Date: 30/6/2009 18:00
Weather: Beautiful one Day
Location: Mana Island (18 41.34' S, 174 01.44' W)
Author: Peter and Kylie.
K: We have had a great few days exploring the bay of Port Maurelle. Our hunting and gathering skills have been in full force although not too successful. We have worked out which coconuts to choose from the ground, how to attack them with a machete to split the husk and shell and finally I (kylie) worked out the best technique for plying the flesh out. So we have coconuts down-pat. Our skills at collecting mandarins are improving however it is a bit hit and miss with the taste. We also collected what we thought was oranges (they look exactly like the oranges we get in AUS)however this morning when I juiced the orange it tasted very sour, like a lemon actually! So in Tonga they have lemons impersonating oranges! (They also have lots of men impersonating women- more on that another time)
P: Nearby to Port Maurelle is Swallows Cave. One of two caves that are a must do in Vavau. We arrived with a rather low tide but still managed to ducky in. It is rather surreal as you enter this large cave with crystal clear waters that you can see through to the bottom. 18m away! Apparently in the past, the Tongans used to have special ceremonies in here with food being passed in via a hole in the roof. The limestone formations although not in quantity are quite good except as is obvious, they have no matching stalagmites.
We had quite a crowd in the bay the other day so evening drinks was organised on the beach where we had a great time meeting alot of other cruisers who are in the region. Apart from plenty of long tales, we also learnt a great deal from people with plenty of knowledge.
Yesterday we checked-in, in town. More on town in another blog. 
We then headed for Mala Island where at last we got some good coral. There are plenty of great fish to see whilst snorkeling but today was superb. We have seen so many new underwater creatures it is starting to get difficult to keep up. For example pin cushion sea stars, all sorts of new colours of fish that look like Parramatta Eels supporters, and stunning Lion fish.
Pin cushion sea stars
It is Kylies birthday tomorrow so this is only short a short blog. Tanya and Dudley are joining us shortly for a movie and birthday cake. We will do a proper update in a few days.
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The Vava'u (pronounced "vav-ah-oo") Group of islands lies 240km (150 miles) north of Tongatapu and is the northernmost of Tonga's three island groups. It is fairly isolated and many of the local people live a traditional subsistence lifestyle, owning small farms and serving most of their needs from what they produce.
Vava'u group is considered to be Tonga's sailing centre. It is a beautiful cluster of waterways and pristine, sparsely inhabited islets, at the centre lies an immense harbour. Neiafu Harbour is a very secure harbour that is protected from wind and waves on all sides. The town of Neiafu is the second-largest in Tonga with a population of about 6,000. It is perhaps the most touristy place in Tonga but also is the administration centre so it is our first stop.
Date: 26/6/2009 18:00
Weather: Cold (that means a minimum of 24 deg celsius).
Location: Kapa Island (18 4.03' S, 174 01.86' W)
Author: Peter.
It is a cold day in Tonga today apparently. It is going to be 24 degrees celsius. The locals are all saying get out your winter clothes. Not bad hey. Believe it or not but if this is true the water is actually going to be warmer than the air.
We have been having some big spring tides at the moment and the coral heads are actually showing at low tide. So it was the other day at Ha'ano island when most of the local village came out onto the reef to catch some seafood. Some stood on the edge of the reef casting in handlines while others poked around the reef with long sticks and a bag collecting either octopus or clams. One young boy was even casting a net in the receding waters trying to catch fish. We saw him catch an eel. We also explored the exposed reef but were only hunting with our camera. The sea life was amazing with the largest nudi brachs (probably spelt wrong) I have ever seen (at least 15cm long), and of varying colours, the stand out being the bright orange. We also got our first look at Spanish dancers although as they were in the shallows they were not dancing/swimming.
Nudibraach
We then walked off to the small local village to discover there really was no one left, they were all out on the reef. It appears to us that the smaller the village the cleaner it is, and at Ha'ano the houses seemed much nicer on the whole. On the way back to the yacht we passed some wild mandarin trees and with Kylie on my shoulders we picked a few. Pity they were a bit sour. Hunter gatherer wifee then went and picked a few bananas to see if they would ripen off the tree and gathered a few coconuts. We are starting to become experts at opening these things with the machete we bought at the local supermarket at Lifuka. Overall a great afternoon.
