Day 51

Saturday 20th June 2009
Nuku�alofa small craft harbour, Tongatapu

We picked up anchor early to anchor stern to in the harbour and set to with the reprovisioning of the boat and changing of the engine oil etc preparatory to leaving for NZ on Tuesday. There are quite a few boats in the harbour, most just arriving to enjoy their time in Tonga, seems like it�s just us going home. It�s the first time we�ve been in town on a Saturday and there are markets everywhere and a huge selection of fresh fruits and veges. Shopping just takes forever though, as we have to carry everything back to the boat ourselves and we have to go to different shops to get different things. Can�t wait to get back to the ease of NZ�s supermarkets and trying out the new Pak n Save! Each trip to the shops brought back several bags of groceries or in Matt and Dad�s case, fuel, and Tom ferried us across the harbour in the dinghy so we didn�t have to walk so far. Abby and I caught a bus back from town on one of our excursions, 60c each, we were just relieved when, after taking an unexpected scenic route, we found ourselves at our correct destination! We managed to find somewhere to buy takeaway fish and chips which we shared as a treat and hopefully will only have to get a few more groceries next week to ensure they will last for the trip home. We�re so going to appreciate oranges when we get back, they�re $2.50 each here!! We�ve put up our tropical rain cover and are praying for rain to fill our water tanks, as the last time we filled up with water here, for $23, it tasted awful. If we�re not successful with that, we�ll have to pay for a bowser to come and fill up our water tanks which is $50 plus a 45c/litre cost, hopefully it�ll taste good at that price, but rainwater is our preferred option. We turned in early tonight after a busy day and are all tired.

Joy

Day 50

Friday 19th June 2009

Pangaimotu Island, Tongatapu

Woke up early this morning and left for Nuku�alofa in a SE of 25 knots with moderate sea swells. 15 hours of hard sailing. Mum managed to make pancakes for breakfast just as we left. We had to tack and beat into wind all the way into Nuku�alofa with waves crashing over the boat. Me and Dad hand steered most of the way. Tom was the only one that was sick though we were all feeling pretty queasy. Mum made some omletes when we arrived at about 2 in the morning. We were all pretty hungry as no one had been up to eating much underway.

Matt

Day 49

Thursday 18th June 2009 19:00

Position: 19deg 56 min South, 174deg 43min West �Ha�afeva Island

The winds have not played ball with us. This morning we woke around 3am with the sound of rain � and no, we didn�t have the energy to put the rain catcher up (we should have and I regret it now) � The wind however had changed to the West and our cosy little anchorage in Uiha Island in 3m of water was, all of a sudden, not so much fun. With lots of shoal areas and coral heads, we were in no position to move, so sat it out and moved in daylight. The winds have swung around to the South West now and we have decided to sit out the night at Ha�afeva hoping for more favourable conditions in the morning. We hope that the winds will have moved to the South East but whatever we find, unless it�s a gale, we will make our way further south. At Ha�afeva we have swum again and done some snorkeling and the younger children have found some friends on the only other vessel here (a large cat called Twin Image). We definitely feel like we are making our way home � we were last here a month ago.

Skipper

Day 48

Wednesday 17th June 2009

Uoleva Island, Ha�apai

We picked up our anchor at 8.30am to make our way further south through the islands, so many places we�d love to go and our time is running out fast now. We�re feeling sad as we can feel it all coming to an end, though the kids are looking forward to seeing their friends again. As there was no wind to head south, Charles steered us through a narrow coral channel, with Matt as lookout, round to Uiha Island, we dropped anchor at 10am and went ashore to explore. We walked through Uiha village, a very pretty village with beautifully kept gardens and street lights on the dirt roads. This is the first island away from the main centres that has had electric street lights. Some of the houses had fairy lights outside, so we presumed they might�ve had electricity too, but all houses had outside cookhouses, so we�re not sure whether it was just a few who had electricity or just electric lighting. The electricity was cabled underground. Uiha has quite a lot of history, the royal tombs are in this village and there are two beautifully painted turreted churches here. We continued walking through to the village of Felemea looking for the uncle of a friend of ours from church. As luck would have it, the first house we asked where Manu Masima lived was his house! We were introduced to his family and invited to a dance and feast this Friday to welcome their daughter back from her mission. Unfortunately won�t be here for that, and maybe that�s a good thing as we might�ve been expected to eat the turtle that had been caught and was still alive, tied up and lying on its back so it couldn�t get away. The turtle was about 1m wide and the first one most of us had seen this holiday and we were so sad to see it treated this way. It was a prized catch for them and, without refrigeration, the best way to keep it fresh was to keep it alive as long as possible. They turned it over for us to see its shell, it was so strong it moved quickly towards the sea, so it was placed on its back again to restrain it. The water was beautifully clear to snorkel in. We joined the crew of the only other boat here, a cat called Aorere for dinner on the beach. We bbq�d boerewors on the boat and took it ashore to share. They cooked green bananas and yams on a fire and served it with a spicy peanut sauce. It was very heavy to eat and whilst we chatted and learned more about cooking local foods over a fire, but we�d have preferred our boat dried mash potato and peas! And we made a gracious early retreat to return to the boat and fill up on delicious pancakes and syrup!.

