New Zealand and Niue – Introduction

For the first time I am writing an entry before actually starting the trip report… Two years ago I read an info from an Underwater Photographer I had known for many years about his trip to Niue snorkelling with humpback whales. I had never heard of Niue but the report thrilled me because this reminded me of my stay on Rurutu (French Polynesia) where I snorkelled with humpback whales 20 years ago. So I checked where Niue is (South Pacific – neighbour to Tonga) and asked if a trip like that would be done again. And the plan was to do it again two years later. Which was this year. Last year I talked to the tour leader again and he told me that 2025 was the year to go again and that fit right into my plans. Booking was done last year and I was happy to go. But I know that I have limitations. One of them is that I need to carry all my luggage by train to the airport in Frankfurt so for weeks I thought about minimizing my luggage. That was an expensive process since I needed this and that… 😉 😀
In addition I started to train some. I knew that snorkelling with whales requires a lot of swimming sometimes so I had training sessions with fins during the weekends before the trip. Another thing I needed to check was the validity of my passport. I had initially planned to stay a few days in Singapore on the way back home but realized that I either had to request a new passport or skip that because my passport no longer had the validity of at least 6 months as of Mid-August. So I changed the return flight and stayed in Auckland instead. What I didn’t realize either was that Niue is an independent country. I had thought it was part of New Zealand. And that meant that on the way back from Niue we had a new entry to New Zealand. I found that out only a few weeks before departure and had my heart-attack moment before I realized that New Zealand only requires a validity of 3 months. 😉
What is a curiosity as well is that the flight from Auckland to Niue is about three and a half hour – but it is over the date line. So we departed/arrived in Auckland Saturday while we arrived/departed from Niue on Friday. When I found that out I had to adjust my hotel-bookings. 😀 It was somewhat confusing though.

So it took me some effort before I even started that trip but I never had planned a trip this careful before. Niue doesn’t have a pharmacy so I brought all meds that I might need. I bought new fins because I needed some that I could easily put on and off. I needed a hat for the boat because we were out half days in a zodiac and had no shade. Sun protection creme, a poncho, some warmer clothes because in Auckland it was colder than in the South Pacific. August is winter time there… lots of details to consider.

But to make it short: it all worked out well and the planning paid out… let’s start with the report then…. 🙂