What a lovely sail into this port.  In many ways it’s like sailing through the Gulf Islands except that the hills are covered with palm trees.

We are greeted again by local dancers in traditional garb.

Tour today is Nuku Island and Swallows Cave

Snorkelling for me was not nearly as good as what I had experienced in Savusavu.  There were others that swam farther afield than I, that said the coral and fishes were pretty spectacular. 

The Swallows Cave had no swallows in it. They were just flitting around above the entrance to the cave.  Maybe they got scared off by us.  The cave itself was, although not extensive, was quite colourful and the water in it, was like a black hole….so deep!  We also stopped for a short beach time.  I have to say that, wow, the waters are so incredibly beautiful, so turquoise.  Your jaw just drops in awe!  As for too-numerous-to-count islands, it is quite obvious that they are all volcanic.

So everyone was back to the ship for a 4:30 sail away.  As we waited on several of the decks (one in particular that is never open to the public), the captain finally came on to say that we would not be leaving as planned….in fact probably not til tomorrow, because someone had a medical emergency that required that they be airlifted to Australia for immediate treatment.  An air ambulance will arrive Wednesday morning.  We will then depart towards our next port of call.