We complete the ring road around Niue today. The scenery has been amazingly varied to date and today does not disappoint. Back east over the potholes to the nicely presented village of Lakepa and from there the sea walk to Puluhiki. Again the reef and rock pools are beautiful and varied.
Northward bound the roads are terrible and it suddenly seems that we have crossed some sort of dividing line between east and west and the potholes disappear and we are on smooth, newly laid road. A lot of this is courtesy of China who as throughout all of the South Pacific are building infrastructure in return for influence. Our destination is the Tavala Arches which, since their depiction on Niue stamps, has become emblematic of this country. The walk down is grueling over spiky limestone rocks where every step has to be carefully measured. Suddenly we are confronted with a small cave opening. Holding onto guiding ropes we make our way down and are afforded a magnificent view of the arch through a large opening in the cave. Every bit worth the effort getting here.
