18:39.3S 173:59.0W We're in Tonga
Hi Folks, Arrived in Tonga on 29th (old money) = 30st May (new money), having had a champagne celebration on crossing the date line. Trish was hoping we’d cross at midnight of 25th, hence missing her birthday on 26th completely and hence not being another year older, but despite blasting along from Bora Bora (joint 3rd fastest yacht on the crossing) it wasn’t to be and hence Trish IS another year older! Crossing was circa 1300nm, hence took just over a week. Got back into fishing mode on the crossing and hooked an enormous marlin – must have been 4-5 foot long, ran to the rod to tighten the clutch to no avail and Mr Marlin just stripped the rod of the line! Spectacular sight to see it tail walking across the water trying (and succeeding) in getting free, um maybe need bigger rod/line! We were using a small squid lure as it’s pointless/wasteful trying to catch the big stuff, but it appears the big stuff will eat anything! So couple of days later and down to our last small squid lure decided to try again – loaded the line & cast into the sea 3 minutes later another big fish – this time hadn’t got a clue what was on the line, but was clearly enormous as again proceeded to try to take all the line. This time I managed to lock the clutch, fish went deep and bang, line broke – wow that’s a 60lb line (120lb breaking), must have been a bloody big one! So that was it with the squid lures, we did try with a fish lure but as previously just never get a bite with these. Weather on passage was good, initially with plenty of wind and a fair sea state of 3-4, from which we made 200nm days for the first 2-3 days and then the wind steadily dropped. We considered stopping off at Palmaston atoll on the way and also Niue (the smallest independent country in the world apparently), but instead decided to head straight for Tonga. Fortuitously probably the best plan as whilst the wind dropped on the evening of the last day before getting into Tonga, meaning we had to motor for 18 odd hours the day following our arrival the wind picked up to significant proportions with up to 45 knots of wind and a 5-6m swell. The slower/later boats apparently had a really rough time getting here and we’ve just heard reports that 3 fishermen are missing L So we’re located in the VaVau which is a group of islands to the North of the Kingdom of Tonga, anchored in an inner waterway next to the town of Neiafu, which is a colourful mix of old and new properties set within a forest of lush green trees. The place has an amazing feel about it - The kingdom of Tonga is call the friendly isles and we understand why – everyone is so genuinely friendly and happy and keen to chat. We went for a walk at about 10am in Neiafu, which only really has a main street running just back parallel with the shore line. By 4pm (happy hour at the local drinking hole) we had only managed to explore about half of the town, stopping at chatting to lots of locals and exploring lots of little / basic shops. We stopped in one which made mud T-shirts and was doing them with Logos of the Oyster world rally and an outline of the associated yacht on the back, so have ordered a few for the boat. Happy hour is in the Aquarium café, which is almost taken over by the Oyster folk in the evenings (happy hour from 4-7pm), and does slide shows from locals and others. Nice food and on Friday evening had a Kava (the local narcotic drink) sing along, sitting on a rug with locals playing guitar and ukulele – not sure they appreciated my playing or dancing though!! Went on a karting adventure, which was cool, although our kart decided to die halfway through, so ended up being towed, which is no fun when off-roading down bumpy hills. Susanne from Pearl of Persia organised a trip for many of the OWR owners to the Botanical gardens with a Togan feast for Saturday afternoon. The trip to the gardens, which is really the ex-agricultural directors 22 acre garden, was on what must have been a 30 odd year old stripped out Japanese bus. Was great to see the local villages on the way, with almost all properties keeping pigs – digressing when we sailed into the islands we saw a load of pigs on the beach – apparently they were fishing we were told??? Anyway botanical gardens was OK, the guy that owns it was sooo enthusiastic and had been developing the garden for over 50 years!. The feast was amazing, they have killed 2 little piglets and were spit roasting them for dinner, in addition to a range of other local dishes. Prior to the feast the family were demonstrating how they made tapa, the local paper and also mats and stuff, which they still make and export in the traditional way. Towards the end of eating the feast they laid on a show of local dancing comprising the family that lived on the smallholding + friends – was really lovely and so friendly and ended with a beautiful farewell song. The wife of the owner then went on to give a speech of how grateful she was for all of us visiting, she was in tears – had us all welled-up so Trish went over and gave her a big cuddle – apparently the income from our visit meant they could get by for the next month which brought home how privileged we really are. The warmth and generosity of the local families on the visit will live within our hearts for years to come. We’re off exploring the anchorages around the islands today and for the rest of the week (we’re scheduled to leave Tonga for Fiji on Saturday, so will do another post when we set off. Photo’s: a) Breakfast on board b) Babe looking good c) Passing the international date line (not to be confused with a telephone chat service) d) Shot as we got to Tonga e) Panoramic view of Tonga f) Local wildlife g) Walk around town h) The local watering hole i) Wheels on the bus j) Botanical garden owner k) Local making mats from Pandanus leaves l) No this isn't dinner m) Prepping for the Tongian feast - yum yum n) Nice setting for a feast o) The family entertainment p) More entertainment q) getting friendly with the locals r) Lovely local girls - Sanii and Donna s) Panoramic shot of Neiafu from Babe |
