Friday, September 06, 2013

Niue South Pacific - the Dolphin and Whale chase


The Dolphin Swim at Niue August 2013 from Yauming Ymc on Vimeo.

Dolphin Swim at Niue closeup from Yauming Ymc on Vimeo.

Two years ago I went to Niue with my scuba diving buddy Spencer. Sometime back I had told him about this small island that sat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just at the start of the International Dateline.

To get there you fly to Auckland NZ then catch the morning flight on Saturday to Niue. But you arrive on Friday morning!!!! How funny is that? He couldn't stop laughing about it for a whole day after I told him about it - and later he found out that its a great diving location (apparently) to swim with whales and dolphins. And we went there in 2011.

We missed the humpback whales so I decided to try again this year 2013.

I asked a number of my scuba diving friends to come along - but I think this trip seemed too weird and too long for them. In the end I went alone.

I confess that I'm getting tired going on these solo trips - as wonderful as they may be. I've led a very solitary life virtually most of my life. I didn't have any good childhood friends. I was a loner at school - and going to to Boarding School in Australia when I was 14 was not a pleasant experience.

But that was in the past, I love good company and I'm an easy person to get along with. I can be witty and incredibly funny when I'm in the right track. But I can be shy, quiet and reflective too. I don't like to play games with people's minds and maybe that's my fault - that I'm too straight forward and direct.

I must admit I didn't enjoy the trip as much as I would have. A shadow loomed over it that wouldn't leave. A month earlier I had invited a friend along; initially she seemed delighted to go. To say that i was ecstatic was an understatement. But a week before the trip she cancelled without telling me why. And she stopped talking to me. The hurt and feeling of rejection was heart-breaking.

I still went of course. But every single irritation I felt on the trip was magnified.

1. The baggage holdup at the Niue airport
2. The torturous irritation of hearing the wild Rooster's crowing at 3 in the morning.
3. The weak enthusiasm from the other people on the zodiac boats.
4. The lack of actual close encounters with the whales!

But it still went OK. I swam with dolphins up close for one day. I had a few (brief and distant) encounters with the humpback whales. I swam with a mysterious shark. And I heard the whales sing underwater. Briefly I forgot about all my problems and enjoyed the moment. I was the first into the water each time. I always had my fins and mask strapped on ready to go. And I experienced the sheer joy of swimming in that clear blue azure sea - free diving deep into the water and swimming with those gorgeous dolphins.


I also made new friends. And for a change - I got kissed and propositioned to by a random drunk blonde at the Sushi bar (No I didn't. She wasn't my type). She seemed lonely like me. I felt sorry for her but I wasn't attracted to her at all.

Most people would have been overjoyed - I wish I could say the same. I know its a very stupid thing - ungrateful even - I'm experiencing something and living a lifestyle that most people dream about. But all I could feel when I got back to my bungalow at Niue was the word - "Alone". I'm fucking alone. This melancholy is inescapable.




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