"Tevolo" (mischievous spirit)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Year Two
Date: 16/7/2009 17:00
Weather: Perfect
Location: Neiafu Island (18 39.30' S, 173 58.98' W)
Author: Peter.

The main Street of Neiafu

The markets here in Neiafu. Veges are sold in little piles, each $3.

A local supermarket, not much of a range hey?

One of the larger supermarkets! however it is a little deceiving as there is little inside.

We are back in town again picking up some fresh supplies at the market. While we were here we thought we might go for an explore so we took the bikes ashore. Although the island appears big on the chart it is actually rather small as we found we could ride to each side rather quickly. Our exploration helped us find a real bakery. Yum. Another part of this journey took us to the highest point in Vavau to the peak of Mt Talau. To say it is a peak is a little miss leading as the top is actually quite flat. There is a Tongan story that says a Samoan spirit came and cut the top off the mountain so that he could have a clear view in all directions (sounds rather modern, in a bad sort of way). Anyway it is well worth the ride and walk (up a very steep track) as the views are definitely worth it as demonstrated by the spirit.

Picture back into Port Refuge and the Neiafu, capital of the Vavau group.

While here, I also gave the under surfaces of the boat a well overdue wipe. The new anti foul (vivid petit(for aluminum boats)) is so much better than the old one. It is lasting alot longer and as a result we are both much happier. It is also much easier and more forgiving to clean. Tomorrow is Friday Night Twilight race night so we thought we might finally join in. Every boat wins a prize and it sounds as though it is worth it just for these. Not that I am missing racing or anything either.

The Mermaid Bar also known as Vavua Yacht Club

We have been hearing news that back home it has rained a great deal. It sounds as though the drought is over which is a good thing but Coffs especially seems to be getting more than its share. Here the weather is too good. We have been hoping for some occasional rain but as to date have had very very little. We have been wanting to catch some rain to help fill the tanks so we don't have to use the water maker so much and I want to give the whole boat a bit of a scrub. A few days ago we got our first decent rain but it only lasted a couple of hours which only just helped out with our tanks. The only bonus is that the temperatures are so mild that we both had a shower on deck. It felt unreal to shower in the rain. Lucky for everyone else that no one could see us do it.

You don't need much to live this life style as you can see in the photo below. We have come across two very small yachts both of which have sailed from the UK. The dark blue boat is only 20 feet in length and is a bilge keeler. The light blue boat is only a little larger but I think that may all be in their bow sprit. See you can sail around the world in a Hartley
TS16!!

20footer!

not much bigger