Tuesday, August 26, 2008
New pictures posted
We have posted a couple of pictures from our time in Ha'apai and now here in Vavau. Internet is fairly quick, so we will post more later as they come. I'm sure most of you have already figured this out or have our flickr as a saved site, but if not, you just have to copy and paste, http://www.flickr.com/photos/26977831@N04/ and it should bring you right to the spot.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
On the Road Again
We've collected a boat full of coconuts for the journey up north to Vavau which we now open on the boat with our little hand drill. It takes all the tarzan fun from it, but it's a matter of 3 seconds compared to 4 minutes. Also, we learned that the green drinking coconuts produce a red dye that is almost impossible to get off of anything it touches. We learned this the hard way after James opened two coconuts on the white deck, and the next morning it looked like a can of paint had been poured EVERYWHERE.
Island Paradise
Our days of uninhabited islands with endless sandy beaches and more coconuts than we know what to do with,are coming to an end. We are checking out of the Ha'apai group of Tonga today and will be heading up to Vavau within the week. From what we hear Vavau is on the well worn cruisers track because of it's abundance of beautiful sheltered anchorages, incredible snorkeling and diving spots, and big social sceen. After running around our little islands alone collecting coconuts and playing on sand hills, we're ready for the action.
A couple highlights of our last adventures...On one of the first days alone on an uninhabited island , a giantcharter boat 120ft long with 18 American tourists and 10 Fijian crew showed up and anchored right near us. Spoilingour fantasy of having our OWN island, we grumbled ashore to meet a couple of the palangi's(locals term for non-Tongan) collecting sea shells along the beach. After chatting with the two Californian woman, James being the jungle man heis now, opened us up all a coconut to enjoy while they waited for their skiff to pick them up for return back to thebig boat. Upon meeting the Fijian skiff driver, he told us to wait on shore for him and the rest of the crew to return for a game of rugby. Sure enough 20 minutes later the entire crew, minus the captain, were ashore all friendlyand smiley. After filling their big skiff up with coconuts, they showed us how to open the magical fruit the correctway with much less struggle. Then it was time for their usual game of rugby after a hard days work diving and whalewatching with the guests. James was brave and joined in on the game while I sat watching on the side as these ratherlarge men chased after one another. Without having ever played rugby in his life, James did a great job scrambling between them all and he must have made a good impression because they invited us over for a kava drinking later thatnight. After eating a big pasta dinner, we made our way over to the charter boat, Naia, and of course right away wewere offered a grand steak dinner! Too stuffed from noodles and sauce we settled for a piece of papaya cheesecakefollowed by coconut shell full of kava one after another. For anyone who is unfamiliar with kava, it is a rootthat is ground into powder form and mixed with water. It tastes sort of like a mixture between muddy water and dish soap, leaving your lips and tongue tingly and a little numb. After drinking enough of it, it is an anesthetic, analgesic, mild traquilizer, antibacterial and antifungal agent, a diuretic, soporific, and appetite suppressant. Accompanied by the Fijians guitar playing and harmonized singing, I can believe all the benefits but the last on thelist. After about 5 hours of kava sing along with the other American guests onboard, the captain insisted that Jamesand I eat the steak dinner before we left and with only increased appetites since our arrival, we had no objections.They also sent us away with canned juices and canned tuna fish! The boat left the next morning and we once again hadour own island but now we had a great new experience to share with others. Once again a blessing in disguise. We think that the Fijians, first on the Sri Lanken cargo ship in Niue, and now here in Tonga, have definitely been the friendliest andhappiest group of people we've come across so far.
