Unbelievable hospitality at Niue

We arrived at Niue, one of the smallest self governing states in the world (Palmerston comes under NZ law) at lunchtime on the July 5. We picked up one of the yacht clubs 15 excellent moorings ($5) per night and used the complimentary electric crane to hoist the dinghy and ourselves out of the surging bay and onto the waiting dinghy trolley on the concrete wharf. We checked in with customs and the customs guy gave us a ride to immigration, we asked the immigration guy if it is possible to hire a scooter ... he gave us a ride to the scooter hire place where we hired a near new Suzuki 125 road bike ($25 for 24 hours) we then spent the afternoon riding around one half of the island (did about 40 kilometers - its actually quite a big island) then we lobbed at the Niue Yacht Club and found that on Thursday nights they have a BBQ so we got stuck in to that, $5 for the food, $2 a beer (Steinlager or Lion Red) (all prices in NZ dollars). It was our first English speaking country in 13 months, its soooo nice being able to talk to people!

The following morning we went to the market then watched the preschool kids marching. The presidential Friday flag raising ceremony was taking place in the main street; the president observed us wheeling in so gave us a special personal welcome. We were totally blown away by this island - the friendliest people we have met, super laid back and the island is beautiful and still in good condition environmentally. The sights around the island were spectacular and the water crystal clear. When we’d run out of money to pay our departure tax the customs man covered the difference. How’s that!