Auckland

Visited the museum and went for a walk around the city.
Stained Glass in the foyer ceiling.














Moari war canoe.


















The Auckland Skytower.



You can pay to jump off it if you like. We went up to the top at 220 m, thencontinued our walk around the city. We had lebanese pizzas and then went to the cinema, but we both fell asleep and missed the end of the film as we had only had about 4 hours sleep each, since leaving Niue.

Leaving Niue...

At very early o'clock in the morning. The plane turned up about 40 minutes late. We didn't leave till after 03:00

The road to Avatele

The road to Avatele with jungle and Lianas.

Anapala Chasm

Walking for a short distance through the forest (off the vehicle track) leads to a very steep descent, down damp steps and finally to the bottom of the Anapala chasm. I think it is fresh water, but I didn't try it. Like Matapa the frsh water flows out and mixes with the sea water.

Gothic City

Gothic City, one of the dive sites off the south coast of Niue. This site isn't commonly visited, said Anne. The waves at Niue often come from the south east, driven by the trade winds, so Gothic City is not normally accessible. Luckily the swell was small enough for Anne to venture around to the site. After carefully mooring the zodiac to the permanent mooring we got in the water with haste. The swell was still quite uncomfortable. However, once in the currents were quite manageable. 20m down and there were lots of impressive coral growths.

Spinner Dolphins

Uschi and I got to play with some Spinner Dolphins, Stenella longirostris. We held onto the outer grab ropes of the zodiac, one each side and Anne drove us along with the pod. The dolphins played with us, staying in station and crossing over in front of us. Uschi said she counted more than 25 of them. I saw one or two with leaves on their fins. Anne said that was something they liked to do too.

Limu

Limu is a protected complex of lagoons and caverns. It is connected to the sea but is safe to swim in for all but the strongest tides. Uschi and I had a twilight swim there where we found lots of tube worms, sea urchins and other nocturnal creatures. Also the biggest sea animal I have been close to. A moray eel bigger than me was hiding in a cavern by the steps to the lagoon.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Because in Niue, that's what chickens do (!)

First swim on Niue

A first swim on Niue and we are amazed by the amount of sea life here.







In the shallow water in front of the police station in the main city Alofi we see a 15 to 20 unfamiliar species of fish and the ubiquitous sea snakes. From tiny tropical fish which you would expect to see in an aquarium in someone's house, to big blue parrot fish. Good indication of what is likely to come.

Niue, The Adventure Continues...

Arriving in the early hours of the morning. As the plane lands the rain starts coming down.
The doors opened onto a warm, wet tropical night and my first impression is the damp musty smell of the air stepping out from the cool processed air of the plane.

We left Adelaide at 11 o'clock on Friday morning and are stepping out onto Niue at 01:30 Friday morning after travelling most of the day, arriving before we left. The wonders of crossing the date line.

Saturday, a day of sea and sky 2

A day of sea and sky.













40+ in the shade and towing at Gawler in the afternoon.

Saturday, a day of sea and sky 1

A long snouted boarfish, Pentaceropsis recurvirostris. Not so commonly seen on the reef and can be confused with the much more common Old Wife. These Boarfish usually live on deeper reefs. This one was hiding under the big chain on the northern half of the reef until a couple of young lads playing on the chain scared it away.





Uschi, looking the part in her new kit :-)








A Blue Devil Fish, Paraplesiops meleagris. Also known as a Western Blue Devil. A commonish fish in deep water off the South Australian coast, but not so common at Port Noarlunga. I caught a glimpse of this one while Uschi and I were looking at a blenny in a hole in the reef. By just waiting on either side of the ledge it was under we eventually saw it come out and I got this picture.


A day of peering under ledges. We decided to get out of the water by swimming back to the shore rather than walk back along the jetty. In water only 2m deep I stumbled across this cuttlefish. After he saw me he did his body distortion trick and blended in very well with the weeds

Northern Lights 2

Adelaide University. Elder Hall

Northern Lights 1

As part of the Festival of Arts buildings along North Terrace are being lit by coloured pictures of themselves.

Here is part of the Museum/Library buildings.