We set sail at 03:30 the next morning for the Vavau group of islands and after an unexpectedly quick trip we arrived at our destination at midday. Kylie slept most of the way so by the time she woke up we were over half way there. We averaged around 9.5knots for the crossing and unlike most other boats, we had relativley smooth seas. Everyone we talk to says they had a rough crossing in a confused sea state. I spent the rest of the day relaxing while Kylie went exploring the bay in the kayak. We caught up with the crew of Navara and Airbourne at sun down.
Going back in time a little the night we had the strong winds into the 40's, up here in Vavau it was apparently a little stronger and in the main port quite a few boats dragged moorings or anchors with quite a few collisions and some damage.
Like we said earlier, today has been a little cooler and it has been overcast so it is no good for snorkeling, so while I did a little boat preventative maintenance Kylie baked bread and cupcakes. We then set ashore in the kayak for a quick look around and some more exposed reef walking.
The islands here in the Vavau group are much taller in height than the rest of Tonga. We spotted the islands at around 20nm instead of the usual 10 or less as with the rest of Tonga. The land goes much higher than that of a palm tree which means we will have some up hill walking to do whilst exploring and we should get some great elevated views back down onto the waterways. The islands also look different as they are now mainly rock down to the waters edge. The trees seem to be the same but with less palms. There are now also more boats around, this being area where the charter boats operate in Tonga. Our anchorage is also just full of Kiwi's. They all love their sailing, and most of them back in New Zealand must own a boat?? Most people we have met this year are Kiwi's!
We regularly see "funded by Australia" all over Tonga.
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Date: 23/6/2009 18:00
Weather: What did that old add campain for QLD use to say.
Location: Ha'ano Island (19 40.30' S, 174 17.40' W)
Author: Peter.
Due to the flu and some poor weather we ave not been able to see many of the villages we would have liked to have seen. We have spent the last few days anchored off Pangai, Lifuka Island (19 47.89'S, 174 21.26'W). Pangai is basically the capital of the Ha'apai group and perhaps its largest island. It was somewhat different from Nuku'alofa in that it is much much smaller and more rural. 
The cars however all seem to be in much better condition. We were fortunate enough to catch a local "A" grade rugby match on a very uneven field. The crowd were very vocal, lining both sides of the field along with cars full of viewers parked at both ends. Some kids even watched the game from up a nearby tree to gain a better view point. We had no idea who won, but both the crowd and ourselves had a good time.
On Sunday we once again went to a local church where the singing was again amazing. They can produce such a load sound with just a few people, it is beautiful. This island was much cleaner, but had more live stock roaming around. Pigs and piglets were everywhere and chickens and roosters just seemed to jump from yard to yard. Some tourists thought it a little boring, but Kylie and both like it. We would have loved to explore further on our bikes but two days of rain and one night of winds up to 43 knots put pay to that. As a result we spent one evening aboard the 58ft cat Twin Image for dinner and Star Wars episode one and another evening aboard Jura with Tanya and Dudley Off Baikal. We have been really enjoying the company of both these two boats over the past few weeks as we keep bumping into each other at various anchorages.
Tanya and Dudley off Baikal from New Zealand
Today we moved up to Ha'ano Island in preparation for our jump up into the Vavau group on Thursday. We had a great 7 mile sail under headsail up to Ha'ano before spending the afternoon ashore. I spent at least an hour making sand castles with Sam and Taylor, the 5 year old twins off Twin Image as they really seem to like me. Tomorrow we will spend the morning snorkeling and perhaps picking a few mandarins before setting the boat up for offshore sailing, ready for the following morning.
Twin Image from New Zealand
Peter, Sam and Taylors race car sand creation
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Date: 19/6/2009 16:00
Weather: Shorts and t shirt
Location: Uoleva Island (19 51.07' S, 174 25.28' W)
Author: Peter.
Sunset at Ha'afeva anchorage. Volcano in the distance
Over the past few days we have done a little island hopping. Its interesting cruising Tonga. If you split the Kingdom up into three main island groups the sailing is actually quite easy. Around Tongatapu, everything is a short 2 hour or less sail away (ten nm or less). Then when the weather is right a short 35nm hop up into the Ha'apai group. Every sail we do in this group seems to be an easy 15nm or less hop (Sydney Harbour to Broken Bay). All with an ever present ominous back drop (more about this shortly). Finally, approximately 100nm sail up into the Vavua group where every thing is right next to everything else. Ie: Really short sails.
