Last day with car

On our last day with the car we decided to pick off a few of the less recommended caves/sights to see if there were any surprises. Our first stop was the sea track at Liku. We parked on the edge of the village green and walked the 1100m to the coast. At the coast we found steps leading down through a natural arch to a ‘canoe landing’. In a small cave to the right a handmade canoe was stored.

Our next stop was Ulupaka where after a short walk and a climb down a couple of ladders we reached a rugged shore where it was clear folks fished using homemade poles. Back at the top of the ladder we found a small cave which we spent a little time exploring.

We then drove up to the NE corner of the island and visited the canoe landing at Mutalau. Here we saw a few more handmade canoes and rugged coast line. There was another cave nearby but by now we were beginning to feel we’d seen enough of them.

We’d heard that the pools at Hikutavake were supposed to be good so we took our gear there. We parked on the village green and found the path behind the gravestones. The pools looked interesting but they were choppy as they were close to the edge of the sea and it was not yet low tide. As a result we decided not to swim there.

Next stop was back to the Indian restaurant to pick up Helen’s glasses which she’d left there as well as have roti’s for lunch. After that we tried both petrol stations to fill up but both were subject to power failures and not working. After visiting the butchers we parked and returned to the boat for the afternoon. After a rest, Ben and I went snorkeling nearby. We found some interesting underwater topography including a few swimthroughs which we swam through. There were plenty of fish, an eel and a shark to see as well as the ubiquitous sea snakes.

Dive Niue called us on the radio later on to arrange for a dive trip today (Friday) to the site called “Snake Gully.” Needless to say Helen has passed on this opportunity so just Ben and I are going.

We decided not to go to the early market on Friday so I went back ashore around 4pm to fill up the car and our jerry cans as well as drop off the car.