We arrived in Tonga after a (mostly) comfortable two night passage, then anchored in Port Maurelle next to Skylark. They bought over some of the 147cm mahi mahi fish they'd caught on passage to share with us for dinner. The following morning we motored into Nieafu to check in. The process took about half an hour and several more forms to fill in. P went up to the Main Street to get some money to pay the official fees.
Selfie time!
Girls prepping for town
The town has a busy Main Street with lots of small grocery stores (apparently all owned by about 3 people) which have mostly the same stuff but slightly different, and several cafes/restaurants. Shopping here has been interesting as you need to go to all the grocery stores to get everything that you want, also some are cheaper than others. There is a good fresh food market which is open every day so we stocked up on fresh local fruits and veggies. After all our baguette and Brie cheese in French Polynesia we are enjoying the availability of sliced bread again and tasty cheese. It's the little things you really notice when you are away from home.
H playing us some tunes..
Our first few days here were spent getting washing done, cleaning the boat and reprovisioning. Then it was off to the eastern islands of the Vava'au group.
Along the way, Dad thought J was due for a hair cut and J thought the same about Dad. An agreement was reached that we would cut each others hair! Lets see if you can guess who came out the best from that arrangement…
We stayed for a night near Ofu then moved to Kenutu, along with Skylark and Sangvind. The kids were all excited to catch up again and planned a camping expedition on the beach. They sent out a shore party to ensure the natives were friendly..
Armed with a tent, a beach shelter and a hammock they returned to shore and made camp. The mums and dads also headed in and helped the kids build a fire and cook their tinned ravioli for dinner. After dinner they toasted some marshmallows before all the adults went back to the boats. We left them with a couple of handheld radios in case they needed to contact us and all were happy to see us leave.
There were a few stories about rats running up and down the trees and through the campsite the next morning and how a couple of kids got a bit scared but they all looked out for each other and happily stayed there all night. In the afternoon we took the dinghies to Mounu, where we met a lovely Australian couple. They have lived here for 18 months and have achieved a lot in that short time. They showed us around their beautiful property and directed us to the walking track that took us over to the rugged coastline. They had built a decked walkway and seat, which is where they sit and watch the whales from July to October. We sat for a while, watched the waves beating the cliffs and saw a sailboat off in the distance. We returned to the house and admired the views over the Bay from their balcony. It's easy to see why you might live here, especially when you have your own island!
Fool...
We have noticed over the past few weeks there are a lot of ex pats living here. They come from Australia, America, Canada, New Zealand, Europe, Asia, all over the world. After our visit we returned to Kenutu and helped build another fire. Dinner was cooked by Sangvind and then marshmallows were toasted again whilst we sat around the campfire and chatted. We tucked the kids in and returned to the boats. A couple of kids had decided not to camp the second night, instead opting for a more comfortable sleep in their own beds. Early the next morning G took pancakes to shore for brekky and the kids had already packed up the campsite. We upped anchor and headed to Tapana for lunch. We stopped only for a short while before sailing to Matamaka, where we were invited to a gathering that evening.
After dinner we all ventured to shore. The kids ran around on the grassy area of the school ground, while the adults chatted and a few of the guys played guitars. We met another family from New Zealand, who are sailing for 3 months. They have 2 kids who were fast adopted by the growing brood of boat kids. That is a positive of boat life, the kids are always excited to meet new kids and friendships are formed pretty quickly as they never know how long they'll get to hang out. There is also a large amount of people working with the Peace Corp here, teaching English in the schools throughout the islands. After a few hours of music, and a bit of singing, we returned to the boats.
The next day we returned to Port Maurelle for a few days. We met another family from New Zealand with a little girl named Paige. It was Paige's birthday so they invited all the kids over for some cake and a play in the afternoon. The kids all happily swung off a rope on the side of Ika Moana, laughing and having a good time. In the evening all the adults and kids came over to Be and Be. We had 10 adults and 11 kids on board, with the adults sitting outside chatting over a beer and the kids inside watching a movie.
The following morning we farewelled our friends on Skylark as they head off to Fiji to collect friends who are flying in. We will look forward to catching up with them again when we get to Fiji in a few weeks.
In the afternoon we had a party on the beach for H and Dylan's birthday. Ben and Lisa who have a resort in Tonga came along with their music speaker so we played some music while the kids played in the water. Ben also took the kids on the tripod (like a donut/biscuit ) behind his boat, which they all enjoyed.
We had snacks and cake and then lit a fire on the beach to keep the mozzies to a minimum. We returned to Be and Be in the evening for dinner and a movie night after a fabulous afternoon.
