The morning dawned bright and sunny ,,, and calm. Then at 8.30 Niue radio called me and advised that Customs would be down at the wharf at 9. I took this as a hint that I was meant to stay, and I am glad I did. After clearing in and out (will now leave on Wednesday) I visited the yacht club to pay for my mooring and had a very nice conversation with Ira, who with her husband manages the “yacht club” and local backpackers.

The island is small but interesting. In theory it is self governing, today a new parliament of 20 was sworn in, serving a population of 1,500. I must confess I really can't see how a place this small can consider itself a viable sovereign state; it is largely administered by NZ, the currency is NZ and everyone here is also a citizen of NZ. Still I guess the notion that they are an independent country keeps everyone happy.

But finding a beer here is hard. I met my neighbours, Bruce and Sally from the Australian yacht Tantrum and they drove me around in their hire car for a while to find a place that might sell me some beer but no success. The bond store run by customs is apparently the major outlet for booze but they it seems they have been closed for most of the day and now won't be open until Wednesday. Not to worry, we will survive – just.

All is well.