Recently in Sightseeing Category

We knew since we arrived that there would be a weather change this week at Niue. The winds were going to clock around to the north, northwest, west, etc. all the way back to the normal ESE direction. The problem is that the anchorage is on the northwest of the island and is completely exposed to the sea. So, once it got to the northwest, the anchorage became choppy. The winds were forecasted to be less than 15 knots. So, being in a catamaran, we didn't think it would be much of a problem. In fact, on Monday and Tuesday we had a taste of the conditions and it was fine on Tahina. Some of the mono-hulls were less comfortable and a few boats left.

Last night, things got a little different. There was a light front associated with weather change that crossed over around 2 to 4 AM. But, it had a squall with it!

We first notice it getting really choppy and Tahina started bucking a bit - around 2 AM. Suddenly we heard a loud crash in the galley! We forgot to close our dish drying bin and two plates fell out and shattered. Ugh! I went over and closed the bin and took a look outside. Two boats had their navigation lights on and suddenly I heard some calls on the VHF. One boat was leaving and another was asking if everything was ok. They decided they had had enough and were going to move out. Most of the mono-hulls were really bucking around out there. A quick look at the sky and I could see a big black cloud to the northwest headed our way. Winds were up to 25 knots at this point.

Since Tahina was on a mooring closest to the reef, I was pretty awake at this point. I had checked the mooring line underwater days earlier and the rope was in good condition. But, there were coral rocks all around the mooring base. As long as we stayed pointed away from the north, our mooring line should remain free from the sharpest rocks. I put on my handheld Garmin GPS with an anchor alarm set. That way I would know if we slipped free. But, given we were only 75 meters from the shore reefs, I would have to respond quickly if we came loose from the mooring. I stayed on watch. Three other boats left in the next few minutes. It probably wasn't fun preparing to leave in those conditions at that hour.

About 20 minutes later the winds picked up to 30-35 knots (I even saw gusts to 38). And it started pouring rain. I kept an eye on other boats and our position, and made sure our hatches were all fastened tightly. But, the worst of the squall only lasted for about 30 minutes. Things gradually lessened and by 4 AM it was down to less than 10 knots. Niue radio hailed the boats in the anchorage to make sure everyone was ok. A couple of the boats asked what would happen if they continue to Tonga without properly clearing out. They were told Niue could fax the paperwork to Tonga and they could send their fees back. The seas remained choppy with 3-5 foot seas, but I was able to go back to sleep (still with the anchor alarm on) and slept until dawn.

We plan to clear out of Niue this morning and return our rental car. We hope to take a few more pictures before we leave as well. Then later this afternoon we will depart for America Samoa. We have heard you can find good ole American products at the grocery stores there, and they even have American electronics and other goods we haven't seen in a while. Plus, we can have our mail delivered. Maybe they'll have good Internet - but, I won't hold my breath on that. The trip there is about 36 hours. Should arrive by Friday morning.

I've had better Internet connectivity here in Niue, so I've been gradually updating our photo albums and reviewing content on the Tahina site. I realized I never did a summary of our visit to Hao where we watched the total solar eclipse on July 11. Nor did I upload general sightseeing photos of the island. I never even had a chance to upload some photos of our bashing through the waves, and the problem we had with the outhaul strap on our boom. So, at long last, here are some photos of our sightseeing in Hao. Make sure you read the text below for some context to the sights:

We had a wonderful time in Hao, and the people of the island were very nice. When we arrived on Friday evening, they were having a bunch of celebrations on shore. The locals were putting on a bunch of events in honor of all the visitors (about 350 tourists came to watch the eclipse). Hao doesn't have any hotels, so most of the visitors were either camping, staying at local people's homes, and they had made some rooms in the local school's dormitory. They had traditional polynesian dances, games, music, food, arts and crafts, a fishing tournament, and more.

During the day on Saturday, they had a number of kids games: tug-of-war, potato sack races, swimming, etc. On shore, they had set up a temporary restaurant and booths for food and games. They also had stores where they were selling eclipse t-shirts, and local crafts and other souvenirs. We went ashore a couple of times and walked around the island. We sampled local foods in the stores, saw a coconut crab in a cage, found the cemetary, found the town dump, checked out the ocean shore, discovered old abandoned stores that were running while the base was in operation, and watched the locals running their daily lives.

