Tuesday, October 18, 2005

WR in Tonga

Previously I wrote of the storm accompanying our arrival at Vava'u (three syllables, accent on the middle one). At that point Susan had been off the boat for two weeks, ever since WR left Rarotonga. So as we wound our way up the channels leading to Neiafu it was a delight to see Gembrit's dinghy heading our way with their crew and Susan. By law she couldn't come aboard until we were cleared, but soon we were tied to a Scottish boat, who in turn was tied to the wharf, and were boarded by four burly barefoot guys wearing skirts. These officials represented Agriculture, Health, Customs, and Immigration. After dealing with a number of forms they gave us permission to lower our Q (quarantine) flag, and we were checked in.

From Susan: I had more shore time than usual, waiting for Wind River to make the Rarotonga-Niue-Vava'u passage. Air New Zealand couldn't find a good way for me to fly between those three points, so my "passage" consisted of Rarotonga-Fiji-Tongatapu-Vava'u. Fiji seemed very different because of the large population of Indians there. I found Muslim mosques and Hindu temples, Indian foods, and shopping galore, with industrious Indian shopkeepers hyping wares, discounting everything from electronics to art. The Indians also lease land from the Fijians and grow sugar cane and other produce. The native population is a mixture of indigenous Fijians from Melanesia and Polynesia, and offer the usual handicrafts, including woodcarving and weaving. I took a tour of the area around Nadi to some old Fijian villages. I then flew to Tongatapu, the Tongan capital. I was able to see the harbor where we'll have to check in, and had a look at the city, which is about the size of Santa Rosa in the 70's. By the time I flew to Vava'u I was ready to settle in, and stayed at a backpackers' hotel overlooking the harbor where I had kitchen facilities. By the time Kit arrived I'd had people asking if I lived in Neiafu, my face had become so familiar to the populace! But I knew where the bakery was, what stores had which products, and what all the restaurants were like. I also lined up a massage therapist: my yoga instructor, Allyne, a sweet young thing from Quincy, CA, to give Kit a two-hour massage when he arrived!

Captain Cook called these the Friendly Islands and the people take this seriously: they are very friendly and helpful. At times as we walk along a street someone from a passing car will say hello. Many of the older people wear traditional dress, which consists of skirts of dark cloth covered by a wrapping of woven mat.

Vava'u consists of a maze of islands, channels, and coral reefs. Scattered about are various anchorages, which are numbered for easy reference. We left Neiafu and visited #11 where we had dinner at a Spanish restaurant on a nearby island and #8 where we attended a typical Tongan feast given for cruisers. We then returned to Neiafu. While there we dined out some more, visited the Mermaid (the quintessential South Seas bar) for happy hour with various other cruisers, and Susan took yoga classes. We also made arrangements with Paul, a sailor, jet engine mechanic, and baker, to join WR in Tongatapu for the passage to New Zealand. At Neiafu Karin left WR for a catamaran which was sailing for Fiji and points west.

Susan and I finally left Neiafu and stayed at #40 for three nights while we waited for the wind to shift out of the South. At 6 pm day before yesterday we left and sailed 80 miles under the full moon to the Ha'apai group of islands. We anchored here at Ha'afeva before noon and spent the afternoon catching up on sleep. Anchoring was a challenge, but we found a large patch of sand with no coral. We seem to be secure with the wind howling and rain spitting.

Kit and Susan

1 Comments:

At 2:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Attaching ads and trying to pass them off as real comments is degrading. It's nice to see you and your crew are still going strong, Dr. Hanes :) My brother was lucky enough to sail to Tonga with his friend back in the mid-90's. Sounds like a nice place to visit.

 

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