Arrival in Tonga
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Tue 10 Jun 2008 03:24
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18:39.794S 173:58.937W
We crossed the arbitrary international date line in
the dark, fed Neptune some champagne and lost a day - all in that order.
It's now Tuesday for us and we are now ahead of you instead of perpetually
behind.
We arrived at the island of Vaua'u just after
sunrise and were moored in a very nicely protected bay by 8am. Or was it
9am? We're still not sure about the time....but we do know today is
Tuesday and that's what's important, right?
We sailed nicely through the night last night,
slowing down to be sure we didn't arrive before daylight. We were rained
upon, but it was actually quite pleasant and the temperature was a new record
low of 77F. Once we got checked in by customs and immigration,
we went back to the boat and enjoyed a rainy, cool day - both wearing long pants
for the first time in five months. This whole rainy day experience
reminded us of home and was quite enjoyable.
We are moored outside the main Tonga town of Neiafu
and plan to stay here for at least three days - partly to rest and see the town,
and partly to ride out some bad weather that is headed our way (yea! more rainy
days to come). After that we have about three weeks to cruise around the
islands of Tonga and make our way to Fiji where we will meet up with the whole
rally group again in early July. Our crew member, Mandy, has left us
for a more spacious accommodation in a hotel on shore and is already busy
setting up the three-day social schedule for the rally boats here in
Neiafu.
More on Tonga in a day or two.
Anne
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