On Saturday night, they had a beauty contest with local high-school girls. They had traditional costumes, and dances as part of the competition. The locals were having a great time with such a large audience for their events. Kids would try to talk to us with a few words of english they had learned, and we would try talking back in our broken French.

The scenery of Hao was also beautiful. We had some fantastic sunsets as well. I hope you look at the photo album above and enjoy the photos of Hao!

One of the big attractions to Niue is that it is a prime breeding area for whales. We were expecting to see a lot from all the stories we had heard. Yet, when we arrived we heard only a few had been spotted so far this year. On two nights over the weekend some of the boats in the anchorage had a couple of whales show up right next to their boats! We didn't hear or see them either time. There were actually more whales at Rarotonga than here - so far at least.

When we first arrived, we were immediately offered to take the final two seats in a rented mini-van to do an island tour, with some other boaters, on the next day. We got up early (at least early for Karen) on Friday morning and got cameras, sturdy shoes, snorkel gear, and sun screen.

Niue is a raised coral reef. This was abundantly clear when we went hiking. All throughout the tropical forest we hiked through you could see large fossilized coral reef rocks. It was like being in a coral reef underwater (if you ignored the trees and plants), and I could almost imagine the fish swimming around. We went to some cliff views of the sea, and to some areas with chasms and caves. The reef rock cliffs are extremely jagged and the sea views are spectacularly blue and beautiful! We went through some caves and could see the ocean through the cave entrance. Awesome!

Here is a photo album of pictures from the car tour and subsequent day photos (described below):

We had lunch back at the main town (only place with restaurants), then went to the north side of the island to do a hike to some natural arches. I took a 360 panorama of one of the arches in a beautiful spot with coral reefs below and caves behind us. We also walked to a chasm with a water pool and had a nice refreshing swim. We did a few more cave walks on the way back. It was a great tour!

On Saturday, I spent a good portion of the day figuring out how to upgrade my Nexus One to Android 2.2. It wasn't easy because my phone had a non-standard custom install. But, I finally got it done. Mid-morning, Jack from Anthem invited us to go diving. Karen was too tired from the hike, so I went with Jack by myself. We did some cool reef cave diving and saw some sea snakes along the way. Very few live corals though. More bad signs about coral life dying around the planet.

In the evening, there was a whale fundraiser which we planned to attend. But, Karen was 80% of the way done setting up to buy our plane tickets from New Zealand back to the US for the holidays. So, we decided not to go. We were sorry later because we heard they got to see several whales - and they were breeching (jumping) during the sunset. They said a couple more whales have arrived and there have been more sightings.

On Sunday, the monthly supply ship was scheduled to arrive. Unfortunate timing for the locals because they normally keep everything closed on Sundays. Since there is only one wharf to get ashore, they don't allow the dinghies to come ashore when the supply ship is here. So, we organized a roster for boaters to provide water taxi service to take boaters in. I was the first shift at 8 AM. I went to visit one of the departing boats around 7 AM and as I was talking to them we saw some whales headed into the anchorage!

I ran to get the camera and managed a couple of shots of them on their next surfacing. They typically surface a few times and then go under for about 10-11 minutes. I saw some boaters get their snorkel gear and start swimming to their last location so I went to get my snorkel gear and tell Karen (who was still sleeping) about the whales. But, I was too late once I got in the water and the whales had moved to the far part of the anchorage. All the boaters were up and looking at the whales though. Very cool!

Sunday was a beautiful day. The supply ship was late, but finally showed up in the early afternoon. As it approached, I noticed an upside down catamaran on the deck. I wondered if it was the catamaran that capsized a month ago (the s/v Anna I wrote about earlier). A quick look with the binoculars and I confirmed it was Anna! Someone had salvage it.

We moved Tahina to a closer mooring so our trips with the dinghy ashore would be quicker. It also gave us a closer view to the ship operations. I spent the afternoon exploring under Tahina using the Video Ray and snorkeling. We finished the day by visiting the s/v "Jerana" for sundowners. Another wonderful day in Niue!

