On the first day of first grade, I stood in my front yard posing for the requisite first day of school pictures. The weather was still warm, but you could smell fall in the air. I lived in a smallish town, and it was safe for me to walk the few blocks from home to school. On this first day, though, my mom was going to show me the way. We were only a few steps into the walk when path converged with another first grader and her mother who had just moved into the house at the top of the street, Rebecca. Rebecca and I began walking together, our moms walking with each other from behind. A new friend!
Rebecca became my adventure buddy for years afterward. One of our favorite games was to create imaginary worlds where we had to explore caves, swim through snake infested waters, creep through abandoned cities and run from giant spiders chasing us through forests, and find magical, enchanted lands. We were always on some odyssey or another, arguing only over who was to lead and who was to follow. Niue is the adventure dome of our imaginations in real life.
Niue is different than any other island I have visited so far. It is not a volcano, but instead the largest block of coral in the world. Obviously, it was originally made by a volcano, but the volcano has long since sunk back into the deep and the large block of coral is left hovering 70 feet above the current sea level. So, the terrain is made of a giant limestone sponge. This makes for very interesting contours.
You never know when you will come upon an amazing cave to explore.
Where does this turn lead?
Or this jungle?
Ahhhk! Look out!
Boy, I'm starving. How are we going to survive out here without food?
Oh wow! Check this out!
Look! It's the cavern where ancient Niuean Kings were anointed!
Maybe time for a swim!
My favorite swimming hole required a trek down a bit of jungle, through a small cave, across a reef and into another cathedral domed cavern. The water is a mixture of fresh water and salt water, so it is cold. I slip in and roll over on my back. I am floating on the surface in the shape of an “X”, looking up at the cavern dome. The water is cold on my body, an unfamiliar, refreshing chill here in the tropics. The stone above me is melting, yet frozen in place with all the colors of rust: red, orange, green, grey, white and black. I think back on all my adventures from childhood to now. Life is supposed to be an adventure, explored with curious eyes and heart to the very end.
