Geologically speaking Niue is the largest raised coral atoll in the world but still not very big. This means it has a cliff all of the way around and the top is very flat. Very few hills so great bicycle country. But the geology means that the island is full of caves, chasams, grottos and hidden miniture beaches. You could explore for ever and still find new things. The population is just 1,400 and they are very proud of their independence.

The first thing to greet you in the morning when waking up and opening the boat's hatches is the strong fragarence of the island. A heady aroma indeed; anchoring here is like anchoring in a flower shop. Everyone is very friendly - walking along the road locals automatically stop and offer lifts. Anyway, we hire some cars and head off to see the main sights, the unfortunate crew of Blue Marble taking some time away from their troubles. At present none of them is allowed to leave the island until the salvage bill has been paid. A bill sure to be disputed by their insurance company. So they are digging in for quite a stay. In the meantime the friendly locals have loaned them, free of charge, a house and car. Such people!

I have split the photographs into different groups for ease of uploading.   I intend to leave tomorrow. And I am not sure what day tomorrow is as by my next stop - Tonga - I will have crossed the International Date Line and suddenly 8am Monday becomes 7am Tuesday and I lose a day. Lucky it is not my birthday!