The first two regions appear to be mainly flat coral based islands. The highest point of each seems to be whatever a palm or some other tree can grow too (30m). So the majority of islands appear over the horizon at about 10 nm distance. Then there is the exception. Out to the west of the Ha'apai group are two massive stand outs that you can see from everywhere. Both are volcanic in nature. The one to the south being relatively long and flat (yet high) and possible currently active, the other being how we all imagine volcanoes to look. It looks exactly like those paper mache volcanoes everyone makes for science class or fairs except much larger than I had expected. On most days it reaches so far up that you cannot see the top for the blanket of clouds surrounding the top quarter. This was the wonderful backdrop for our next port of call Haafeva Island (19 56.48' S, 174 25.28' W). We anchored in a coral fringed lagoon on the western side of the island where the supply ship docks for the local village. Although not as perfect as some of the other anchorages we have stayed in, it was still nice (Perhaps it would have been better if we could have gone for a snorkel, but I still had cold symptoms and we thought it best not to push our luck). On the eastern side of the island is a small village (one of the powered ones) which again we thought I should not bring my bug too but would have been nice to visit. What does stand out however were the sunsets with Haafeva Island being the closest island to these two monsters looming off to the west.
The weather and time constraints sometimes determine what you can and can't do. So it was with a forecast for strong winds approaching that we sped up our plans to try and see certain islands, and that also saw us miss a few we wanted to see. Our next hop saw a quick two hour sail back out to the east and to the chain of islands strung along the Barrier reef. Limu Island (20 01.65' S, 174 27.78' W) is a tiny little island that although we spent only two hours left us with some nice memories. Again a picture post card, what stands out were the sighting of our first shark, a small black tipped reef shark swimming 2 metres off the beach, the track of a sea snake making its way up out of the water across the sands and into the tree line in the center of the island (this is as close as either of us want to get to one of these poisonous creatures) and some pristine shells.
Limu Island
Heart Anenome
Sea snake track
Beautiful sea shells
We then rushed to Tofanga Island(19 57.44' S, 174 28.21' W) for some protection from the approaching bad weather and winds. Its interesting to note that when sailing the east coast of Australia and plotting on the chart manually you would use prominent land features. Here I find I am sailing from reef to reef and using these points to work out my position and my next course. This feels reel strange but it sure seems easier than using these flat and featureless islands. It also gives you a position fix more regularly as there are reefs every where. I am also glad for a high sun and wind as the breaking waves over the reefs sure make identifying them easier. I'm not sure I would like to move on a dead calm day. I would love to give some form of description of Tofanga Island but that would be difficult given we only spent the night there and two hours ashore before being forced to move on again. I would definitely like to go back here and spend a few days though as there are three islands linked together by small sand spits at low tide and it looks great.
We are currently anchored at Uoleva Island where the sands are perfect for long walks and a resort seems to be under construction just off our bow. I can easily see why they choose this location. We have been here for just a few hours and have just gone for our first snorkel, Yippee. The coral was not great but there was plenty of marine life and some new species for us to look at. We have invited another New Zealand couple over for pizza tonight and are just starting to prepare for that. Tanya and Dudley off Baikal much to our surprise are both very close to our ages! We have only discovered one other boat with younger people, the rest of the cruising fleet being mainly retirees. Not that this is a problem as we have spent many a wonderful time on board a variety of other boats with fanatic people. Our names book is growing with other cruisers at a great rate.
The one thing that has surprised me this year is the change in sea life. Last year we were seeing dolphins every other day. This year I have only seen one pod at a distance. What we do see every other day here is flying fish. Reflective iridescent blue flying missiles. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this earlier but on the crossing over from NZ we found two dead squid and two dead flying fish onboard. How the squid pulled off getting onto deck I would like to know. I have been disappointed by the lack of butterflies so far but the kingfishers we see on some of the islands do make up for this a little.
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Date: 15/6/2009 11:00
Weather: Showers clearing
Location: Nomuka'Iki Island (20 16.57' S, 174 48.31' W)
Author: Peter.
