TALAVA ARCH
The walk was through a rain forest then through a cave where you had to hang onto a heavy rope to maintain your balance.
We arrived just before low tide so watched the huge rollers crash into the reef until it was safe to cross a small chasm filled with water.
John and Peter crabbed over the rocks and took a flashlight to go explore the cavern that is usually inaccessible except during low tide. It was narrow, filled with flesh-ripping coral rocks, and claustrophobic.
In these reef shelves are holes that can be deep enough to be over my head. This picture doesn’t show you that the water is 3’ deep on top of the hole. These holes are full of living coral and brightly coloured fishes.
TOGO
Thankfully we saved the best for last because everything else paled in comparison. On the South-Southeast side of the island was
a 45 minute walk through the rain forest; scattering chickens and many varieties of land crabs. The poor hermit crabs had far outgrown their shells because their homes are a rare items this far above the sea. Then a narrow walkway and stairway opened up to
a forest of coral pinnacles. You kept walking down until you came to a ladder. At this point Gilly said no!
so John and I were on our own. The bottom was powder, pure-white sand, palm trees, and worn smooth sidewalls.
You would think you were in a Cecil DeMille movie. We heard the crashing of the sea so followed the sounds over huge boulders in a tight cave and came out to the view of
(no N17 photo)
the ocean crashing over, under and around arch formations creating waterfalls, rushing, foaming waves of immense power.
Ramblings from Hindsight…
The Niue nation has helped me find the key to how the Polynesian culture thinks.
We were talking to a New Zealand ex-pat who was frustrated by the lack of government interest in commerce. John asked the question…Why don’t the local natives just stake out their property and put up a concrete pillar with a brass plate attached with the owners name?
What I have observed is that the Polynesians have done just that! The concrete pillar with the brass name plate
is the grave of an elder… buried in the yard closest to the roadway. If any family member wants to emigrate to Niue they have a disgusting shell of a home to fix up and live there…for free! I went into one of the derelicts and there were clothes on the floor, plants creeping up through the foundation and Surprise! Electrical outlets on the walls. It’s a feudal system of ownership but no one cares to change the status quo so we have a rare look at a society that thinks subsistence living is more their speed.
What can you do with an island that sings the praises of not having a cinema, a proper shopping mall, and satellite dishes that you can count on one hand? With partly subsidized welfare, courtesy of the New Zealand taxpayer, there is no poverty…everyone has a 4X4 of some vintage. Although, I must admit, that the Kiwi’s have a great vacation spot right out their back door. The Temperature never changes more than 4 degrees from summer to winter. It is very pleasantly warm all year long...
It is the Niuean ( Polynesian ) way that the ancestors parceled out their lands and even though the population has shrunk from pre-hurricane 2005 of 9,000 souls there are only 1,300 currently living on the island. This means the number of empty homes disintegrating allover the island far outweigh the occupied homes.
There is very little business, retail, or commercial – the airport, the car rental, and bank were the only businesses to take Visa….
and only Visa Everyone else – cash!
There is a cop for every 26 adults; and they have had no crime …ever!
There is no bus system and this is the only main road around the island. All the secondary roads are two-track. Everywhere the grass is trimmed; roadways, public lots, churches. Gilly exclaimed about how this one yard could be a bowling field the surface was so even and the grass is soft as a carpet.
( remember she is a Brit ).
No Graffiti anywhere; none on any abandoned building, public toilets, or POP sign by a tourist site.
They are a fiercely independent lot and take pride in the fact that they don’t do Western Culture.
John left the portable VHF on the dock right next to the crane and an hour later it was still there. At least 15 people had to be on that dock in the hour - it was just laying there in full view.
There is no way to make a living but the locals don’t need to,,,,,,,,,,
……….. The natives like it that way …………
For a third world nation the Polynesians have shown me they can live in the garden and burn down the house piece by piece for the cooking stove. Long after Armageddon they will be wondering what all the fuss is about. They need very little except what Gaia can produce to make them happy…and healthy. There is no place else where I have seen every single dog grinning and wagging their tails in complete bliss. The roosters stand handsomely proud and the hens are fat and sassy as they wander free through the national forest, fields and church grounds raising their chicks and clucking up an orgasm when laying an egg.
Western culture has a lot to learn from such a simple society.
And then maybe not.
After the hurricane of 2005 some money must have poured in and the government in all its wisdom decided to print up the signs before construction began on any project.
Hence you can ride up and down a street and never find the snack mart advertised on a new billboard. Many of the signs were about recycling and not polluting the air with organic matter. The brochure that saturates the tourist spots was printed up by the thousands with lots of enthusiasm but little incentive to actually labour to build commerce. Streets on the map haven’t been excavated yet. The scale is way off from top to bottom and left to right. The country club has a major ad in the brochure but is not in existence yet. Out of the four bars on the map none were open ( 4 to 10 pm Saturdays only ) and one didn’t have any building or walls or bar.
Gilly and I looked everywhere for the farm and asked everyone we met what this sign meant and we still have no answer.
They “forgot” to order the beer so there is no beer on the island.., except for the Indian restaurant who could not survive without beer for the Brits palate.
I could have stayed for a few more days but we are the last ones to leave for Tonga. We have heard nothing from Mercury Rising or Bionic who both have engine problems and are in Raiatea ( Society Islands ) awaiting parts. Camomile and Scott Free are racing to catch up in Tonga and bypassing the Cooks and Nuie. I am looking forward to meeting my friend, Hani, who was our tour guide around Vava’u two years ago.
Fakaue lahi !
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