Tuesday 11TH June - Friday 13th June
(We missed out on Saturday 14th as we crossed the international
dateline) The paradox is that although Niue has one of the most
inhospitable coastlines, no marina and no resident yachts, it does have a yacht
club and probably the most hospitable people we have ever come across.
Unforgiving coastline with the reef round the island……
Rocky coastline with no beaches or possible place to land……
Historically the peoples were from Tonga,
Samoa and Cook Islands and these days they
live in harmony. There are possibly only 1,100 Niuens living here now
– the rest, approximately 30,000, are living in New Zealand and Australia – their homes and
land abandoned. Some of the exodus at least must have been due to the
most savage cyclone Heta striking on 5th January 2004.
Although this proud nation’s regeneration program and nature’s
startling ability to survive is apparent, the legacy is tragic – many
families left the island, around 90 per cent of the birds were either blown
away or died of starvation as every leaf on every tree fell to the ground and
there are literally hundreds of desolate, ruined habitations.
Niue high street
Abandoned building
And more……..
And more……..
And more…….
Niue
University……….
It is strange but, a little like most of us getting used to the minutia
in our lives needing to be cleaned/mended/changed ‘oneday’, these
happy, smiling Niuens don’t actually seem to see the destruction and
despair around them! I think they have got used to it all – the
ramshackle depressing university buildings, the desecrated shop fronts, the
falling down buildings! It is hard for the visitor to see beyond this
– there are no ‘beaches’, a few sandy coves, no swimming
pools, no pretty architecture, in truth very little to visually brighten your
line of eye – but I think we have succeeded in digging a little
deeper……….the beauty is there to see but in the nature itself
rather than man made buildings or objects……..
New Zealand gives financial aid to the
elected government, but rumours abound how this money is misspent – who
knows? It would be difficult to pass judgement in just a week. Misa, a
local solitary bushman, feels there is much environmental education needed and
has some major concerns regarding shooting, logging, hunting, the use of
pesticides and mining. There seem few locals interested in following in
his footsteps.
A younger Misa in his family’s burial caves
Meet the ancestors………
One of the government ministers (not re-elected last week) opened a two
month bird shooting season last year to Misa’s incredulous disbelief!
The ‘island’ is actually the lagoon or crater of an ancient
volcano which over a period of squillions of years has ‘filled up’
with layers and layers of coral. The ground is limestone
‘coral’ but somehow the vegetation grows on top and Niue even sustains a hardwood forest – ebony and
mahogany trees literally growing up with their roots entwined around limestone
rocks! But sadly many of these have been felled too early.
Misa with ebony spears – most hardwood is poisonous and if the
end of this broke off in the enemy he would die a slow and painful
death….
Misa the bushman teaching us to make fire from two pieces of wood
rubbed together – notice the smoke after less than a minute
Kindled with a piece of dry coconut….. fire!!
Misa’s ancestors farmed in clearings in the forest where the soil
is deep and nutritious but nowadays these natural ‘farmlands’ are
lost and overgrown as the struggle continues to grow crops on rocky limestone
which then requires fertilisation!
Taro plantation struggling to grow in poor soil
There is an active movement to stop putting pesticides on the crops
(taro, sweet potato, yams, bananas, tapioca, corn, tomatoes, onions) as
the poison precipitates down into the water table - utilised by the island for
its water supply.
Apparently uranium has been found under Viai village (with resulting
higher incidents of cancer and detrimental effects on local population growth)
– the village has been evacuated but other nations are keen to mine it
but at what cost?
The coconut crab, uga, is believed to live to at least 80 years of age
and returns to the sea to lay her eggs only when mature (possibly over the age
of 12) but is often killed for food before she has a chance to reproduce.
Paul with his uga in a tree – demonstrating it’s incredible
vice like grip – they feed on coconuts and are trapped by splitting a
coconut which is then tied to a tree – the scent attracts the crab which
is then caught for the pot.
16 Indian Sikhs arrived on the island 3 years ago – ostensibly to
fill the role of vegetable planters and growers. The suspicion is that
they were trying to get NZ residency through the ‘back door’.
Who knows? But these poor blighters are now seemingly trapped here with
their womenfolk back in India
and gossip has it that they only like to grow vegetables that go in curries!
So many issues – and we’ve only been here seven days!
Surprise, surprise Niue sports a nine hole
golf club – 30 odd members but only 16 play golf! We enjoyed a
round under the keen tuition of Simi, a professional who adores his life here
and has a little house with his wife and two children a few yards off the first
tee!
A game of golf with the Moonshadows…
And instruction from Siri the resident coach……
We have biked or walked down many of the pathways to the gorges, caves,
rock pools, fantastic rock formations and crystal clear waters and now we are
ready to sail to Tonga once we have a weather
window……………..
Washaway Café for Sunday burger….. the only place open for lunch
Stunning rock pools
Coral gardens in the crystal clear water
Wondrous lime stone rock formations and caves
Amazing rock formations
Limestone arches…….
