Our last blog finished off with a fire on the beach with friends. The following day was H’s birthday. After he cooked everyone pancakes (his request) we returned to Neiafu in the drizzling rain.
We moored and then went out for lunch for H’s birthday. After all we couldn't let him cook all the meals on his special day! We spent the afternoon walking through town and stocking up on the groceries. S and G returned to the boat to bake a cake while P, E, H and J met up with the Sangvind boys and went for birthday ice creams! The ice cream cones were huge and all for the awesome price of 4 pa’anga each, which is $2.30AUD! There was an even bigger ice cream cone called the jumbo, but it was ridiculously big, so we opted for the double scoop.
Later that evening we joined the crew from Nelly Rose and Sangvind for birthday pizzas at the Aquarium cafe which were delicious before returning to Be and Be for a movie. H had a great day!
We stayed in town for another night before sailing to Vaka Eitu. We arrived to an anchorage with about 10 boats already there, and over the next few hours, watched as another 10 boats dropped anchor. Justin from SV Lola paddled over to us and invited us to the Tongan feast ashore that evening. It appeared the ICA rally boats from New Zealand were having a pirate themed party at the feast, and we were welcomed to join in.
We went to shore and met with David and Hika. They are the only family living on the island and have 11 children, with 3 living at home, 3 in Neiafu, 1 at Matamaka, and 4 in Nuku’alofa, studying. They host the feasts whenever there are enough boats in the anchorage. The spread of food was huge and involved traditional Tongan salads, fish dishes, octopus, beef, and the piece de resistance was a whole pig, that had been roasting over the nearby fire for several hours. The kids all commented on how they didn't really like seeing the whole pig on the spit, they are all more comfortable with the packaged version! This prompted a discussion on different cultures and cuisines, and how people prepare food differently. There was also a discussion about we might all become vegetarian, except that we like bacon too much!
Anchorage was very pretty at night..
After dinner David invited our family to attend church with them the following morning, and would pick us up at 0900. David, Hika, Rosalyn, Rosalie, Anna (their older daughter) and her husband picked us up from the boat and we motored slowly over to Matamaka for church.
P felt very honoured when Hika presented her with a pair of handmade earrings and a bookmark, such a special gift. Hika and the girls showed us their classrooms at the school while Geoff and David went off to the kava ceremony. The service was lovely, again we were welcomed as guests in English, and then the rest of the service was in Tongan. The singing was beautiful, with the congregation of approximately 40 people all in harmony. David informed us that in Matamaka there are 5 churches, and the locals from the surrounding islands all worship at the various churches on Sundays. David and Hika had already been across for an earlier 6am service and they sometimes also attend a service at 6pm later that day!
H found a great spot to hide from the waves breaking over the bow
When we returned from church we made a pasta salad and then went to shore as David and Hika had invited us for lunch. The adults sat together and talked while the kids all ran along the beach playing together.
The following day or so we moved from Vaka Eitu to Avalau island. We explored the deserted beach in the afternoon, and enjoyed having the anchorage to ourselves.
We sailed over to Hunga Lagoon the next day, which had a narrow entrance of about 30 metres. To make it more interesting there was a big rock in the middle of the pass. Now, we have a beam of about 8 metres, so not much room each side for error. G took the helm while the rest of us looked for bommies, monitored the depth and helped guide him through the pass. We continued further into the lagoon, picked up a mooring and stayed at Hunga for 4 nights.
Also had an opportunity to stretch the legs and headed ashore for a nice walk to the end of the island where we found rock pools and a nice beach to explore.
On the Friday morning, E and P were picked up by the local village boat to go into Neiafu for supplies. The boat approached with about 15 people sitting on the roof, piled high inside with yams, luggage, people, 3 pigs in bags (they were squirming about under P’s feet) and a goat riding at the bow. It was quite a sight! The slow trip took a about an hour and a half so we chatted to some locals and enjoyed the view. Living on a sail boat we are used to travelling at a slower pace. In town, E and P picked up our boat parts for the mainsail, had a nice lunch out and picked up some groceries. On the return trip they sat up on the roof where there was a nice breeze. Once everyone had disembarked back at Hunga lagoon, E called G on the radio to come and pick us up in the dinghy. While we waited, we watched as one truck ferried the ladies and supplies from town up the steep hill.
The following day was spent doing some cleaning and boat chores then H, J and Jayden from Sangvind sailed around the lagoon in the sailing dinghy. In the afternoon G took the kids wakeboarding as well.
We headed off on Sunday with the intention of going to Ngau Island for a few days, however along the way (when we got back into an internet connectivity area) we checked the weather and seeing a reasonable window, we sailed back into Neiafu to start preparing for our passage to Fiji. The Neiafu mooring field was full of rally boats, also getting ready to leave for Fiji. We managed to find a mooring that belonged to a lovely couple, who were from Traralgon in Victoria. They have been in Tonga for about a year and are running Hakula lodge and a whale watching/fishing charter business. We left Tonga the following day after an emergency dentist appointment then getting a few supplies. Our check out went well and we headed out late afternoon. Once we neared the pass, we pulled up our genoa and pointed westward, bound for Fiji.