Position:18deg 39min South, 173 deg 58min West � Neiafu in Vava�u
Had a night of heavy rain, but the temperature was cooler this morning. We went to the pharmacy to get Abby some ointment for a boil type sore she has on her arm � we were surprised to find that they have Tami Flu in stock at $100 for 10 days, we decided we wouldn�t go for that � hopefully we�ll stay in good health. We found some good wholewheat bread at a local caf� and some freshly baked cinnamon buns from the bakery. Today we went out with Abbey and her parents, Janet and Clint from Kairos, to Mariner�s Cave, they hadn�t been before, so it was good to show them where it was and to go in with them. This time Matthew was first in! The sun came out and we ate lunch enroute sailing with the gib up. We then continued to Mala Island, a beautiful resort island which, although had been abandoned, is now being renovated and will be open in a couple of months. It�s a very pretty island with two small paradise island type beaches, so, after having spoken with the new management and caught up with the ins and outs of running a resort in Tonga, we snorkeled along the reefs just off the beach. Surprisingly, much of the coral had died, but it was shallow snorkeling and the fish were beautiful, so we enjoyed it all the same. There was a fat pink starfish that reminded me of spongebob square pants! And lots of Nemo�s family and relatives down there. It was a really good day.
We came back in time to enjoy our special �appreciation evening� with one of the boats that Charles had attended to a crushed finger injury. Not only did they give us delicious drinking water from their watermaker � for which we were very grateful, but they bought a voucher for Charles and I to enjoy dinner at an exclusive restaurant, the Dancing Rooster, and for the children to go on to their boat and have hotdogs for tea, and watch movies with popcorn and refreshments. The kids were all so excited they�ve been looking forward to it for days. The restaurant was set in chef Gunter�s home garden, with large tables covered with pretty cloths and sturdy chairs, pretty lighting and woven coconut palm roofing. There wasn�t supposed to be entertainment with our supper, however, a roaming dog snuck in to have a fight with the Gunter�s dog, which took quite some effort to get him off and out of the place. We treated ourselves to a lobster salad starter, seeing as we haven�t managed to catch one yet! And Charles enjoyed an expensive t-bone steak, in the land of pigs, I had a delicious pork steak and we came home replete! The children impressed our hosts with their good behaviour and were told they were welcome anytime, something we were proud of, especially as they don�t have children themselves.
Earlier in the day, John, one of Matt�s new found friends at church came out to see the boat, as Charles was out in the dinghy, Matt swam over to the pier and they swam back to the boat. It was the first time he�d been on a yacht and his eyes were wide, we had refreshments in the cockpit and chatted, fortunately English is his favourite subject and so chatting was easy. He�s working hard at school to go to BYU Provo on a scholarship, I could imagine he�ll succeed in his goals too. He works in the local video shop from 9-9 on Saturdays, so he just came over to see us in his break, we had to let him go so he could go home and change before returning to work. As by law, everything is closed on Sundays, they don�t have the hassle of telling employees they don�t want to work on the Sabbath.
Joy
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