We have decided we will go ahead with visiting America Samoa next. But, we have to wait until later this week for the winds to be right. We'll be perfectly happy hanging out here in Niue for the week.

We had a great time in Rarotonga. I uploaded a few photos of our experiences there. In the album below you can see the harbor where Tahina was parked, pictures of the island and hike through the mountains, views of the "Needle" (a huge rock spire at the top of the mountains), pictures of the humpback whales we saw outside the harbor, pictures of the beaches and lagoons, and pictures of the market we went to on Saturday.

Niue Harbor from Tahina - wharf on the left

We arrived at Niue on Thursday afternoon after a 3.8 day sail from Rarotonga. Niue, which is pronounced "new-y", is the world's smallest single island nation. The island is geographically a raised coral atoll. There are almost no beaches, the island is mostly round, it is surrounded mostly by steep cliffs made of coral rock, and drops off to deep waters just a few meters from the cliffs. Most of the livable land is flat above the cliffs and is covered in tropical vegetation. There are no mountains on the island.

We managed to sail around to the west side of the island where there is a bit of an indentation forming a kind of bay. This is the location of the "harbor" for Niue. Staying at Niue is only good if the winds come from the east. Niue has a single concrete wharf with a man-made cut allowing small ships to park and unload supplies for the island. The water is kind of deep for anchoring, so the island has placed moorings for visiting yachts. There is a "Niue Yacht Club" which exclusively caters to visiting yachts (because there are no local yachts). The NYC provides access to a dinghy lift so you can get your dinghy up on the wharf (so it won't be exposed to the surge at the wharf), clean bathrooms and showers on shore, and a cafe/bar and Internet at the clubhouse.

As we arrived, we called Niue Radio and they gathered our boat details and set up a visit with customs. Once we were moored, Karen and I went ashore and took care of customs and immigration. A very smooth and fast process. The people are very friendly. The immigration officer chatted with us in a very friendly manner and told us about some upcoming events on the island.

We then went to the NYC clubhouse and signed in with them. There we met up with several other boaters who were hanging out for Internet and socializing. There were several boats we know in port: "Sea Mist", "Inspiration Lady", "Dreamtime", "Anthem", "Imagine", and "Haze". And several other boats as well. The other boat crews gave us the low-down on Niue. Not only that, but we were immediately invited to do an island tour the next day in a minivan rented by "Inspiration Lady". They had two seats left. Because it was late in the day, I couldn't buy access to the harbor WIFI for Internet. But, I got on for an hour at the clubhouse to at least check E-mails.

The Niue harbor is beautiful from up on the cliffs. We headed back to the boat in the setting sun and were in awe at the view of the sea with the sailboats parked in the bay. This will be a really special place!

We have had a great time visiting Rarotonga. Lots of beautiful places to see, and the inexpensive scooter transportation has been liberating. We traveled many miles around the roads and had a wonderful time on the back roads through rolling hills of farms and seeing secluded houses amidst the tropical vegetation. Check out the photo album below and read more below about what has been going on and our plans:

On Saturday several boats arrived. First two cruising sailboats: "Iles de Grace" (which we first met in Manihi) and "Liberty". We helped both get tied up in the harbor. Then a short while later a tall ship called "Picton Castle" with a crew of about 60 arrived under full sail. They had traditional square rigged sails and there were people in the rigging putting it away as they arrived.

Also on Saturday was the market next to the harbor. It was more like a county fair than a market. There were plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables (which helped fill our provisions), but also all kinds of souvenir booths, and many kinds of foods.

We had a final special dinner with Jason and Lara on board. We grilled up some steaks and corn, baked beans, salad, and french bread. And had wine to drink. Jason and Lara have been part of the Tahina family since March. They have been great crew and have enhanced our experiences in many ways since we left Panama. It's actually going to be difficult I think at first to adapt back to just sailing with the two of us. And, we will miss them in many ways beyond just the sailing elements. We wish them well as they attempt to temporarily settle in New Zealand in the coming months. They are leaving some of their gear on board and we will link up with them when we arrive in New Zealand in November. Jason may even fly up to Tonga to help us with the sometimes challenging passage down to New Zealand.

