Week 3 in Tonga

Nickanddenisesailing
Fri 27 Oct 2017 18:12
20.16.33 S 174.48.45 W

So our time in the Vav'au's had eneded and we woke up early for our passage down to the Ha'pais - which was due to take most of the day. We had the wind on the beam most of the day in rolly tough conditions. Poor Ruth suffered with the motion and spent most of the time either being sick, sleeping or trying not to be sick... We did see a few whales to make things a bit more tollerable for her - but they didnt sick around very long. By the end of a windy day we were anchored at a nice spot at the first group of islands that you get to, in the Ha'apis.

We woke up early to fit in a nice snorkel around a big bommie before lifting anchor and heading to the town to check in. After a bit of a frustrating walk around the strange town we managed to check in and check out. We then moved the boat around to a nice anchorage where we joined a few other boats. We even ran into our old friends Simon and Kate on Bluebelle - we met them in the BVI's a couple of weeks after we bought the boat and hadnt seen them since Panama! We had a nice evening walk along the beach before calling in early after a busy day.

The next morning we woke up early and headed out towards a pass where there was some beautiful snorkelling. Lovely white sand bottomed gullies with corals of all colours growing up the sides. Having only really snorkelled a couple of times before joining us - Ruth did so well with all of these crazy situations that we put her in. We then joined Simon and Kate for breakfast and some long awaited catch ups before heading back to Ruths freshly baked bread and muffins in the oven. We then got the boat going again and moved around to Ha'vafeva (which sounds like 'have a fever').

Ruth and I headed ashore to check out the village - with our sarongs around our waists and our shoulders covered (the Tongans are very conservative and are not a fan of ladies knees or shoulders). Initially we met a few young men as we aproached the village who were looking for a coconut for rum/alcohol (of any kind) swap. We then met some friendly kids and dogs who toured us around the village. People were very friendly and most of them waved hello from their crazy ramshacked buildings. We headed back over to the boat- avoiding the pigs and pigletts (which were everywhere) before finding Nick fishing off the warf having a great time. We decided not to disturb him and carried on our girly chatting walking along the beach searching for more beautiful shells.

The next morning we started early again and headed over to a wreck that we had read about on the other side of the bay. It was an old Korean fishing boat and was beautifuly covered in coral. The surrounding reef was one of the best be had seen since the Tuamotos. After Nick gave me the 'shark' sign underwater, I headed over to Ruth - who I knew was a bit nervous about sharks, having never seen one before. She was happily getting involved, taking photos of the wreck and enjoying what must have been her 5/6 snorkel ever! After initially staying quite close to me (following the sighting) she got braver and eventually I think was a bit dissapointed that we didnt manage to catch sight of the shark in the end.

It was then time to move on. We were moving faster than we have done the whole trip, as we only had a few days left before Ruths flight and we had realised that we had sold our sleves short a bit on the Hap'ais so we wanted to make the most of the time we had. So we headed down to Numuku iki where we bumped into a few more boats that we knew. There is quite an impressive wreck on the beach there so we went to take a look. On the way we bumped into some friendly people standing near some half built buildings and a whole lot of tents. There was a big sign up pronoucing - 'Numuku Iki yacht club'. We were amazed to hear that there was an Austrailan 'famous' explorer and treasure hunter, who was super involved with the island as it has history tied in to the story of the Bounty as well as other interesting stories. Amougst some of their findings were some cannons and whale bones. It also turned out that he had a whole load of marine biology projects running. We quickly became invo
lved in
all sorts of interesting conversations with him and the team that were there.

After such a nice afternoon we decided to stay another day there. That way we would get a day in relaxing before heading south again to get Ruth to the airport. We had another lovely snorkel in the morning. We saw tonnes of clownfish, a sea snake and even a shark egg. The reef was beautiful and in good shape - really worth conserving - so great that those guys are there setting it up as a reserve. After lunch Ruth and I ventured ashore again and decided to explore some of the interior of the island before giving up and deciding the beach was a better way to get around. We pretty much circumnavigated the island before heading back to the 'yacht club'. There we found a birthday party in full swing (for 2 of the kids there). We were promtly given cake, our hair was spray dyed blue and we were welcomed into party games. Nick came and joined the fun too. Shortly after we ended up slipping away to get one last snorkel in before it was too late. After exploring yet another beautiful
reef
we headed back to the boat early to get a good nights rest before the 4am start the following morning.


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