BLUE WATER RALLY - TONGAN MEMORIES

Anahi
Mon 23 Jun 2008 04:43

18.23S 174.52W  Monday 23rd June on route to Fiji in glorious sunshine and no wind – lovely! 

 

We all cleared out on Friday en masse, knowing everything would be shut over the weekend (Tongans are deeply religious and attend church up to four times on Sundays) and we had to leave Tonga by sparrows on Monday to make the welcome party in Fiji…… the only problem being that once cleared out by Customs and Immigration you have to leave Tongan Waters within 24 hours!  What a paraphernalia, first leaping into the dinghy and zooming across to Customs, then Immigration, collecting two sets of forms (one which couldn’t be released until 13.30 for some reason), back to the yacht, leaving the buoys in alphabetical order (Anahi first), motoring back to a wobbly old pier to collect duty free diesel (once the outgoing papers had been checked) queuing up for a final clearance stamp and then back to the mooring buoy again……… Zippy threatened to change their boat name to Apedidoda as the light failed and it looked as if they might be delayed until Monday……but we all managed to clear eventually and enjoyed a last evening meal at the Mango Restaurant which serve the largest lobsters I have ever encountered for 20 quid….. the idea is to book by boat name but ‘Zipadedoda’ was just a bridge too far for the locals!

 

 

Zipadedoda – aka Super Duda!! (Which apparently translates as Superstar – so we had the full treatment that night!!)

 

We really have had some Fun here with a capital ‘F’ – the dirt carting was a favourite and a great way to see a bit of the ‘jungle’, remote villages, fantastic view points and countryside – most of the carts were missing mudguards, safety belts and any tread on the tyres and remember we have seen a lot of rain lately………. We came back covered head to foot in Tongan orange/red dirt.

 

 

Rearing to go…….

 

 

Dirt cart Zippies….

 

 

 

Amazing views

 

 

And wild, deserted beaches….

 

By the time we returned from our trip on Saturday morning, all the Blue Water Rally boats were ostensibly ready to leave their moorings and depart from Tongan Waters……..but nobody wanted to go so we all trickled off round different corners and gave ourselves aliases when we chatted over the radio for the next two days - even the local net seemed puzzled ‘hello there - it seems there are lots of new boats out there – would any of you like to call up and let us know who you are and where you are from?’……….silence!!

 

Quite a few of us made our way to an amazing lagoon, completely encircled by the rim of an ancient volcano known as Hunga.  There is only one entrance pass but it looks very similar to, and is very near to a ‘false pass’ – once inside this tricky conundrum which can only be accessed at high tide - it takes your breath away…….kingfishers and butterflies, high rock walls of the crater’s edge with little caramel coloured sandy beaches dripping with ironwood trees and hibiscus flowers

 

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The look alike false pass into the lagoon……. 

 

 

True pass but remember to keep that rock to port!

 

 

Peace as night falls……….the stuff of dreams……..

 

A very enterprising couple – Steve and Caroline – have built a smart fishing lodge Ika Lahi on the shore www.tongafishing.com  and their natural charm and hospitality coupled with shelves of books, an eclectic music collection, fabulous home cooked food, incredible carvings and artefacts all surrounded by grassy lawns,  plump chickens and domestic pussy cats seemed too good to be true!  It was Andy on Spectra’s birthday on Sunday so they stayed open for us and did us proud…….  Steve is a deep sea fishing nut and told us a recent story of how his friend had been to Beveridge reef to collect shells…….only to be confronted by a shark in the ‘classic attack position – with pectorals lowered and back arched’ (I’ll keep an eye out for that then) – it was only being territorial though….. it wasn’t really hungry…….. so it didn’t kill him…….. just bit a bit out of his stomach and backside!!  His girlfriend had to drive their high speed boat 150 miles to Niue, applying pressure to the wounds at the same time, for the stitch up…….  It makes our antics look like a walk in the park!!

We left Tonga this morning – what a place and what a cruising ground