Day 25 - Sun Mar 11, 2018 Alofi, Niue - Crystal Symphony - Sydney to Tahiti

Day 25- Alofi, Niue- Mar 11, 2018

Niue is part of the Cook Islands.  About 600 people live on the island. Niue is the world’s smallest independent nation.  Niue holds the distinction of being one of the world’s largest coral islands, with risen reefs around the perimeter.  The ship sailed in through the only break in the coral reef.  The reef attracts visitors for its fabulous snorkeling and scuba diving, in the beautiful turquoise waters.

It is Sunday, and the people are highly religious, and therefore there was not really anything open.  It was made known to us that we were welcome at any of the church services on the island (there are 5 churches).  

One of the churches

We talked to a couple people who did attend services and they said that the singing/harmonizing was beautiful.  I’m not sure that the 5 churches could have accommodated 700 cruise ship passengers. Because it is Sunday we were asked to be respectful and not wear swimwear down the street of the town, and to dress appropriately if attending a service.

We arrived in Alofi (capital of Nuie) via tender, and getting out of the tender and onto the dock was a bit of a challenge.  The dock was way above the tender entrance/exit, with some stone steps to navigate up to dock level.  It was quite a step up.  The Crystal Team was very attentive to be sure each of us made it safely.

Near the tender dock, there was a memorial to the 150 men from Niue that joined the New Zealand forces in WWI.  Sixteen of them never came home – many dying from European diseases for which they had no immunity.  

A walk down the main (only) street of Alofi was on our agenda.  It was very HOT, and not much shade.  We passed by a couple of churches, the open air market (open 3 times each week), the police station and the Government Building.  There were homes along the road.  Apparently they have one doctor in town, an intern from Germany, who works about 8 hours a week as there is not much need.

The island was mostly sandstone, so there are a LOT of caves.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Typical house.

Some passengers went to a nearby beach.  The island has cliffs along the shoreline.  There were stairs down to the beach, however at the bottom, the last 10 feet was a challenge as it was a rocky face that had to be negotiated.

Back onboard, we decided to have lunch in The Waterside.  Bob and Julie both had the Spicy Corn and Tortilla Soup.  Bob enjoyed Grilled Vegetable Burrito and Julie had the amazing Ocean Basket Salad that included Crab, Shrimp, and Scallops.  Julie had the raspberry sundae for dessert. Although we don’t do it very often, lunch in the Dining Room is really quite pleasant.  It is quiet and relaxing, and the food was excellent.

We had the opportunity to talk to our daughter via wifi calling.  Nice to touch base with her. 

  

The ship offered 2 movies this afternoon (“Allied” and “Murder on the Orient Express”), but we decided to watch a movie from the on-demand entertainment system in our cabin.  We watched “Baby Driver” which rated 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.  We surely wouldn’t rate it that high, and not entirely sure we’d recommend it.

There was an afternoon lecture by Dr Teri Sowell, “A World of Islands.”  This was about the thousands of islands scattered across the vast Pacific and how they were populated. The current theory is that they all originated from Taiwan.

Pre-dinner we enjoyed Tanya Tingarova playing the violin in the Crystal Cove.  Dinner was in the Chef Nobu Specialty Restaurant Umi Uma.  We had the same meal as the last time we were in Umi Uma.  It was terrific (Sushi, Rock Shrimp Tempura, Lobster Tempura, Grilled Eggplant, Salmon with Anticucho Sauce, Wagyu Steak with Anticucho Sauce).

The main entertainment tonight was “DivaLicious,” a duo of sopranos that reached the finals of Australia’s Got Talent in 2012.  Their voices are beautiful, and they presented operatic selections with humor.  

Afterwards we enjoyed the Double Malt Duo in the Palm Court.

Today we walked 7.18 miles, and 17,054 steps .