On Friday we cleared out of the Cook Islands planning to leave on Sunday. We are hoping some stronger winds will develop along our route than what has been forecasted for Monday and Tuesday. Otherwise we may be motoring some towards Niue - 600 nautical miles away. If we leave on Sunday we should be there by Thursday.

It's about time I finally got another 360 Panorama processed and uploaded. These photos are really special because they give you an immersive experience from all directions: up, down, and all around at very high resolution. One of these days, probably while we are in New Zealand, I will upload the dozens of other 360 shots taken since the beginning of the trip. Usually I take at least two 360s at most islands we visit (weather and time permitting). The issues holding me back have been the amount of time it takes to process these huge photos (often 2-3 hours), and the quality of Internet connectivity - which makes it very difficult to upload the minimum of 5-8 megabytes of each resulting photo file.

This photo was taken during the bike tour around Bora Bora. We were on the side of the road on a hill at the northernmost corner on a bay across from the most beautiful mountaintop. If you zoom in, you can see the beautiful lagoon waters to the north. You can also see the the nearby trees on the side of the road, our electric bikes, and the road disappearing over the hill and below us. Use the "+" and "-" zoom buttons, or "SHIFT" and "CTRL" keys on your keyboard, to zoom. I highly recommend clicking on the full screen mode to get the maximum effect.

Bora Bora North Side in Bora Bora

To take these panoramas, I take 6 portrait photos at 60 degree intervals on a special tripod mount (made by Nodal Ninja) using a fisheye lens. The photos are taken in RAW mode using a manual setting at a slightly underexposed setting for the conditions. After the initial circle of shots I take a straight up (sky) shot, then a straight down (ground) shot. I use a software tool called SilkyPix to remove chromatic abberation from the fisheye lens and to adjust the exposure. This results in 45 megabyte TIF files. Then I use PTGui Pro to stitch the photos into a seamless (hopefully) 360 spherical projection photo converted into a JPG format. After further compression, I get the file down to about 5-8 megabytes.

The photos are uploaded to 360Cities.net which provides a way to geotag the photo, add information about the photo, hosting of the file, and tools for viewing the photos. They also have a layer in Google Earth which allows people anywhere in the world to see your panorama when they turn on the "360Cities" layer found under the "Gallery" layer folder.

As Rarotonga appeared in the early morning light during our approach on Tuesday, I was surprised how rugged the terrain looked. The mountains were higher than expected with sheer cliffs, and some giant spires on them. And, since they are in the tropics, they are covered with vegetation in many places.

The view of the mountains from the harbor is beautiful. To me, there are few places better than a spot with beautiful mountain views and ocean views at the same time!

On Wednesday, we rented a motor scooter for NZ$100 for a week. Very economical. Karen and I did a circumnavigation of the island - which is about 32 km in circumference. Like Aitutaki, Rarotonga is mostly surrounded by a reef. The reef appears much smaller in the satellite photos of Google Earth, but it is somewhat deceiving because the island is quite a bit larger than the island at Aitutaki. We found some larger areas of the reef that definitely reminded us of Aitutaki. The island vegetation appears more lush on the southern part of the island.

The humpback whales are apparently in abundance north of the island right now. We have seen a couple going by the harbor north of us, but just spouting some spray. No breeches yet. We hope we'll get a better look during our stay here.

Today we plan to do a hike over the mountains. I purchased some Internet from the local telecom company. But, the WIFI antenna at the harbor has not been working. So, I've had to take the scooter a couple of kms away to pick up another hotspot. The connection at least seems pretty fast when we're connected.

On Sunday, before leaving Aitutaki, we went ashore and used our scooters to go to the hotel Tamanu Beach which has WIFI for rent. Made some Skype calls home to our daughters, downloaded weather data, wrote blog posts, etc. Then we returned our scooters to the place we rented them from. After lunch the winds were finally calm enough for us to take the dinghy to the south part of the lagoon. There is an island down there called "Honeymoon Island" which is a small beautiful motu surrounded by pristine white sand beaches.

