We finally got the chance to go exploring! There are caves everywhere in amongst all the cliffs that make up these little islands, so we decided to go find some. It only took us two hours to motor out to Swallows Cave from the town, which was a lot faster than most of our sightseeing expeditions. The water around the island jumped from shallow reef to very deep water, so we couldn't find any where to anchor. Though I could clearly see coral on the bottom through 40m of water so I was constantly scared we were going to run aground. We had to head over to a little bay a long way out from the cave, which was all white sand and turquoise water. So stopping there wasn't the worst thing in the world.
It took us about half an hour on the dinghy to get back to the cave, but the ride wasn't too bad. There was a reef under us and interesting islands all around to entertain us until we got there. The water lapping at the bottom of the rocks around the island was mesmerizing, slowly creeping up and then sinking back down as the waves went in and out and the water found its way into all the cracks and holes between the rocks.
The cave was amazing. As we went through the entrance we were surrounded by an archway of jagged rocks which stretched out to encompass a beautiful cavern. The roof was quite high up, with little birds flying around everywhere. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that they were swallows. Along with the sound of water lapping around the edges and our outboard motor chugging along gently, it was completely silent in that secluded little world. We did a lap around the whole place before turning off the engine and rowing instead. The outboard sounded so out of place in our quiet little haven - having our oars splash around in the water seemed much more appropriate. The corners were all really dark until our eyes adjusted to the light, and then even in the dark you could see down to the bottom of the cave. I think it was around 10m - 20m deep. The water was the brightest blue I've ever seen, probably because the bright light from the entrance was shining in and cutting through the darkness.
We tied the dinghy up to a hole in a rock and Garth climbed up onto the rocks above us. There was a crevass that lead back further to who knows where, but the gap wasn't big enough for us to take the dinghy through. I jumped in first and went swimming on my own, which was scary. The water was crystal clear, and in front of the entrance where the sun was shining through it was a brilliant blue colour. It was so blue it didn't look real.
Can you see the face in the rocks?
When we were in the dinghy we could see down to what I thought was a pattern on rocks underneath us. When I got in the water it was immediately evident that the pattern was actually a massive school of fish. A lot of them were big enough to eat, and they were so thick you couldn't see the floor of the cave without swimming through them. Which I didn't want to do without Garth there, because who knows what was underneath them trying to get a nice big mouthful of fish. On my way back to the boat I went past a sea snake. I discovered that sea snakes are among the list of things I don't want to play with. I launched myself into the dinghy and stayed there for a while until it had had enough time to go away.
Fishies
We explored for a while, diving as deep as we could and chasing the fish. There was a reef around the outside of the cave, which made the sea life interesting. Inside the cave were just the fish from the giant school along with the sea snake - cave things. But near the entrance there were lots of reef fish milling about. They'd obviously gotten lost, but they didn't want to come inside. They just stayed near the reef, away from the dark.
We eventually exhausted ourselves and headed back. We were planning on going to Mariners Cave as well, which wasn't far away. But we'd read that there was nowhere to anchor there either and we couldn't take the dinghy in - you had to dive down a hole to get through. Which sounded really awesome. But we'd been told there was nothing to tie the dinghy up to so somebody had to stay aboard. We didn't want to go exploring on our own and it was really far, so we settled for relaxing on the boat and enjoying being in an island paradise. Though I did discover that if you try to pass the time on a long dinghy ride by singing 'We are Australian,' Garth will tip you over the side.
Garth watching the fish
Xxx Monique
Different algaes or minerals made pretty colours everywhere
The water was so clear it didn't look like we were underwater at all. Garth's swimming in amongst the all the fish
Looking back towards the entrance
Chilling out in the dinghy
It took us about half an hour on the dinghy to get back to the cave, but the ride wasn't too bad. There was a reef under us and interesting islands all around to entertain us until we got there. The water lapping at the bottom of the rocks around the island was mesmerizing, slowly creeping up and then sinking back down as the waves went in and out and the water found its way into all the cracks and holes between the rocks.
