Year Two
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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