With grass growing on the keel and only 2 days left on our Tongan visas, we're ready to move on to new places. If all plans fallinto place we will be deliverying a very beautiful yacht from Fiji to New Zealand around November 8th, so we are thinking of heading to Fiji now.We have explored most of the anchorages here in Vavau and have had a wonderful time with the other boats for dinner parties, ect...Last Friday night weentered into the Friendly island race again, only this time we had a full crew onboard Mai Miti. Tom, and Colleen from the sail boat Mokisha, had thereson Matt from California here to visit, so we thought it a nice welcoming to have them all race with us. We were also very lucky to end up with Ryan,(a nativeColoradian who crewed for Destiny from Niue to TOnga) onboard with us as well, to serve as the Tacktician! Things got a little interesting during the numeroustacks trying to shuffle everybody from one side of the boat to another, but we had a blast in the process and the extra rail meet was useful! This week we took 7th place, a step back from the prior week's 5th place victory, but our prize this time was much more useful; six free local beers from the yacht club! We were happy to be able to give ourcrew a little something back for all of their hard work:-)
Other than that, we have been enjoying anchorages out of town with lake like stillness and peaceful sunsets away from the hustle and bustle of thecity. One anchorage is just on the other side of the town, but it's seperated by the tallest mountain here called Mt. Talau. A whopping 430ft above sea level, it'snothing compared to the Rockies, or Everest, but it did lend for picture perfect post card views at the top. In one picture posted on flickr, you can see an ariel view looking down on a bay with a tiny boat sitting alone in it(You have to look really hard), that's Mai Miti from Talau! Then there's another picture looking to the other sideof Talau and that's Neifu, the big city! That's where we'll be for the next couple of days untill we check out with customs on Wed. THe one plus about beinghere for two more days is that hopefully we'll get to see the Fakalady show at Tonga Bobs on Wed. night. According to the grape wine, this is a no can miss show,full of Tongan men dressed as woman for a fashion show! We're not really sure what to expect, but we'll keep an open mind:-)
Monday, September 22, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Glad for Gladneys
Along time ago, two years before James and I were even brought into this world, a man named Frank hired my father Mike Miller as a State Farm agent in Colorado. As the years rolled on, and State Farm trips took place, Frank new me only as one of the little blonde Miller girls. Now over 20 years have gone by and now we meet in Tonga of all places. They are on their very nice 46' Island Packet traveling the world after a much deserved retirement having the time of their lives. Since my father used to buy Frank a beer everytime they met to show his appreciation for hiring him, Frank insisted that he buy James and I a beer to make up for all the brewskies my dad put him through. They are a great couple and we look forward to seeing them more in the islands. They really followed their dreams and gave it all they had to get here!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Malo Lisa
The sunshine has finally showed it's face yet again after a rough and wet week! We left the city over a week ago foran anchorage called Coral Gardens. Apparently the coral and marine life is beautiful and some of the best in Vavau, areal site to sea! Well, unfortunetely we didn't get to experience that during our six day stay in the quiet little anchorage due to very blah, wet, and gloomy conditions. We would have moved the boat but every day there was a high seas and high wind warning for all of Tonga, so we thought it best to lie low and wait it out. Each day we made the best of the situation by collecting coconuts, exploring the abandoned resort on the surrounding island and salvaging any remaining fruits we could find in the area. We did luck out and get some abnormally large lemons with huge tumorous bumps on them, anda mini pineapple(which we have yet to devour).Our highlights of the anchorage were the nights when one of the catamarans or cruising boats would have happy hourcocktails and h'orsedouvers. One charter catamaran had a group of North Carolinians that even invited us over for a hot shower one night since we dove on their anchor in the rain. Then the very energetic host named Joy mixed us up one of her famous drinksshe called the kin(?) before we were towed back by our Hawaiian friends from another charter boat(They called us the coconut kids)! Aloha and thankyou to all for your generosity! Hot water and cold beverages were never so good!
By day 7 in the same spot, the wind speeds and seas rose even higher, but our tolerance for the anchorage had reachedit's limits. The winds were now coming at us from the northeast creating a wavy and windy bay that we had to escape.Not to mention our anchor line had chaffed badly on a coral head. Fortunetely, it was actually a sunny day, so with some patience, and a lot of tacking, we were able to make it back into Port Maurelle, a well protected and enjoyable anchorage. Our friends who were there on a boat called Madelinemade James' dreams come true when they invited us over for fresh cheese burgers. James had been drooling atthe mere thought of a good old fashioned American burger since Niue, so he was a happy camper when we went to sleep later in the night:-) Then about 3am we were awaken by our pan flying off the shelf caused by the 30-40kt gustswe were experiencing even with the anchorages shelter. That's when we realized the most incredible electrical stormthat was happening outside. Although there were no bolts striking down within close range, the entire dome of the skywas lighting up making everything around visible as day until a second later when it would go pitch dark again. It was almostlike a giant strobe light was going off all over the land. Everybody we spoke to later had never seen anything like itbefore in their lives. Really beautiful to see but the storm caused alot of troubles heard over the vhf that morning. Fishing boats had sunk, plush cruising boats were grounded, charter boats were stranded with fried electricalsystems, ect...But Mai Miti held her ground and her only wound was the chaffed rope.
