Arrived in Niue
Mystic
Archie Massey and Jo Wood-Hill
Fri 10 Aug 2012 23:25
Lon 169:55.38W
We finally arrived into Niue this morning after a fairly quick sail across from Palmerston. In the last 10 days we've sailed another 1000 miles, with only one night not on the move. We also unfortunately kissed goodnight to our spinnaker on Thursday evening - it caught against the top spreader in a random gust of wind, and it ripped from about 4m down from the head, all the way down both tapes! One moment it was there and we were just talking about taking it down, and the next it was in the water trailing beside the boat :-( It's probably not fixable (or at least not financially viable to fix) so from here on we will be goosewinging instead.
Being here we already feel much closer to Australia! Everyone here has a Kiwi accent, everyone speaks English and everyone is incredibly friendly and welcoming, offering to help us out with anything we need or want. We've just had a big brunch in a cool little cafe overlooking the water - just like Bondi really - without the girly catch up!
We are planning to spend 5-7 days here, and there are no anchorages around the island as the water is so deep - we are on a mooring run by Niue Yacht Club opposite the main town of Alofi. That means no sailing for at least 5 days! I don't think we've sat still that long since Galapagos! Looking forward to it!
We have plans for diving, mountain biking and hiring a car to get to the sites on the far side of the island where we can explore the famous caves and chasms with swimming holes that Niue is famous for.
More soon - loving the free WIFI at the yacht club!
A&J