A couple highlights of our last adventures...On one of the first days alone on an uninhabited island , a giantcharter boat 120ft long with 18 American tourists and 10 Fijian crew showed up and anchored right near us. Spoilingour fantasy of having our OWN island, we grumbled ashore to meet a couple of the palangi's(locals term for non-Tongan) collecting sea shells along the beach. After chatting with the two Californian woman, James being the jungle man heis now, opened us up all a coconut to enjoy while they waited for their skiff to pick them up for return back to thebig boat. Upon meeting the Fijian skiff driver, he told us to wait on shore for him and the rest of the crew to return for a game of rugby. Sure enough 20 minutes later the entire crew, minus the captain, were ashore all friendlyand smiley. After filling their big skiff up with coconuts, they showed us how to open the magical fruit the correctway with much less struggle. Then it was time for their usual game of rugby after a hard days work diving and whalewatching with the guests. James was brave and joined in on the game while I sat watching on the side as these ratherlarge men chased after one another. Without having ever played rugby in his life, James did a great job scrambling between them all and he must have made a good impression because they invited us over for a kava drinking later thatnight. After eating a big pasta dinner, we made our way over to the charter boat, Naia, and of course right away wewere offered a grand steak dinner! Too stuffed from noodles and sauce we settled for a piece of papaya cheesecakefollowed by coconut shell full of kava one after another. For anyone who is unfamiliar with kava, it is a rootthat is ground into powder form and mixed with water. It tastes sort of like a mixture between muddy water and dish soap, leaving your lips and tongue tingly and a little numb. After drinking enough of it, it is an anesthetic, analgesic, mild traquilizer, antibacterial and antifungal agent, a diuretic, soporific, and appetite suppressant. Accompanied by the Fijians guitar playing and harmonized singing, I can believe all the benefits but the last on thelist. After about 5 hours of kava sing along with the other American guests onboard, the captain insisted that Jamesand I eat the steak dinner before we left and with only increased appetites since our arrival, we had no objections.They also sent us away with canned juices and canned tuna fish! The boat left the next morning and we once again hadour own island but now we had a great new experience to share with others. Once again a blessing in disguise. We think that the Fijians, first on the Sri Lanken cargo ship in Niue, and now here in Tonga, have definitely been the friendliest andhappiest group of people we've come across so far.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
FakaFaka Tongatapu
We're not really sure what Faka means but apparently it connects to a lot of Tongan words and it's the joke for the Tongan parents when their children run around America yelling out Fakafaka without realizing they're yelling out bad words in english:-) Overall our time here in Tongatapu in the big city of Nukalofa has been incredible, throwing surprises at us left and right. The people have definitely lived up to their friendly isle reputation and we're now excited to see the other Tongan island groups. We will be heading to the Haipai group just north of here. It should be about 40-60 miles before our next stop, and after that it's island hopping up to Vavau group. Vavau is very popular in the cruising world and is supposed to have some of the best snorkeling, diving, whale watching, ect...So it's time to move on. The king has been crowned, we're out of here!
(Side note...don't worry parents because we take full precautions when catching rides, or exploring Sri Lanken cargo ships. We know that everyone does not have good intentions no matter how "nice" they may seem).
(Side note...don't worry parents because we take full precautions when catching rides, or exploring Sri Lanken cargo ships. We know that everyone does not have good intentions no matter how "nice" they may seem).
Tongatapu Days
Today is Monday the 4th of August. It's amazing how fast time has flown by. The king's coronation ended this weekend
leaving the town quiet for the first time since we've arrived. Everyday and night there was always a special coronation
event taking place filling the streets with marching bands, consession stands, and hundreds of Tongans dressed in their
villages native tapa wear. We attended as many events as possible while in town including the coronation rugby match.
Tongans vs. THE WORLD. It was our first live witness of this rough and rather frenzy like game but we found while sitting
on the banks of the stadium with the rest of the average locals(the American's "rockpile" equivalent) that it was pretty
similar to America's football or baseball games. You have the couple of loud yelling spectators who the crowds laugh at
and then a half time show with marching band and dancers. However, Tongan style games and festivities replace giant beers with refreshing, cool drinking coconuts. It's
nice to see a crowd of people able to get together for fun events without having to consume alcohol.