Even with the strong winds and rainy days, we've had a good last couple of weeks(or however long it's been). Jameshad a manly good time with Jeremy off of Madeline spear fishing one day. Though the fish caught was small, the tastewas delicious and I am very proud of his efforts to feed the crew onboard Mai Miti in the pouring rain. We were also able to do Mariners Cave, which is a fairly large cave hidden within the sea cliff. It's only accessibleby diving under about 8ft and swimming through underwater another 10 feet or so. Once inside their is actually a lot of light from the underwater entrance but once in a while in surgy weather, the mist fills in, fogging your vision. Thepressure difference also makes your ears pop continually with incoming waves. James was brave and went out the lower entrance of the cave having to first swim down over 40ft just to reach the hole, and then swim through another 8ft overhang before ascending out the other end. Now I feel like a wimp for not making it:-(
And last but definitely not least was yesterday's friendly island Friday night boat race. We were determined to race in it after mariners cave, so we left Port maurelle back to the city, Neifu. For event prep, we raced Madeline which is a 36' cruiser. It wasn't exactly a photo finish, but we held our own agaist the bigger boat all the way to the harbor giving usgood motivation for the real race at 5pm. After a quick meal of fish and chips, we were ready to go against the other 9 boatsracing. We were the only boat under 30ft so we got a handicap, getting to skip a leg of the course. At one point we were in 3rd place which we held for a good 5 minutes before falling back into 5th. Not so bad for the little red boat! for our determination and efforts we were awarded a chart of Vavau! Yahoo!!(kind of hoping for the free dinners or tank dive, but a charts always good too:-)
By day 7 in the same spot, the wind speeds and seas rose even higher, but our tolerance for the anchorage had reachedit's limits. The winds were now coming at us from the northeast creating a wavy and windy bay that we had to escape.Not to mention our anchor line had chaffed badly on a coral head. Fortunetely, it was actually a sunny day, so with some patience, and a lot of tacking, we were able to make it back into Port Maurelle, a well protected and enjoyable anchorage. Our friends who were there on a boat called Madelinemade James' dreams come true when they invited us over for fresh cheese burgers. James had been drooling atthe mere thought of a good old fashioned American burger since Niue, so he was a happy camper when we went to sleep later in the night:-) Then about 3am we were awaken by our pan flying off the shelf caused by the 30-40kt gustswe were experiencing even with the anchorages shelter. That's when we realized the most incredible electrical stormthat was happening outside. Although there were no bolts striking down within close range, the entire dome of the skywas lighting up making everything around visible as day until a second later when it would go pitch dark again. It was almostlike a giant strobe light was going off all over the land. Everybody we spoke to later had never seen anything like itbefore in their lives. Really beautiful to see but the storm caused alot of troubles heard over the vhf that morning. Fishing boats had sunk, plush cruising boats were grounded, charter boats were stranded with fried electricalsystems, ect...But Mai Miti held her ground and her only wound was the chaffed rope.
Even with the strong winds and rainy days, we've had a good last couple of weeks(or however long it's been). Jameshad a manly good time with Jeremy off of Madeline spear fishing one day. Though the fish caught was small, the tastewas delicious and I am very proud of his efforts to feed the crew onboard Mai Miti in the pouring rain. We were also able to do Mariners Cave, which is a fairly large cave hidden within the sea cliff. It's only accessibleby diving under about 8ft and swimming through underwater another 10 feet or so. Once inside their is actually a lot of light from the underwater entrance but once in a while in surgy weather, the mist fills in, fogging your vision. Thepressure difference also makes your ears pop continually with incoming waves. James was brave and went out the lower entrance of the cave having to first swim down over 40ft just to reach the hole, and then swim through another 8ft overhang before ascending out the other end. Now I feel like a wimp for not making it:-(
And last but definitely not least was yesterday's friendly island Friday night boat race. We were determined to race in it after mariners cave, so we left Port maurelle back to the city, Neifu. For event prep, we raced Madeline which is a 36' cruiser. It wasn't exactly a photo finish, but we held our own agaist the bigger boat all the way to the harbor giving usgood motivation for the real race at 5pm. After a quick meal of fish and chips, we were ready to go against the other 9 boatsracing. We were the only boat under 30ft so we got a handicap, getting to skip a leg of the course. At one point we were in 3rd place which we held for a good 5 minutes before falling back into 5th. Not so bad for the little red boat! for our determination and efforts we were awarded a chart of Vavau! Yahoo!!(kind of hoping for the free dinners or tank dive, but a charts always good too:-)
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).
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