We have been anchored up at Nomuka'Iki Island the site of a former prison camp for the past few days in an attempt to let my cold pass. We have done very little except relax, watch dvd's and play games. Later today will be our first venture ashore here as I am finally starting to feel better. Although not the worst cold I have ever had it sure as hell lasted allot longer and as a result gave me some time to reflect. When you are sick at home there is a little more to distract you than when you are sick in a small confined space such as a yacht. You could go have a long hot shower or bath. You could play play station or watch tv all day whilst lying on the couch, both of which are difficult onboard given a limited supply of both water and power. Also it would be just nice to hop on a phone and talk to some friends for some cheering up. You start to worry about spreading the cold to your partner (Kylie) as the space is so small and there is no where to hide and you look at them somewhat bored, even though, just outside is an amazing tropical paradise to explore.
Changing thoughts. The cruising lifestyle brings home a real appreciation of how lucky we are to be Australian. The quality of life we lead is just so wonderful, it's a shame many people just can't see it. Something as simple as shopping for groceries, the choices we have in Australia we just take for granted. It was amazing to see how limited the supermarkets were in New Zealand let alone here. And the fact that most people here in the outer islands are mainly subsistence farming. There are very few shops if at all, let alone much income or money to buy simple every day items. If I read my guide correctly, of the seventeen inhabited islands of the Ha'apai group only five islands have electricity. The remainder have none except for a telephone powered by a 12 volt battery and a solar panel. This is still rather hard for me to imagine yet from our meetings with the locals and conversations with other cruisers they still all seem happy. Both Kylie and I are so lucky to be in a position to be able to do this, to have such great supporting and caring families (my mum and dad are the ones who instilled in me the values that see me here today) to have comforts in our lives and jobs that allow us to do this. I would love to bring some students away so they can see how much harder others are doing it, and perhaps appreciate more what they have and as a result get off their lazy asses. Can you imagine living without power? Every modern cruising yacht we have met has most of the modern power related gadgets of a modern home.
Again changing thoughts. I can't help but be impressed with the job Stuart did when designing Jura. We still to this day get alot of compliments and questions about her. Stuart not only has a good sense of what is needed but he also has a good eye on what looks right. Without a doubt we a have a fast cruising boat(only one boat we left NZ with beat us here and they motored for 59 hours to do it. I think they were shocked to find we had sailed it and only just arrived after them), fast to me means less time doing the boring bit at sea and more time in the wonderful anchorages. Also we are now starting to get a better understanding of what a great ride or motion Jura gives us through the water. I started to think we had it bad on the crossing over from NZ but after talking to other cruisers who did it at the same time we had, we had it so much better. Whilst it felt rough we mainly glided from wave to wave during the second gale that was on the nose. The other boats all complained of their yachts just falling off the backs of each wave. One minute being in your bunk, the next feeling like you are in the air. I do remember this feeling as our previous yacht was similar and Jura moves nothing like her. Even on a moderate swell in our old yacht you never ever wanted to walk in front of the mast as you would just get thrown around. I once even got thrown out of the nav seat and hit my head on the companion way stairs. Jura is just so much smoother than this although she does like to heel a little more. A factor of her narrower water line that I did ask for.
Finally, navigation. Kylie is finding it a little stressful that our GPS does not line up. According to the GPS we are currently anchored in the middle of Nomuka'Iki Island. I have in the past tried to teach her old school navigation with paper charts and pencil, compass, parallel rule etc. Back then she had little real interest but now I think she is starting to appreciate what she needs to learn. We are currently finding our way through a maze of reefs and uncharted bommies that need lots of care and attention. I agree at times it can be unnerving as you make your way through reefs of breakers on each side that are just in the middle of the ocean, but to rely wholly on a GPS would be stupid. Once again we are so spoilt back home that our GPS's are so accurate and our charts so up to date.
By the way I also miss free to all modern medicine just around the corner when I am sick. Even if the doctor does nothing, it is still reassuring to have visited them.
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Date: 10/6/2009 18:00
Weather: The world is coming to an end
Location: Tau(21 01.33' S, 175 00.78' W)
Author: Peter.