The cave was amazing. As we went through the entrance we were surrounded by an archway of jagged rocks which stretched out to encompass a beautiful cavern. The roof was quite high up, with little birds flying around everywhere. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that they were swallows. Along with the sound of water lapping around the edges and our outboard motor chugging along gently, it was completely silent in that secluded little world. We did a lap around the whole place before turning off the engine and rowing instead. The outboard sounded so out of place in our quiet little haven - having our oars splash around in the water seemed much more appropriate. The corners were all really dark until our eyes adjusted to the light, and then even in the dark you could see down to the bottom of the cave. I think it was around 10m - 20m deep. The water was the brightest blue I've ever seen, probably because the bright light from the entrance was shining in and cutting through the darkness.
We tied the dinghy up to a hole in a rock and Garth climbed up onto the rocks above us. There was a crevass that lead back further to who knows where, but the gap wasn't big enough for us to take the dinghy through. I jumped in first and went swimming on my own, which was scary. The water was crystal clear, and in front of the entrance where the sun was shining through it was a brilliant blue colour. It was so blue it didn't look real.
When we were in the dinghy we could see down to what I thought was a pattern on rocks underneath us. When I got in the water it was immediately evident that the pattern was actually a massive school of fish. A lot of them were big enough to eat, and they were so thick you couldn't see the floor of the cave without swimming through them. Which I didn't want to do without Garth there, because who knows what was underneath them trying to get a nice big mouthful of fish. On my way back to the boat I went past a sea snake. I discovered that sea snakes are among the list of things I don't want to play with. I launched myself into the dinghy and stayed there for a while until it had had enough time to go away.
We explored for a while, diving as deep as we could and chasing the fish. There was a reef around the outside of the cave, which made the sea life interesting. Inside the cave were just the fish from the giant school along with the sea snake - cave things. But near the entrance there were lots of reef fish milling about. They'd obviously gotten lost, but they didn't want to come inside. They just stayed near the reef, away from the dark.
We eventually exhausted ourselves and headed back. We were planning on going to Mariners Cave as well, which wasn't far away. But we'd read that there was nowhere to anchor there either and we couldn't take the dinghy in - you had to dive down a hole to get through. Which sounded really awesome. But we'd been told there was nothing to tie the dinghy up to so somebody had to stay aboard. We didn't want to go exploring on our own and it was really far, so we settled for relaxing on the boat and enjoying being in an island paradise. Though I did discover that if you try to pass the time on a long dinghy ride by singing 'We are Australian,' Garth will tip you over the side.
Xxx Monique
That looks absolutely incredibly stunning! Wow! I am so so jealous sitting here stuck in Keppel Bay marina due to 30 knot southerlies. Gosh i hope to sail there one day!
ReplyDeleteOh ouch, that's not a good direction for you guys! At least you're not stuck out at Lady Musgrave or one of the other atolls, they get so rocky and then you can't leave. That's the marina with the free car isn't it? I remember it being expensive, but at least there's a free car! Try not to go crazy with boredom, I'm sure you'll get going again soon
DeleteYes it is! Its very expensive especially for our size boat, we're paying about 100 a day! Wind is easing off this afternoon so we are off to Great Keppel for a night and then to Lady Musgrave hopefully :)
DeleteThat's insane! Hope you guys get some nice wind and have a blast out there! Cuddle a turtle for me :D
DeleteA wonderful description of your cave adventure! Peter is very excited you are there - he has been checking out every Cook Islands island on Google maps for weeks now, in case you need to know anything! He has become quite the vicarious adverturer!
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, this was Tonga not Rarotonga! We've only left the boat once in Raro so far, not counting going to the supermarket, vege market and hardware store - one across the rd and the other two on either side. We've just been fixing and relaxing. It was 4 days before we even went into the town. The Cook Islands are beautiful but this is the most expensive place we've been so far, I much preferred Tonga. Plus all the beautiful places are really hard to get to via yacht because they're too shallow or there's just nowhere to anchor. We're going for a hike today though, I shall report back after I've seen the view! If you've discovered many cheap things to do on Raro, let us know! The road around the island is flat, so the bikes have been amazing.
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