Mom Doesn't Like Caves

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Geo: -19.0565, -169.924

Another tender port awaits us today. We have been warned yesterday by our captain that attempts at disembarkation during the four previous trips to this island were thwarted by high surf and extreme tides making tendering too dangerous an endeavor. Today, however, the water is almost flat and it appears we will go to shore.

Our wake up call fails us but we're up anyway. As usual, cereal and fruit for me and Mom curtails her attempts to order weird stuff like almond milk, gluten-free anything or special oatmeal and sticks to the items on display. We need to get our tender tickets and arriving on deck 4 early will provide the opportunity for quicker boarding. We pick up our numbers, #9. That's probably tender #2 or 3. Not too bad. We wait for the boarding to start and they call #1-4. "MountainMomma" grabs us as she goes by, exchanges our #9s for #4s she was saving for someone who didn't show and we're off.

As we exit the tender, I see the couple "MountainMomma", who are on our tour with us, heading up a hill to the town. I tell Mom, "Hurry up, they're getting ahead. We need to follow them". Mom reluctantly saunters up the road, stopping for breaks while the only ones who know where we're going slip out of site. Arriving at the top and with no sign of "MountainMomma", I ask Kainoa, the ship's guide and he says all the vans are back down the hill by the dock. Now I tell Karen, "Hurry up, we have to get back down to the dock area". She's not happy. We return to find "MountainMomma" on the van already. I had been following someone else. Ok. We don't need to talk about it. Let's get going.

Off around the island we go. One of the world's smallest countries sporting a population of 1600, Niue is an uplifted atoll with some of the finest limestone cliffs, crevices and chasms in the Pacific. Our guide, Pina, says that there are more people on the ship than on the whole island. She points out the prison they have was closed for lack of business. Since the island is small in population, there aren't too many man made sites, mostly natural. A typhoon in 2004 wiped out most of the buildings along the shore with waves reaching 30' or more to the road. We make stops at Avatele Bay and then Scenic Matavai Resort Niue, a beautiful, quiet hotel with swimming pools and dining right above the ocean.

Next stop was Avaiki, a drip stone cave that opens up to the reef. Mom makes it down most of the way, over boulders, narrow trails and some stairs, but she doesn't reach the mouth of the cave which opens to the ocean. I take a few pictures and "movies" and we return to our van. It's warm so Pina takes us to Matapa Chasm, originally the exclusive bathing pool for Royals. A fresh water spring feeds from one end feeds into the salt water pool, making it much cooler than the ocean water. Traversing more boulders, gravel and stairs, Karen makes it to the pool and, pulling her shorts up, tries out the Pool of the Royals. Her and "Betty" walk out to the rocks, ignoring my pleas to, "Turn around so I can shoot you".

Our last stop on this mini tour is the Palaha Cave. Similar to the others, it's necessary to traverse a myriad of obstacles to gain access to the reef waters below. With Karen having to rely on stairs, ropes and large boulders to enter made it a most interesting filming opportunity for me. Of course, I never tire of her frequent utterances, one of which is, "Will you put that %#!* camera down and help me?" She does, however, enjoy the movies when we return home since, with the camera having the ability to record sound also, it's hilarious. Yes, I did trade in my Super 8mm for something more up to date but they're still "movies". Again, I would give Karen credit for completing the trek although she never actually walked out onto the reef, low tide or not.

With our tour complete, we return to the wharf to catch our tender back to the ship. Pina tells us that we are the first visitors in 6 months and we later learn that on the four previous voyages on the Amsterdam to Alofi, shore privileges were all cancelled due to the inability of the ship's tenders to access the wharf with rough seas. I guess we were lucky.

Another fancy dinner and then to see Lou Gazzara, from American Idol fame, who puts on a great show, including Elvis, Neil Diamond and Andrea Bocelli. We set our clocks forward tonight so we are now only three hours ahead of PDT. Unfortunately, we lose another hour of sleep. Tomorrow is another sea day on our way to Avatui, Rarotonga.

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Comments

[Louann]

sounds like a good time is being had. gotta try a sit & read entries for the last few days, hopefully today. things are going well here at home. and to let you know L&L Mobil drop off & pick-up will be there when you return o
n the 16th.

[Scarlett Thomas]

You guys look like your having a great time. Love all the pictures. Mom looks happy. What a great retirement. Life well planned out. . Queenie.