Beveridge Reef and NIUE

After our new crew arrived in Rarotonga in the form of 'old hand' Frank, and 'new hand' Dany, we sailed West and made for Beveridge Reef. The smallest sanctuary of safe water in the middle of the South Pacific. Reputed to have amazing sea life, coral and great fishing. We were excited! Just before a cold front arrived we settled into a nice anchorage on the Eastern inner egde of the atoll. The difference with this atoll is that it has no motus/islets/islands of any sort! We could watch enormous seas bashing against the reef not too distant from us and yet we bobbed in the tranquil surrounds of the comfortable anchorage.

On our arrival we were greeted by a school of dolphins and on our departure we were escorted by a small pod of whales! We also got to stand on the almost-exposed 3-mile sand cay on the Western edge which Frank was particularly delighted about, as he collects sand from around the globe! The few days we had there was a well deserved rest and we moved on to Niue.

We were greeted in Niue by the landing of a barracuda just of the South Eastern edge of this 'Smallest nation on Earth' affectionately known as 'The Rock'. And wow what a fantastic slice of the world the Rock is. Friendly people, great landscapes, less then 1500 people form the entire population with some few living away from home, as the country is in close association to New Zealand and Niueans are awarded dual citizenship. This meant a very quiet country on the whole which suited us down to the ground. We hired one motor bike and one car and made our way around the small island with no need for many maps! The limestone caves and blowholes, including the magnificent arches were wonderful to see and clamber about on and in!

We were also treated to meeting the President of the country whose English was not too great but who joined us in a wonderful celebration hosted by the community of Hakupu. They entertained us with music and dance, laughter and merriment, and above all fine food. A night we will never forget for sure.