In between the many town events, we also were able to explore the outskirts of the island via foot or a hitch with the
locals. We did take the bus once or twice to ensure we made it home back to civilization before dark, but we preferred
hitching with the locals not only because the bus system could be very inconsistant with missing bus drivers,
but we were able to meet alot of interesting and happy people. Or in some cases, it was
fun to ride in the back of trucks with little children down dirt roads while the dad in the front was searching the
bushes for bananas. Although we never had a set route or path we had to take, we saw majority of the islands land marks,
including the blow holes which scattered everywhere on the Southeast shores. With the crashing waves that pounded
with great force against the lime stone cliffs, enormous spouts flew 50ft or more high into the air. This was only
topped by finding a secret beach we named Moments beach, out on the South West shore. After following a dirt path
and hiking through some thick grass up to our heads, we found this little tiny oasis only accessible during low tide,
and only swim friendly right before high tide. We lucked out and hit the right time of the day, leaving this untouched
hidden beach with a limestone cliff overhead for protection against the days heat, all to ourselves. Since the harbor and
surrounding water off of Nukalofa(the city of Tongatapu) is very dirty and trashy, it was great relief to swim freely
in clear waters again.
Later in the week after we had our share of parades and exploring the main island, we went over to Paingamotu island just
a 20-30 minute motor trip away. We had run into Tom and Colleen(cruisers we met in Niue) while hitching around the main island
just a couple of days before, and were told of the weekends events on the motu enticing us to leave the city. A woman named Big
Mama runs a resort on the motu and there was going to be a big feast in exchange for helping her make Tongan Tiki torches for
the Kings actual coronation on Friday night. So not only were we going to get to learn how to make a Tongan tiki torch, but they
were going to feed us for free, Not a bad deal:-) We were able to get a preview of the feast to come when Tom and Colleens local
friend who was acting as a tour guide, invited us to join them for the rest of the day after our unexpected encounter. He was related
in some way to a man who owned an incredible resort on the South end of the island so we visited there. THe resort was built into the
limestone cliffs,and it sat right on a white sandy beach. Being kin the owner treated us all to plates and plates of
different sea foods, meats, curries, salads, and all you could eat sweet bananas hanging from above us. The plates were part of the
banana tree, looking like giant pieces of celery and the place mats were huge leaves making clean up after our smorgisborg pretty
simple! We couldn't wait for Big Mama's feast!
In a rush after the rugby match to make it to Paingamotu island before dark and before the tiki torch lessons began that night,
we left the Nukalofa harbor and made it to the motu just at dusk. After barely setting our anchor outside the shore of the motu,
Steve another cruiser, was at Mai Miti with his dinghy insisting to take us ashore to the resort. A bit to our dissapointment we were told that
because of the rain, the tiki torch prep would be postponed till tomorrow, but Big mama still fed us chicken soup and bread fruit:-)
We were also treated with a visit from the captain and officers off of the American navy's destroying vessel, the John. S. McCain.This 560ft
war machine sat outside Nukalofa with flags and lights displayed to show respect for the soon to be Tongan King. The fun and relaxed crew
explained to us that they were basically down here from Japan to "Show face" for the Americans. Their presence couldn't have been better
for us because they invited us over for their big party on the destroyer the following night. After spending the next day swimming in the
clean waters, hiking around the sandy beaches, and making tiki torches with big mama, us cruisers all put on our nicest formal wear, and
caught an island ferry over to the ship that night. Having to climb up a wobbly ladder on the stern of the 25ft high battle ship, we were greeted
by the American, Australian, and
even french navy men and woman all in their uniforms. It was a very classy party with all you can eat gourmet food and drink, ice sculptures
and all. We were even given a short tour through the ship. Around 10:30pm after stuffing ourselves to the brim, we were escorted back to the
motu on one of the navy's own ribs. Unlike the lack of rules and regulations in these south pacific countries, the US made sure we all
had our own life vests and personal lighting gear for the short ride back to the boats. What a night!
leaving the town quiet for the first time since we've arrived. Everyday and night there was always a special coronation
event taking place filling the streets with marching bands, consession stands, and hundreds of Tongans dressed in their
villages native tapa wear. We attended as many events as possible while in town including the coronation rugby match.
Tongans vs. THE WORLD. It was our first live witness of this rough and rather frenzy like game but we found while sitting
on the banks of the stadium with the rest of the average locals(the American's "rockpile" equivalent) that it was pretty
similar to America's football or baseball games. You have the couple of loud yelling spectators who the crowds laugh at
and then a half time show with marching band and dancers. However, Tongan style games and festivities replace giant beers with refreshing, cool drinking coconuts. It's
nice to see a crowd of people able to get together for fun events without having to consume alcohol.
In between the many town events, we also were able to explore the outskirts of the island via foot or a hitch with the
locals. We did take the bus once or twice to ensure we made it home back to civilization before dark, but we preferred
hitching with the locals not only because the bus system could be very inconsistant with missing bus drivers,
but we were able to meet alot of interesting and happy people. Or in some cases, it was
fun to ride in the back of trucks with little children down dirt roads while the dad in the front was searching the
bushes for bananas. Although we never had a set route or path we had to take, we saw majority of the islands land marks,
including the blow holes which scattered everywhere on the Southeast shores. With the crashing waves that pounded
with great force against the lime stone cliffs, enormous spouts flew 50ft or more high into the air. This was only
topped by finding a secret beach we named Moments beach, out on the South West shore. After following a dirt path
and hiking through some thick grass up to our heads, we found this little tiny oasis only accessible during low tide,
and only swim friendly right before high tide. We lucked out and hit the right time of the day, leaving this untouched
hidden beach with a limestone cliff overhead for protection against the days heat, all to ourselves. Since the harbor and
surrounding water off of Nukalofa(the city of Tongatapu) is very dirty and trashy, it was great relief to swim freely
in clear waters again.
Later in the week after we had our share of parades and exploring the main island, we went over to Paingamotu island just
a 20-30 minute motor trip away. We had run into Tom and Colleen(cruisers we met in Niue) while hitching around the main island
just a couple of days before, and were told of the weekends events on the motu enticing us to leave the city. A woman named Big
Mama runs a resort on the motu and there was going to be a big feast in exchange for helping her make Tongan Tiki torches for
the Kings actual coronation on Friday night. So not only were we going to get to learn how to make a Tongan tiki torch, but they
were going to feed us for free, Not a bad deal:-) We were able to get a preview of the feast to come when Tom and Colleens local
friend who was acting as a tour guide, invited us to join them for the rest of the day after our unexpected encounter. He was related
in some way to a man who owned an incredible resort on the South end of the island so we visited there. THe resort was built into the
limestone cliffs,and it sat right on a white sandy beach. Being kin the owner treated us all to plates and plates of
different sea foods, meats, curries, salads, and all you could eat sweet bananas hanging from above us. The plates were part of the
banana tree, looking like giant pieces of celery and the place mats were huge leaves making clean up after our smorgisborg pretty
simple! We couldn't wait for Big Mama's feast!
In a rush after the rugby match to make it to Paingamotu island before dark and before the tiki torch lessons began that night,
we left the Nukalofa harbor and made it to the motu just at dusk. After barely setting our anchor outside the shore of the motu,
Steve another cruiser, was at Mai Miti with his dinghy insisting to take us ashore to the resort. A bit to our dissapointment we were told that
because of the rain, the tiki torch prep would be postponed till tomorrow, but Big mama still fed us chicken soup and bread fruit:-)
We were also treated with a visit from the captain and officers off of the American navy's destroying vessel, the John. S. McCain.This 560ft
war machine sat outside Nukalofa with flags and lights displayed to show respect for the soon to be Tongan King. The fun and relaxed crew
explained to us that they were basically down here from Japan to "Show face" for the Americans. Their presence couldn't have been better
for us because they invited us over for their big party on the destroyer the following night. After spending the next day swimming in the
clean waters, hiking around the sandy beaches, and making tiki torches with big mama, us cruisers all put on our nicest formal wear, and
caught an island ferry over to the ship that night. Having to climb up a wobbly ladder on the stern of the 25ft high battle ship, we were greeted
by the American, Australian, and
even french navy men and woman all in their uniforms. It was a very classy party with all you can eat gourmet food and drink, ice sculptures
and all. We were even given a short tour through the ship. Around 10:30pm after stuffing ourselves to the brim, we were escorted back to the
motu on one of the navy's own ribs. Unlike the lack of rules and regulations in these south pacific countries, the US made sure we all
had our own life vests and personal lighting gear for the short ride back to the boats. What a night!
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