Yesterday morning we upped anchored and headed as far north and east as we could in the Tongatapu area in preparation for a small 35nm hop into the Ha'apai Group (middle group) We anchored off a tiny little deserted island called Tau. Once again when you picture the tropics this is what most people see. A coral fringed island of white sands and swaying green palms. A great spot for a romantic picnic lunch. Surrounded by perfectly clear water showing off the spectrum of colours in the blue range from deep blue down to an amazingly clear turquoise. Also in Australia when you beach comb you may find some amazing shells, but we have now learnt they are extremely sun bleached. On Tau we have found shells so pristine on the sands that they look like someone has sprayed them with gloss lacquer. They are just so stunningly beautiful.
Crabs hiding from the sun in a coconut!
Malinoa Island
And then it struck me. I can't believe it and not a school kid in sight. I have come down with a cold, and as many of you know, when i have a cold it is the end of the world. And why is that when you are sick no-matter how big the bed it's just not big enough? I really feel sorry for Kylie (she is also craving a garlic naan to have with the curry she cooked). Instead of setting sail today we just had a day of nothing, watching dvds, reading and knitting. Our power finally got up to full after several weeks of having to run the motor to top the batteries up. We were also able to run the water maker (thanks to the power surplus)we were starting to run out of water. We will now wait to see tomorrows forecast and how i feel before we make any plans to move on.
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The Ha’apai Group in the middle of the kingdom consists of numerous small, atoll-like islands scattered across the sea. Of the 62 islands in the Ha'apai group, only 17 are inhabited. On those 17 islands, there are approximately 8,000 people settled in 30 villages. Linked by a causeway, Lifuka and Foa are the largest and the only ones you can visit without being on a yacht.
Date: 6/6/2009 14:30
Weather: Overcast 26 deg
Location: Pangaimotu (21 007.54' S, 175 09.70' W)
Author: Peter.
My first car was a poo brown Mazda 323 that you could hear coming from at least four blocks away. The drivers seat was held together by the car seat cover, it had cracks in the windshield including two legal "bulls eyes" directly in front of the driver, and some rust in the body. It was also written off twice whilst in my possession by accidents caused by someone else and each time I patched it back together. It was a piece of sh!@# but it worked, it got me around and i was ok with it. That car was heaven compared to what they drive in Tonga. I have seen cars go past and i cant work out what is holding the rust together let alone the car. They obviously do not have to go through any inspection process as i can't see how most of them are still working. It is a testament to the powers of man that cars that are this bad still work. Mechanically you should hear some of these cars yet they still keep going.
Our hire car although not that bad is a good example. Externally it looked ok, some uv damage to the paint and a few dings but otherwise ok. To drive it was another story. The front left CV joint sounded crook. Shock absorbers, what shock absorbers? A few rattles here and there and central locking that just kept trying to come on. We had hired the only car available on Friday which i swear was a Mitsubishi Magna Executive but was badged differently. I checked all the brakes though and they worked fine. Thank goodness you spend most of your time at 40km an hour and the most you ever do is 60. It did however get us around the island for sight seeing and to our excellent farewell meal to the main island of Nukula'lofa.
So after a few stops at the local servo in the morning to top the yacht up with diesel and some time at immigration extending our visa's, we set off with Steve and Liz from Liberte in search of sights around the island.
Steve and Liz from Liberte
Our first port of call being the landing place of Cpt James Cook and where he first met the local inhabitants. Upon reading the information board we discovered he spent about 4 months in Tonga and during this time the local chiefs had plotted to murder Cook and raid his ships. However due to their own infighting on how to go about it, they missed their opportunity.
Our second stop saw us heading for some local caves (which are being turned into a resort). The light filtering through the leaves in the open parts of the ceiling was pretty and the local story that came with the cave was nice but they left us a little disappointed.
Our next stop was to be a natural land bridge, but we completely missed it and almost missed the following most wanted stop. Although a small island, there are no street signs and the map we had had roads that don't exist and did not show a heap of others that do. Another yacht we spoke too said they saw a tourist map the was the reverse image of the island. This all makes getting around a little difficult. I wondered if it was a ploy by the taxi drivers so you had to use them.
Our next stop saw us take in the most spectacular blow holes we have ever seen. Half way along Nukula'lofa eastern shore is a stretch of at least 1km of blow holes, ranging in size from tiny little spouts to guisers throwing water over 10m into the air. And all this on a day when the waves looked rather small. The sight itself as you watch the progression of the wave along the shore and up through the blow holes is one not to be missed and the accompanying noise is rather boisterous. It puts the Kiama blow hole to shame.