The ride south was an adventure in dodging coral heads. We even had to back up in some places to go around the shallow areas. You wouldn't want to do this on a day where you had poor visibility. As we got closer to the motus, we could clearly see over a dozen kite surfers plying the very shallow waters over a sandy bottom near the island. Aitutaki has the best waters we've seen to date for kite surfing. Well behind the islands was the reef with 8-10 foot waves crashing on the southern side.

We all enjoyed walking around the island and beach-combing for shells, while watching the kite surfers enjoy their sport. Then we saw a tourist boat take a load of snorkelers out to the lagoon. We followed them and did some snorkeling among the coral heads. There were a mixture of live and dead coral as usual, and a fair number of fish. Mostly the normal coral fish, although I did see a napoleon fish briefly when I first circled around one coral head.

On Monday, a rainy morning, I went ashore to do one more Internet update on weather and to do some online banking tasks. I walked 2 miles to the same hotel, but their Internet wasn't working. Ugh! They suggested another hotel which we had been told wouldn't sell to non-guests. So, I tried, and they sold me a card - their model is by the megabyte, which is weird. I got the banking and a couple of Skype calls in, and then walked back to the harbor. I was a bit bummed in a way, because this other hotel was close enough for us to reach their WIFI from the anchorage.

Next I went to customs to clear out. The Cook Islands really love having fees for everything. I had to pay (in NZ$) $50 for customs, $5/night for the anchorage, $20 for agriculture, and $20 for health. And, we still have to pay a $55/person departure tax before we leave the Cooks.

We waited until 1:30 to leave when the tide was higher. There was an approaching squall, but we got out the pass (without incident) before the squall arrived. We soon had our sails raised (with a single reef) and had a pleasant sail down the coast, and missing the squall entirely. But, once we got around the southern tip of the lagoon, we were exposed to the seas. The winds were higher than forecasted, and there were other squalls - which weren't in the forecast. So, it was a bumpy ride. Bumpy enough that for the first time since he joined us, Jason got seasick. We double-reefed before sunset to ease the ride and for safety.

Fortunatley, during the course of the night, the winds eased and after midnight the skies cleared of clouds. By dawn, we had Rarotonga in sight. We shook out the reefs in the sails and sailed in at about 8 knots. We were keeping an eye out for whales, but didn't see any. By 11 AM we were ready to enter the harbor at Rarotonga. We hailed some boats we heard on VHF, and heard there would be room for us. By 11:30 we were med-moored to the wharf between two boats we had seen in Bora Bora, thanks to help from their crews. After we got tied up, the other boaters asked us if we saw the whales. There were several nearby apparently. One of the other boats that arrived before us had seen three of them breech on his way in.

Rarotonga is a beautiful island with much more rugged terrain than I expected. The harbor is right near a town with lots of shops and stores. Scooters are cheap here as well. We look forward to a few days exploring this beautiful place. And, we hope to see the whales too!

We have spent a few days exploring Aitutaki. Scooters are the common form of travel and we were able to rent them for a reasonable fee for a few days. We have traveled most of the roads and dirt roads around the island and have covered the highest peaks of the mostly low-lying area. The highest peak is only 125 m (400 ft). I took some 360 panoramas from the two main peaks which will be processed later. Off the eastern peninsula, at the end of the airport runway, there are some hotels and beaches. A small creek separates a motu/island from the peninsula on which is located the Aitutaki Lagoon Resort & Spa. They have a free ferry that takes you 100 feet across the gap. Karen and I had some drinks and briefly enjoyed the nice atmosphere of the resort, but a cold southerly wind was blowing (only 75 degrees F!) and we left sooner than we would have otherwise.

Below are some photos of the sights to be seen from Aitutaki. Notice the beautiful multitude of blues and turquoise water colors. We also took the opportunity to take several shots of Tahina in her shallow narrow anchorage. We've been having a great time here, but expect to leave on Monday or Tuesday at the latest for Rarotonga 160 miles to the south. Make sure to click the full-screen link to see the photos in better detail: