Sunday, July 27, 2008
I am afraid that we are very behind on our blogs and there is too much that has happened in between to recount all
of our adventures, but I will try my best to get the highlights without boring our audience too badly.
Tongatapu, Tonga
Malo e leiei! Fefe hake? Hello and how are you in Tongan! We have a lot to
explore yet on Tongatapu, only one of the many islands that makes up the Tongan nation.
It is now July 27th for us here in Tonga and we have only been here 2 days. Having crossed the International date line, we were cheated out of a day
of life but were welcomed to the island with the biggest festival of the Tongan year!This years Heilala festival, a week
long celebration, is combined this year with your Majesty the king George Topou the fifth's coronation. There are
LONG LIVE THE KING banners strung about everywhere! The day after we arrived
the block parties and parades began full of food, old and very loud American(Madonna/Rap)music, traditional Tongan
dress and dance, as well as a cultural exhibitions from other countries around the world. We have had a blast wondering
around the lively city full of people, pigs, huge elaborate grave yards, small markets with cold refreshments, vegetabel
stands with conveniently cheap produce, and pizza shops with delicious Hawaiian style pizza pies we devoured!Today
being Sunday, everything is closed allowing us to truly relax for the first time for as long as we can remember.We have
actually just sat in the boat extremely content the entire day filling out journals and attempting to update this blog.
The "cruising" life is much more social than we both had anticipated, being invited over for cocktails or dinner almost every night.
Yesterday after the float parade and pizza with another cruising couple, we thought we'd get to enjoy a quiet movie night on Mai Miti,
but as soon as we returned to the boat, the couple next door insisted we come over for appetizers and drinks. No
complaining because it is always a very nice treat, but we were definitely not expecting so much of it!
Niue"No-way"
After a long 20 day passage from Palmyra atoll, we managed to find our way into the security of Alofi bay. Due
to unfavorable conditions with howling winds and large seas, the last 100 miles of our trip took us over 3 days
to conquer. The crystal clear blue waters with 140+ft visiblity and secure mooring balls of the island made the fight
worth it. The first day and night in Alofi, the largest village of Niue, we enjoyed the simple things in life like,
walking on solid ground, fresh baked bread, cold soda, and a "sausage sizzle" as they call it in New Zealand, with
hot sausage and onion sandwiches, and cold New Zealand beer. This special thurday night sizzle put on by the Niue
yacht club(a family run business at their home tucked away in the palm trees) allowed us to meet the other
cruisers and to get the scoop on the best island hikes, snorkels, ect. We were fotunate to arrive when we had because
the upcoming Saturday morning the south village of Alofi would be putting on their village festival. It took place
at the primary school grass field with tons of food and crafts. We tried the coconut porridge which was half a coconut
filled with gelatinous but mushy pudding like substance. There was a hint of sweetness to it but not much. It was good
but what really got our taste buds rolling was the Roti, a homemade tortilla stuffed with corned beef, potatoes, and
a yellow curry. Mmm.mmm...After much eating occurred for the Niuians, the village put on their dance show with various
groups performing dances similar to the hula but with different dress. One custom we were not used to was the spectators
would get up at any point in the dance and stuff money down the dancers shirt, skirt, ect..., if they liked what they
saw. It was funny to watch the dancers try to keep the beat during all of this. Forgot our camera, whoops! we also forgot
the camera for the big Niuian dance performance later that week, full of elaborate costumes and even a fashion show.Being a
country of only 1000 people, events like this are huge and everyone shows up. We soon started recognizing faces where ever
we went.
In between snorkeling through underwater caverns with white tip reef sharks and 1 of the top ten most poisonous sea
snakes that were everywhere(don't worry moms and dads, their mouths are too small to cause any harm even if they
were to bite you), we went on humpback whale chasing expeditions succeeding twice in our mission. The first one being Jmz'
closest encounter, being only 5 ft from the enourmous creature. The second was for Amber's birthday present where we
both swam with two of them before they gracefully dove into the deep blue and out of sight. Not such a bad b-day especially
since Jmz played me happy bday with his violin, cooked me reeces pancakes,treated me to shakes at the incredible Frosty Boy
and took me to dinner at Falalafa restaurant that night:-) Besides our aquatic explorations,Our land adventures consisted of
rugged hikes through thick bush before winding up at protected natural pools, lime stone caves full of stallactites and stallagmites,
and underwater swimways leading to hidden dark caverns in the coral.
We could have stayed on Niue exploring much longer with endless sea tracks,torquise water holes, and beautiful sea life,
but with paying $10 a day for mooring fees and many more new landfalls ahead before hurrican season began, we departed the island
after 10 days full of amazing experiences. One experience worth pointing out was our cargo ship buddies.
The first night in the bay, we were alone with only 4 other cruising boats. That night Jmz wondered if he should put on
the anchor light as none of the other boats had theirs. Following the crowd, we thought, "no boat will be coming in
here at night". Just with our luck, in the morning we awoke to a huge container ship fearfully close to us unloading
cargo on the wharf(we learned our lesson about lighting). To our dissapointment we found they would be there for over
five days with their loud engines, generators, and smelly fumes. However, we were soon to learn our lesson about grumbling
as blessings can come from the most unusual places, quotes Jmz. One afternoon on our dinghy ride back to Mai Miti, a man aboard the
large ship motioned for us to come over. It was a crew member who had helped us the day before with loading our dinghy on shore.
With broken English we had only chatted with him briefly following his help, but for some reason he must have liked us because now he
was inviting us to dinner that night on the ship. We would never turn down free food so we accepted rather nervously, and headed
over around 6pm. To our surprise the small crew of 10 all greeted us with huge smiles and big hang shakes.Majority of them were from
sri lanka and we learned it was a part of their culture to make us feel welcomed which they did a grrrrreat job of! They fed us drink
after drink and then food until we were about to burst with icecream on top of that. At one point during dinner they asked if we
liked Indian curry to which we responded that we did, and we were then informed that we had to come back to the ship for lunch that next
day. When we were leavng they handed us a heavy black trash bag that was filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, can goods, chocolates,
coffee, and teas. We fell asleep that night wondering if we were dreaming and wondering what we had done to make them like us so much.
The next days lunch was filled with the same unbelievable hospitality with addition of two bottles of wine from the captain and a
picture print out of us and the crew made especially by the jolly Fijian welder. It was like we'd died and gone to heaven! Their early
departure later that night due to finishing their offload sooner than expected was actually kind of sad now that we'd made such good
friends with them. The Fijian captain who gifted us with the wines, gave us his contact info for when we arrive in Fiji. He is also
a pilot, so who knows the possiblities:-)
of our adventures, but I will try my best to get the highlights without boring our audience too badly.
Tongatapu, Tonga
Malo e leiei! Fefe hake? Hello and how are you in Tongan! We have a lot to
explore yet on Tongatapu, only one of the many islands that makes up the Tongan nation.
It is now July 27th for us here in Tonga and we have only been here 2 days. Having crossed the International date line, we were cheated out of a day
of life but were welcomed to the island with the biggest festival of the Tongan year!This years Heilala festival, a week
long celebration, is combined this year with your Majesty the king George Topou the fifth's coronation. There are
LONG LIVE THE KING banners strung about everywhere! The day after we arrived
the block parties and parades began full of food, old and very loud American(Madonna/Rap)music, traditional Tongan
dress and dance, as well as a cultural exhibitions from other countries around the world. We have had a blast wondering
around the lively city full of people, pigs, huge elaborate grave yards, small markets with cold refreshments, vegetabel
stands with conveniently cheap produce, and pizza shops with delicious Hawaiian style pizza pies we devoured!Today
being Sunday, everything is closed allowing us to truly relax for the first time for as long as we can remember.We have
actually just sat in the boat extremely content the entire day filling out journals and attempting to update this blog.
The "cruising" life is much more social than we both had anticipated, being invited over for cocktails or dinner almost every night.
Yesterday after the float parade and pizza with another cruising couple, we thought we'd get to enjoy a quiet movie night on Mai Miti,
but as soon as we returned to the boat, the couple next door insisted we come over for appetizers and drinks. No
complaining because it is always a very nice treat, but we were definitely not expecting so much of it!
Niue"No-way"
After a long 20 day passage from Palmyra atoll, we managed to find our way into the security of Alofi bay. Due
to unfavorable conditions with howling winds and large seas, the last 100 miles of our trip took us over 3 days
to conquer. The crystal clear blue waters with 140+ft visiblity and secure mooring balls of the island made the fight
worth it. The first day and night in Alofi, the largest village of Niue, we enjoyed the simple things in life like,
walking on solid ground, fresh baked bread, cold soda, and a "sausage sizzle" as they call it in New Zealand, with
hot sausage and onion sandwiches, and cold New Zealand beer. This special thurday night sizzle put on by the Niue
yacht club(a family run business at their home tucked away in the palm trees) allowed us to meet the other
cruisers and to get the scoop on the best island hikes, snorkels, ect. We were fotunate to arrive when we had because
the upcoming Saturday morning the south village of Alofi would be putting on their village festival. It took place
at the primary school grass field with tons of food and crafts. We tried the coconut porridge which was half a coconut
filled with gelatinous but mushy pudding like substance. There was a hint of sweetness to it but not much. It was good
but what really got our taste buds rolling was the Roti, a homemade tortilla stuffed with corned beef, potatoes, and
a yellow curry. Mmm.mmm...After much eating occurred for the Niuians, the village put on their dance show with various
groups performing dances similar to the hula but with different dress. One custom we were not used to was the spectators
would get up at any point in the dance and stuff money down the dancers shirt, skirt, ect..., if they liked what they
saw. It was funny to watch the dancers try to keep the beat during all of this. Forgot our camera, whoops! we also forgot
the camera for the big Niuian dance performance later that week, full of elaborate costumes and even a fashion show.Being a
country of only 1000 people, events like this are huge and everyone shows up. We soon started recognizing faces where ever
we went.
In between snorkeling through underwater caverns with white tip reef sharks and 1 of the top ten most poisonous sea
snakes that were everywhere(don't worry moms and dads, their mouths are too small to cause any harm even if they
were to bite you), we went on humpback whale chasing expeditions succeeding twice in our mission. The first one being Jmz'
closest encounter, being only 5 ft from the enourmous creature. The second was for Amber's birthday present where we
both swam with two of them before they gracefully dove into the deep blue and out of sight. Not such a bad b-day especially
since Jmz played me happy bday with his violin, cooked me reeces pancakes,treated me to shakes at the incredible Frosty Boy
and took me to dinner at Falalafa restaurant that night:-) Besides our aquatic explorations,Our land adventures consisted of
rugged hikes through thick bush before winding up at protected natural pools, lime stone caves full of stallactites and stallagmites,
and underwater swimways leading to hidden dark caverns in the coral.
We could have stayed on Niue exploring much longer with endless sea tracks,torquise water holes, and beautiful sea life,
but with paying $10 a day for mooring fees and many more new landfalls ahead before hurrican season began, we departed the island
after 10 days full of amazing experiences. One experience worth pointing out was our cargo ship buddies.
The first night in the bay, we were alone with only 4 other cruising boats. That night Jmz wondered if he should put on
the anchor light as none of the other boats had theirs. Following the crowd, we thought, "no boat will be coming in
here at night". Just with our luck, in the morning we awoke to a huge container ship fearfully close to us unloading
cargo on the wharf(we learned our lesson about lighting). To our dissapointment we found they would be there for over
five days with their loud engines, generators, and smelly fumes. However, we were soon to learn our lesson about grumbling
as blessings can come from the most unusual places, quotes Jmz. One afternoon on our dinghy ride back to Mai Miti, a man aboard the
large ship motioned for us to come over. It was a crew member who had helped us the day before with loading our dinghy on shore.
With broken English we had only chatted with him briefly following his help, but for some reason he must have liked us because now he
was inviting us to dinner that night on the ship. We would never turn down free food so we accepted rather nervously, and headed
over around 6pm. To our surprise the small crew of 10 all greeted us with huge smiles and big hang shakes.Majority of them were from
sri lanka and we learned it was a part of their culture to make us feel welcomed which they did a grrrrreat job of! They fed us drink
after drink and then food until we were about to burst with icecream on top of that. At one point during dinner they asked if we
liked Indian curry to which we responded that we did, and we were then informed that we had to come back to the ship for lunch that next
day. When we were leavng they handed us a heavy black trash bag that was filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, can goods, chocolates,
coffee, and teas. We fell asleep that night wondering if we were dreaming and wondering what we had done to make them like us so much.
The next days lunch was filled with the same unbelievable hospitality with addition of two bottles of wine from the captain and a
picture print out of us and the crew made especially by the jolly Fijian welder. It was like we'd died and gone to heaven! Their early
departure later that night due to finishing their offload sooner than expected was actually kind of sad now that we'd made such good
friends with them. The Fijian captain who gifted us with the wines, gave us his contact info for when we arrive in Fiji. He is also
a pilot, so who knows the possiblities:-)
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