After a quick trip back to the boat to doll ourselves up we made our way eventually to the Good Samaritan Inn (like i said it is difficult to find your way around and it was now dark) for a traditional dinner feast and show. This show was heavily attended by locals so i think that gives you a good idea on the quality of what we enjoyed. The show itself was great, with quite a large group both performing the dances and playing the music. A dance was even dedicated to the two Australian boats. Kylie and Steve were dragged up onto the dance floor for some audience participation, and a truly great night was had by all. What a great way for us to finish our stay on Nukula'lofa
Today at lunch, we let go the lines attached to the break wall, picked up anchor and motored a very short distance to Pangaimotu Island. Tomorrow we will go exploring but this afternoon we are happy just relaxing and finally letting Jura's batteries charge back up (we had little to no wind in the harbour and lately have had overcast days).
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Date: 4/6/2009 12:00
Weather: Light showers but still 26 deg
Location: Nukula'lofa Harbour (21 08.28' S, 175 10.95' W)
Author: Peter.
Tied up to the Nukualofa Wharf
Many houses in Nukualofa look like this. Very few are in better condition
Corner stores, you only have to walk a few hundred metres to find these. The bars across the windows are because they are open 24hours (god knows why) and the propietor often falls asleep on the job.
Pack Mule Pete!
The Kings Palace
Its a public holiday here in Tonga. Emancipation Day, however not much is going on, on this day they were set free. We thought it might be like Australia Day. Nope.
The formalities here are so lax, we cant believe it. We have a visa for one month but need to extend it to two so that we can see everything we wish to see. Yesterday we went to Immigration to do this just after lunch, but we were sent away and asked if we could come back tomorrow- they were only working half a day! This also happens on Friday and I think when ever they feel like having the afternoon off. We knew it was a public holiday the following day so we asked are you open, to which the reply was "yes come back tomorrow at 9". Ha, we knew they would not be open, now we have to waste some time on Friday when we have hired a car to go and do it so we can clear out on Saturday. We hear stories like this constantly from other boats. Who would have thought it would be so hard to pay them some money. So today is laundry day. We have such a large sack full it is about time we did some.
Last Sunday we went to the local, very large Catholic Church (yes Mum and Dad, I went). It was Kylie's 1st experience of church going so she was a little excited. The church itself is massive with high ceilings and the biggest stage I have ever seen. We estimate it would seat well over 1000 people. There are churches on every second corner, the Tongans' being very religious. The bells ring to say mass is 15 minutes away and they all come dressed up. Some wear suits but most wear a combination of traditional clothing (woven mats worn about the waist (ta'ovala')) and their Sunday best. Although the service was conducted in Tongan it still followed the same progression as other catholic services I grew up with so I knew where we were up to and what should have been happening, we just could not understand any of the days particular messages. The majority of the mass is sung, and there appeared to be at least 3 choir groups in the front rows of the church. The sounds they produced were just amazing to listen to (this would have to be the best mass I have ever been too) but could also get a little distracting because at times I felt it more like battle of the choirs. Their voices however were stunning, their harmony magic, and the overall sound better than anything I have ever heard including that choir show on Australian tv.
Sunday is truly a day of rest in Tonga (we have never heard it so quiet at day or night). We have actually heard it is illegal to work on a Sunday here.
Over the last few days we have spent half a day doing some preventative maintenance. Each day some new yacht arrives, each one looking more battered than the next (there are now 4 Australian boats here!). We have seen quite a few shredded headsail's so I thought it prudent to check all stitching and then spent 3 hours hand sewing just to make sure we don't end up looking like these other boats. We also pulled apart one halyard winch and gave it a well needed service and I checked the rigging which needed a replacement split pin in the forestay.
On the other days we have been exploring on our bikes, each day discovering new things to see. We have also done a little extra provisioning whilst here and will tomorrow visit the local markets to pick our final fresh produce as the local Asian community has some excellent fresh produce from their market gardens. Yesterday we bought Bok Choy that was better than anything you buy in the supermarket back home in Aus.
Every pile is $3
The decorative Tongan cemeteries.
Our French guest Florian has moved on to explore some other islands. His itchy feet looked a little bored here in town as we waited for our new friend Steve to fly back in from Australia with a replacement stereo/dvd player unit for us.
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