Tonga (13 Sept 2015 – 10 Nov 2015)
We are aware we have truly fallen behind on our blog. Our apologies. Since living in Auckland I've met many Tongans, Samonans, and Fijians. The Islanders :) Some of my favourite people are from the islands ;) You know who you are ;) The passage from Niue to Vavau, Tonga was an over night sail and I remember it being quick and a bit rough. Maybe too much wind. We arrived in the afternoon and there was a line up at the customs dock to check into the country. We had to tie along side a French/Spanish boat with a young family aboard :) Customs and immigration cleared in two boats before getting to us and the French/Spanish boat. The process was painless and all of the officials were friendly.
Wow the anchorage was crowded and I remember all of the mooring balls were taken. Because the sun was setting and we didn't have the time to scope out a good spot to drop anchor, we anchored away from the town on the opposite side of the bay for the evening. Even though we were completely knackered the music, lights, and smells from shore got our butts off the boat that night. We met Nikki and Wiki on sv Pennstation who we heard on the SSB radio check in a few times and apparently already met in French Polynesia super briefly?!? We had dinner with what seems like the entire anchorage at the local pizza joint. Mmmmmm pizza and beer. mmmmm. Local Tongan delicacy?
The next day we had a party on Arbutus and at one point I counted 14 persons on deck!!! I think only 6 of them were officially invited but the vibes we were sending out attracted the masses. I think we were serving out rum from Caribbean...maybe this helped a bit.
Limited seating aboard Arbutus.
This Tongan dude tried to sell us a Tongan flag but alas, Sundy already made one by hand ;) He wasn't having much success selling them as they were of the flag on a wavy stick variety. So we invited the friendly guy aboard and the boys started hand stitching rope to the ends of each Chinese dollar shop flag. Because we helped him out with his flags he gave us some of his bone necklaces as a thank you. So nice!
One day all of the locals were wearing red and white, waving huge Tongan flags, and adorned their cars with the Tongan flag. The atmosphere was cooooool. 007 cool. Party party time as they came in droves though the town playing some bumping beats. As they were parading through the streets we were wondering what holiday the Tongans were celebrating. We were wrong they weren't celebrating a holiday...it was the start of the Ruby World Cup and the Tongans are serious about their rugby. Some of the other cruisers were also huge ruby fans and I remember over the morning radio net someone was giving a hard time to the South Africans Saskia and Brad on sv Toccata because their team lost to Japan! Haha I didn't even know Japan had a rugby team. Go Japan Go!
After a few days of the big city life in Neiafu we needed to see what the rest of the northern group of islands had to offer. One of the highlights of our whole trip for me was meeting this sweet family on Vaka'eitu Island. We were practically anchored in front of their home (but at a comfortable non intrusive distance) and spent the afternoon with them. They invited us to a traditional Tongan dinner that they already had organized for a charter boat. The charter boat turned out to be 10 middle aged Australians friends on their annual 1 week vacation. They were hammered and not the best company...but the food was great.
The family owned a small boat which they used to get to the neighbouring island Lape to go to church every Sunday but their engine was out of commission. The mother was also the Sunday school teacher so she had to be there! So we offered to give them a lift the next morning so they could go to church. Not a completely selfless act. We wanted to see the local church and attend the service too. The church was tiny but had a lot of warmth.
The girls supervising Paul while he lifts the anchor. Good work girls!
There wasn't enough room on our dinghy to take everyone to shore at once so Paul took all five kids for the first round. I cannot remember how mom got on shore...Anyways that left me and the Tongan father on Arbutus alone...and guess what we talked about?...Viagra!!! No lies. Apparently an American sailor traded him viagra for fruit. Not the traditional exchange of goods between a cruiser and islander. Normally we trade rope, fishing equipment, clothing etc. But this was the first I heard that viagra is also a sought after commodity. He asked me if I had any onboard...I laughed and replied sorry we don't need it yet. Somehow our whole conversation was about sex. Hahaha and the funniest part was that I was completely comfortable speaking to this middle aged Tongan man who I met a few days ago. It felt like I was talking to a girlfriend. I never got the creepy vibe that I've felt many time before when I travelled alone.
Lape Island
Lape Island girl who joined us in church. 
Octopus with a few less tentacles. Paul swears it wasn't him. 
We sailed back to Neiafu to attend some of the Vavau Blue Water Festival events. It was super well organized and a nice change from our lazy carefree days. We regretted not attending and participating in more of the events.
This dude posing with the Marlin I caught.
Ha'apai Islands here we come!!! Wow wow wow. WOW. Isolated, serene, and peaceful. An unspoiled paradise. The islands weren't as dramatic as French Polynesia but equally inciting in a humble way.
We left Hunga island in Vavau in the evening and this passage sucked. The ride was so rough and bumpy...like we were driving up a mountain side. It was so rough that captain Paul unwillingly threw up! What?!?! Sundy didn't blow chunks and Paul did? Are the tides changing? It was the first time in a long long super long time that either one of us threw up. Whoa.
Our second stop in the Ha'apais was Foa Island (I forget our first stop). We found a good anchorage with good holding because some nasty weather was coming. A lot of rain and a lot of wind. l think it lasted for 4 or 5 days!!! We spent most of the time in the boat reading, cooking, turning the fridge on because we were getting so much energy from the wind generator. We had company in the anchorage though. Dominic and Corinne on sv Helios were at a comfortable non intrusive, can't see what they are doing on deck, distance away from us and we shared some sun downers together despite the shit weather.
