Lonely Planet Loves Niue

The travel gurus at Lonely Planet have rated Niue in two of their well researched travel articles.

Auckland based Lonely Planet writer Brett Atkinson listed Snorkeling with the whales in Niue as the Number One Pacific Adventure in a feature about the Pacific Islands. In the feature, Brett describes his remarkable swim in Niue with a humpback whale and her calf.

Another Lonely Planet article lists Niue as one of ten "Unmissable under-the-radar Desinations". The article praises Niues fantastic caving opportunities and exceptional diving.

Swimming in Paradise

There are some amazing swimming spots on the island, from private beaches, to small lagoons and caves. The water is crystal clear, the fish are abundant, the snorkeling is great and the water is warm!

Our kids' swimming confidence has gone up and every day we take them to one of the beautiful, private beaches around the island.

Best Whale Watching in the World

It's the end of the whale season so we are bidding farwell to these gracefull giants. Niue Island is on the migratory path for humpback whales so every year between June and October they are frequent visitors to our shores. With the deep ocean waters so close to the island it also enables these majestic creatures to come very close to the shore - within 50 metres of it.

Visitors to Niue during this time can opt to whale watch from along the South West coast or head out on a boat tour to get up close with them. There is even the opportunity to swim or dive with them. Niue is one of the only places in the world where you can do this.

Fishing Legend Geoff Thomas in Town!

Well we had a great week with Geoff and Robin filming for 'Outdoors with Geoff'.

Kicked off with a dinner with the fishing lads involved in the week. Next day with a few sore heads we were off to fish land based. We went to some pretty scary heights to get to the good spots. Unfortunately no fish, but a great day and great weather to start things off.

Sunday is a day of rest here but we hit the sightseeing tracks, walks and swimming spots on the Sunday. Monday saw the first charter fish with two nice mahi-mahi coming on board. Next day it was out with Niue dive, and uga (giant crab) hunt and another charter fish. Pretty quiet on the water but still lots of fun.

Wednesday saw a vaka fishing competition form the locals. I went out in my kayak with the canoes - a few strikes but nothing landed. The local boys however were bringing in fish the size of their canoes, - tuna, wahoo and mahi-mahi. Geoff got a personal best wahoo of 31kg that he could bearly lift! The competition followed with a prize giving form Geoff and I and a few beers with the locals. The uga crab was out that night and a big one brought back by Willie and Geoff.

Next morning another charter with Willie, this time it was all on 2 x great wahoo (all 25kg plus) and 1 x barracuda - Geoff was buzzing and has promised to be back next year for another crack. We finished the week at washaways with a few locals for a farewell BBQ.

A great week, great promotion for Niue and well did I mention I love my job!

"Full House" at The Biggest Little Yacht Club in The World

"Full house" on Niue Yacht Club's mooring field. 23 yachts on moorings and three at anchor over the weekend.

All these yachts with a total crew number of 65 will be here for periods ranging from a 3 day stop over and up with three yachts indicating they will be staying for up to a month!

Their reasons for staying for such along period is the amazing diving in Niue's waters, the arrival of thehumpback whales and to explore the unique geology of Niue.

Crews come from all walks of life as well as many nationalities. At present we have two orthopaedic surgeons (one has offered help at the local hospital), a pharmacist, two airline pilots, a structural engineer, a property developer, media and underwater photographers, a historian and author, a molecular research scientist, IT specialists, nurses, teachers and retirees whose home is the sea.

An interesting and diverse group of people- constantly changing as they "flow" through Niue All of these yachts are from a loose category called " Puddle Jumpers " who came into the Pacific Ocean as early as last October, and have been"jumping" from one South Pacific location to the next. Often they have an itinerary preplanned but they do talk to one another over their radio nets and if they hear rave reviews, they will change these plans.

According to one captain that visited Niue last year, Niue and the Yacht Club were second on a list of 1 to 10 as a "must visit." This information was then read by other captains who then visited on such a recommendation.

Yacht crews are prolific bloggers, and many crews record their travels and post to the web along with the photos they have taken during their stay. In effect they become our de-facto travel agents and often tourists, who flyin on our regular Air New Zealand flights, mentioned that they "Googled" Niue and found many of these cruisers blogs.

The Biggest Little Yacht Club in the World. "Arrive as visitors, leave as friends" http://www.nyc.nu/

Cocktails on the Cruiser

A tough night last night as we boarded an 80 foot cruiser moored in Alofi bay for cocktails and canapés.

And the winner is...

Starting the week off was a fishing competition. And with a local guys Des Hipa we managed to land these two 10KG Mahi Mahi – winning the competition for Mahi-Mahi section and overall weight. Was pretty chuffed with that so what better than a pig from an Umu to celebrate.

Niue's New Plane

Demand for Niue is growing so Air New Zealand have upgraded their flight service to an A320 carrier. Here is a pic of the Air New Zealand crew from the inaugural NZ A320 service with locals from left: Cathy Lavini, Fisiola Hekau, new local - me!, Benjiman Hekau, John Viliko, Sinahemana Hekau, Ofa Ahosivi and Lepasi Haiosi.

Looking forward to sharing this amazing place with more visiters!

Wahoo! Yahoo!

The fishing here is incredible...

4 huge Wahoo caught BEFORE breakfast!