Lifuka Island
Zepher
Chris & Lyn Darch
Wed 22 Oct 2008 22:34
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Hi Folks,
Nice bright sunny day again , with a storm due to
lash NZ were glade were here and not on the open sea like some of our comrades
are on there way to NZ, the advice by the weather pundits in the area was to
turn back, looking at it I would cocoa ... looks pretty nasty ashore let alone
offshore !
Sat here behind another reef with the wind from the
east is pretty calm but whaching the barometer and weather is now becoming more
of a ritual as we near the state line for NZ 2008 dash.
The village and principal head of government
in this region is Pangai on the island of Lifuka in the Haapai group, lots of
reefs and low laying land to keep the chart table humming with activity, and
under pants change outs at close call for close shaves in hairy passages ! no
its not readers wives but lots of sharp coral outcrops mostly uncharted ,
missing navigation aids, as these regions are not commercial areas nobody is
interested in surveying them apart from the British Admiralty in 1897 on the
good ship HMS Penguin with Cpt A.Mostyn Fields RN.
A quick visit ashore to the customs and
immigration revealed a village quite run down, a few new building build under
Aussi and NZ aid programmes but no EU money in this group, in NEuafu the EU had
built all the schools big ones at that ,the Market,Fish market,New Harbour jetty
and buildings,Administrative buildings and the local
bank .
The officials weren't really interested with
us , so we wandered round the village found the only bar, it was open but nobody
serving , the Tongan navy was alongside , a large patrol boat with lots of rust
and redlead paint all over it, the gun on the front had been removed or rusted
away ,sorry sight I'm afraid , and unlike the smart NZ vessel we had seen
earlier in Nuifu .
Anyway it real peaceful here none of the hub
bub of Nuifu , a few days more on the hook and we will be off to our last place
of rest before NZ
A sleepy hollow
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