American visitor walks the whole of Niue
New Yorker Seth Weinstein is on a mission to walk 26 islands in total and this week he has made Niue his 19th island walking right around from the point he began to finish.
Locals were concerned and curious to see a tourist walking far distances throughout the island but were intrigued to find out that this was a personal goal of Seth’s.
BCN News caught up with Seth who was midway of his final walk from Scenic Matavai Resort in Tamakautoga to Alofi early this morning.
“This is part of a project of mine. It sort of happened because of the Pandemic, to walk 26 islands from A to Z one (island) for each letter. I started with Aruba and Zanzibar because they were to open in 2020,” says Seth.
Seth grew up in Boston and is currently living in New York in America as a musician. He has worked in churches, musical theatres, broadways and tours.
He said he was inspired by his first 11-day walk from New York to Boston during the covid pandemic and wanted to accomplish more with smaller islands.
“(Niue) is probably one of my favourite islands I have been to.”
Seth expressed his thoughts of appreciation to all the locals who have been kind and accommodating to him throughout his stay on the island.
The only difficulty he had throughout his walk were the pack of dogs he encountered viciously while passing through the village of Toi.
Seth arrived in Niue last Friday and will be departing the island tomorrow, where he will go to his next island in Japan.
Seth’s trek throughout Niue
Last Friday 16 February, Seth walked from Hanan International Airport to Anaiki Motel in Makefu.
On Saturday 17 February, he walked from Anaiki to Hikutavake where he visited the Talava Arches and Matapa Chasm.
On Sunday 18 February, he walked from Hikutavake through Toi where he encountered the pack of dogs, passing Mutalau and reaching Lakepa where he stayed at the Lialagi units for three nights.
On Wednesday 21 February, Seth walked from Lakepa all the way around to Scenic Matavai Resort in Tamakautoga. It was his longest day of walking with 30 km in total adding in his stops to the Togo Chasm and Fatiau, the old Vaiea village.
On Thursday 22 February, he finished his final leg of the walk around the island from Scenic Matavai Resort to Alofi ending at Hanan International Airport where he began.