Suwarrow

Mawari
Bob & Sue Dall
Thu 23 Aug 2012 07:21
13:14.863 S 163:06.520 W
700 miles with the wind behind us,and our jib and Genoa poled out we 'flew' to Suwarrow in the Cook Islands. Suwarrow is a National Park, along way from anywhere, and the only way to get here is by boat. These are the magic ingredients for wildlife paradise. After 5 days and nights at sea we were eager to jump in the water, check the anchor and snorkel with the 5 or 6 black tips circling our boat. There are 11 other boats here, many of which we haven't seen before, which is rather unusual. But here we are in the middle of nowhere on a remote island covered in coconut trees, having a wine tasting evening with lots of lovely people who know some of the words to most of the songs of the nineteen sixties, just like us!
With barely time to recover, the next morning we venture off across ' much larger than our dinghy can handle' waves, on a tour of this incredible atoll. First stop is bird island, like a mini Galapagos, this amazing sand spit is covered in birds, Frigates, Boobies, Terns, Tropic birds and others we hadn't seen before, but all seemed very curious. Several nests had chicks in all stages of development, on the ground and in small scrub like bushes. The back drop of crashing waves over the reef, brilliant white sand, translucent aquamarine water and stormy black skies . . . . . if only I had my camera! We continued to Seven Islands for a picnic with the coconut crabs. As we scrambled through the dense vegetation in search of these illusive animals, a cry would come up every now and again, 'this ones enormous!' 'you should see the colour of this one!'The deeper we went the bigger they became until. . .we reached a clearing, sitting on the top of a mound of sand, we met the king of all coconut crabs. . . . .
After the picnic we swam out to the reef and snorkeled in the clearest water we have ever encountered. The pristine coral heads rose in towers to the surface, caverns and alley ways weaved their way through walls of colour. . . .can't wait for tomorrow.

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