Tonga - with pictures

Island Kea II
Steve and Katrin Everett
Sun 4 Jul 2010 05:31

THE KINGDOM OF TONGA, 2ND JULY, 2010

 

We are having a great time in Tonga.  We arrived on a Monday and that evening was a welcome party.  This involved a Tongan buffet, Tongan dancing and drinking of Kava which is a national drink and tastes just like mud..

The next day we sailed over to the bay of Tapana for a dingy race, Island Kea came third or fourth, it was difficult to make out!!!

In the evening there was a Tongan feast laid our for us near the beach and Tongan dancing.  The feast had to be eaten with our hands and was laid out on Banana leaves and in coconut shells.  Never before have eaten a meal with so little knowledge of what we were actually eating.  On top of this it was quite dark so you could not see very much.  The following morning we headed off around to another beach called Nuka. It I a lovely white beach and we had a bbq (which eventually lit).  We headed back that afternoon.

Then Friday there was refueling of all the yachts, we did this with jerrycans as it was very windy.

That afternoon Katrin went to a Indian cooking lesson (with 12 others from the rally) and everyone had the meal in the evening.  Saturday was busy also as Katrin went shopping at the market first thing, then we had the rally briefing for Fiji at 9am and by 11am we all had to be on the coach for another outing.  This time it was a visit to a Botanic garden followed by another feast and Tongan dancing show.

Today is a day off, time for a bit of rest – but not too much as it is a birthday party tonight!

We are heading off tomorrow (Monday morning) as soon as we can clear out with immigration, customs and the rest.

In some ways good that we are heading off again and can have a bit of a rest J

 

 

  

Dingy Race                            Steve and Tom on Island Kea dingy

  

Dingy race                             Tongan dancers

 

  

Tongan feast                         Tongan feast

 

  

Rally yachts heading for next bbq..   Island Kea on anchor

 

  

Beach party..                        Charlie was 13 that day, so 13 bounches.. 

  

Beach was lovely..

 

  

Chart plotter was a bit out..     Indian cooking lesson – great fun

We were not aground!!

 

  

Market                                  84 year old local lady making tongan cloth from tree

 

         

Tongan dancing – very elegant..

 

 

 

   

A paddle in the sea..                not sure what I was eating here…

 

 

 

 

 

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