When the weather cleared we went to Uoleva (the funnest island name to pronounce) where many more cruiser friends were at anchor. sv Toccata had just caught a huge fish...don't know what kind...and were ready to feed the anchorage. We had a beach BBQ at the only? open air hut/bar/restaurant. The owners were South African and were kind enough to let us use their BBQ facilities. Everyone brought a dish and we had a feast.
We met a super unique pirate like couple from Netherlands. Simon and Anita and shared a lunch with them and sv Helios at one of the locals homes on Haafeva island. Simon gave Paul directions to make a kite. And Boom, within an afternoon it was built and there was enough wind in the anchorage for Paul to test it out. On the first try it was airborne. Cool.
Limited seating aboard Arbutus.
This Tongan dude tried to sell us a Tongan flag but alas, Sundy already made one by hand ;) He wasn't having much success selling them as they were of the flag on a wavy stick variety. So we invited the friendly guy aboard and the boys started hand stitching rope to the ends of each Chinese dollar shop flag. Because we helped him out with his flags he gave us some of his bone necklaces as a thank you. So nice!
One day all of the locals were wearing red and white, waving huge Tongan flags, and adorned their cars with the Tongan flag. The atmosphere was cooooool. 007 cool. Party party time as they came in droves though the town playing some bumping beats. As they were parading through the streets we were wondering what holiday the Tongans were celebrating. We were wrong they weren't celebrating a holiday...it was the start of the Ruby World Cup and the Tongans are serious about their rugby. Some of the other cruisers were also huge ruby fans and I remember over the morning radio net someone was giving a hard time to the South Africans Saskia and Brad on sv Toccata because their team lost to Japan! Haha I didn't even know Japan had a rugby team. Go Japan Go!
After a few days of the big city life in Neiafu we needed to see what the rest of the northern group of islands had to offer. One of the highlights of our whole trip for me was meeting this sweet family on Vaka'eitu Island. We were practically anchored in front of their home (but at a comfortable non intrusive distance) and spent the afternoon with them. They invited us to a traditional Tongan dinner that they already had organized for a charter boat. The charter boat turned out to be 10 middle aged Australians friends on their annual 1 week vacation. They were hammered and not the best company...but the food was great.
The family owned a small boat which they used to get to the neighbouring island Lape to go to church every Sunday but their engine was out of commission. The mother was also the Sunday school teacher so she had to be there! So we offered to give them a lift the next morning so they could go to church. Not a completely selfless act. We wanted to see the local church and attend the service too. The church was tiny but had a lot of warmth.
The girls supervising Paul while he lifts the anchor. Good work girls!
There wasn't enough room on our dinghy to take everyone to shore at once so Paul took all five kids for the first round. I cannot remember how mom got on shore...Anyways that left me and the Tongan father on Arbutus alone...and guess what we talked about?...Viagra!!! No lies. Apparently an American sailor traded him viagra for fruit. Not the traditional exchange of goods between a cruiser and islander. Normally we trade rope, fishing equipment, clothing etc. But this was the first I heard that viagra is also a sought after commodity. He asked me if I had any onboard...I laughed and replied sorry we don't need it yet. Somehow our whole conversation was about sex. Hahaha and the funniest part was that I was completely comfortable speaking to this middle aged Tongan man who I met a few days ago. It felt like I was talking to a girlfriend. I never got the creepy vibe that I've felt many time before when I travelled alone.
Lape Island
Lape Island girl who joined us in church. 
Octopus with a few less tentacles. Paul swears it wasn't him. 
We sailed back to Neiafu to attend some of the Vavau Blue Water Festival events. It was super well organized and a nice change from our lazy carefree days. We regretted not attending and participating in more of the events.
This dude posing with the Marlin I caught.
Ha'apai Islands here we come!!! Wow wow wow. WOW. Isolated, serene, and peaceful. An unspoiled paradise. The islands weren't as dramatic as French Polynesia but equally inciting in a humble way.
We left Hunga island in Vavau in the evening and this passage sucked. The ride was so rough and bumpy...like we were driving up a mountain side. It was so rough that captain Paul unwillingly threw up! What?!?! Sundy didn't blow chunks and Paul did? Are the tides changing? It was the first time in a long long super long time that either one of us threw up. Whoa.
Our second stop in the Ha'apais was Foa Island (I forget our first stop). We found a good anchorage with good holding because some nasty weather was coming. A lot of rain and a lot of wind. l think it lasted for 4 or 5 days!!! We spent most of the time in the boat reading, cooking, turning the fridge on because we were getting so much energy from the wind generator. We had company in the anchorage though. Dominic and Corinne on sv Helios were at a comfortable non intrusive, can't see what they are doing on deck, distance away from us and we shared some sun downers together despite the shit weather.
When the weather cleared we went to Uoleva (the funnest island name to pronounce) where many more cruiser friends were at anchor. sv Toccata had just caught a huge fish...don't know what kind...and were ready to feed the anchorage. We had a beach BBQ at the only? open air hut/bar/restaurant. The owners were South African and were kind enough to let us use their BBQ facilities. Everyone brought a dish and we had a feast.
We met a super unique pirate like couple from Netherlands. Simon and Anita and shared a lunch with them and sv Helios at one of the locals homes on Haafeva island. Simon gave Paul directions to make a kite. And Boom, within an afternoon it was built and there was enough wind in the anchorage for Paul to test it out. On the first try it was airborne. Cool.
Paul wrote about these same days, in French, from his side of the boat. Read his account →