Skipper

Day 47

Tuesday 16th June 2009

Ha�ano & Uoleva Islands, Ha�apai

We arrived at Ha�ano Island, the most northerly island in the Ha�apai group around 10.30am. Excellent snorkeling was found in the bay with beautiful coral and plenty of fish, and we explored the island around the beach. We wished we had more time to stay, but we were keen to keep going further south to find an anchorage for the night. We caught a small tuna on the lure on the way, and are looking forward to sushimi tomorrow. We arrived at Uoleva Island around 4pm and went ashore for a walk on the beach, exploring the other end of the island from the previous time we were here. This island has the most beautiful sandy beach running all around the island and is your typical tropical paradise. We found a fabulous new resort there, Serenity Beaches, run by an American lady Patti and a Tongan, Semi. They have five beautiful Thai-style fales that look out over the beach on either side of the island and a lovely main dining/social area. They advertise over the internet HYPERLINK "http://www.serenitybeaches.com" www.serenitybeaches.com and we were very impressed. A great place for a �get away from it all�, unsophisticated, but comfortable, romantic or quiet holiday. We enjoyed chatting to them so much, and being taken on a tour of the place, that we got back to the dinghy well after dark, fortunately we were the only yacht anchored off the island and Matt had put our anchor light on to guide us back. Charles had a wash off the duckboard before tea, but wished he hadn�t soaped up after seeing things that glowed in the dark in the sea! It�s different from phosphorescence, they looked almost alien, round or oblong things that would glow an eerie blue every now and again, out in the sea, we haven�t discovered whether they�re fish or jellyfish, anyway, it was the quickest wash he�s had yet � he didn�t spend a second longer in the water than he had to!

Joy

Day 46

Monday 15th June 2009

Neiafu, Vava�u

Well today was really busy as we spent it shopping (who knew shopping was such hard work!) we had to walk all over town to get everything we needed as we can�t get everything at the same place. We had so many things to get like milk, flour, cokes (for dad!) and other essential items. The stuff was really expensive! Like popcorn kernels in a 250g bag was $8!!!! And chocolate $13 for a bar!!! CRAZY!!!!! So we shopped all day and carried huge watermelons and cases of coke back to the dingy (which flooded when we all got in � matt fixed it the next day!). Mum and dad treated all us kids to dinner at The Mermaid Bar we had hamburgers and chips which were REALLY good!!! We said goodbye to all our friends and then at about 10:30pm we upped anchor and left Vava�u to head south to the Ha�apai islands and ultimately back to Nuku�alofa, Tongatapu before leaving Tonga for home! Me and Matt�s shift was at 2-6 in the morning it was sooooo long we spent the entire time singing to songs and talking. It was fun till bekah nearly threw up on the floor. O well!! It was a good night.

Emma

Day 45

Sunday 14th June 2009

Port Maurelle

Today was a great day all round. Tom made friends with a boy his age called William off a large super launch anchored in the bay. We were then offered a ride on their jetski that they keep on board. So we spent the morning taking turns riding on this jetski with a max speed of about 150km/h. After that William took out a sea biscuit and attached it to the back of the jetski. And once again we took turns trying to hold on for as long as possible while hurtilling across the water at insane speeds. Both me and tom have bruises where we came off the biscuit and were thrown across the water. We said goodbye to our friends Kate and Sarah from Avant Garde who fly back home to NZ early tomorrow morning and spent the rest of the day snorkeling around the bay with William (who also unfortunately flys back to NZ tomorrow aswell). For dinner we had stirfry and invited Mike from Tusitalla and Mike from Acocoamo (not sure if that�s how you spell it). Mum also had Dad stitch up her finger. She got two stitches without anaesthetic.

Matt