16 / 100
February 2016
16
T
hat drink at the 2013 RSGB
Convention has a lot to answer
for. The team (now the 6-Gs) first
mooted the idea of working together on
a DXpedition at that Convention, and
that spawned the TX6G operation of
March 2014. We had so much fun that
it was inevitable that we’d want to do
it again.
In late 2014, we started to research possible
locations for 2015, narrowing it to a small
handful of ‘possibles’. It was not a matter
of where do we go next, but of ‘in which
order do we do these?’. We set a number of
criteria for our next destination – it had to be
wanted in Europe, accessible by air (without
significant limitations of baggage weight),
with favourable propagation at our target
dates (the equinox) and, by preference, in
the Pacific (whilst sunspot numbers held out
some reasonable prospect of propagation to
Europe for hours at a time). It needed reliable
power and also should be a reasonable
‘holiday’ location. Niue was one of the
countries on our list, with a need to focus
on Europe (where it remained high on the
wanted lists) and on LF everywhere.
From a visit to Nuie in 2009, Hilary,
G4JKS and I knew the topography and we
also knew some key people on the island.
Niue has just one hotel of any significance
and that is on the wrong side for propagation
to Europe. No previous operations from
Niue had been optimised with a sea-edge
north-facing location, but we knew a village
where there was just one possible location
to do this. If only we could find a house to
rent there and get the use of the strategically
positioned village hall (right on the cliff top).
Just as we were about to decide to go
elsewhere, it all fell into place. A contact we
had made whilst on Niue offered his house
(he does not live all year on Niue) and it just
happened to be in the village with the cliff-
edge village hall. Not only that, but a separate
email produced an offer of hire of the hall
for the two weeks, together with catering
by the village folk. So the detailed planning
began. Our contact on Niue was the mayor
of the village concerned, who also happens
to work in the Niue Government on planning
and statistics, as well as tourism, and he
helped set up our arrangements. Extensive
email and telephone traffic between Niue
and the UK was necessary to get all the local
arrangements in place. About this time, Don,
G3XTT decided he could not arrange to be
part of the team this time, so we were able to
invite Mike, G3WPH who eagerly accepted.
The team therefore became Chris, G3SVL,
Nigel, G3TXF, David, G3WGN, Mike,
G3WPH, Justin, G4TSH, Hilary, G4JKS and
myself.
Niue
Niue is a 60m high island of rock known
as the Rock of the Pacific. It is roughly 19°
South and 170° West, and the path to much
of Europe passes through the Northern
auroral zone. The whole island is rugged
tufa, and the ground terrain is very difficult
and dangerous. Walking anywhere but on
identified paths is not recommended.
It has a population of around 1,500,
recently augmented by taking some refugees
from Tuvalu, fleeing the rising seawater.
The infrastructure on Niue is better than
some Pacific islands. First installed when
the island was the responsibility of New
Zealand (its islanders are still New Zealand
citizens) it offers acceptable roads (although
quickly becoming pothole alley), good
power from three diesel sets and solar –
only one diesel running at a time, a second
on stand-by and a third under routine
maintenance. All power distribution at 11kV
is underground – excellent. Water is mains,
although not recommended for drinking.
There is a dentist and a hospital for basic
care, although serious cases are repatriated
to New Zealand by a government-arranged
medical evacuation flight. Most of the island
is jungle, with few areas under cultivation.
There is a soft, welcoming, non-threatening
island culture – we’re all in this together
style. Everyone we met was friendly and
enormously helpful.
Amateur licensing could not be easier –
email the Telecom office, suggest a callsign,
send a copy of your UK licence, pay the
£50 or so by e-transfer, and your licence
is emailed back to you (you can collect a
printed copy when you arrive).
Niue is not a tourism island. Most visitors
are from New Zealand and there are fewer
than 200 tourist beds. The practicalities
are that Niue is a very long way from major
civilisation centres and is expensive to
access. The flight alone from Auckland with
a good baggage allowance is nearly £500.
The weather on Niue is tropical, but there
is nearly always a refreshing breeze – with
no other land around, it is fanned by the
ocean winds. November to April is cyclone
season and the best time to visit is in the
dry season – May to October. The latter part
of this period coincides with the visit of the
humpback whales to breed.
E6GG
from Niue
in 2015
Feature
This is what 400kg of baggage looks like! Photo courtesy of Hilary, G4JKS.