Halloween in Tonga

We stayed a little longer in Neiafu since some friends with kids arrived. We had an early Halloween party with friends on their catamaran. Since they have 7 kids, it is always a party. For 3 of the kids it was the first Halloween they carved a pumpkin. Check out Innocence she is enthralled with the pumpkin Gigi and Cassidy carved. It is actually a squash that we had all the way from San Diego. Totally surprised at how well it lasted. Lots of fun.  Now we are heading south staying in Tonga for about 1 more week.

Tonga photos

Swallow's cave

A very good day fishing

Rickety bridge on Hunga Island

Hiking on the islands

The crazy narrow and shallow pass at Hunga

Really massive banyon tree that Harrison and Axel climbed, look hard and you can see them

Snorkeling with the whales, so cool, but definitely a little scary.

Whale tale. This was the mother and her baby was with her.

Port Maurelle beach. We had an awesome bonfire here one night.

Local fisherman.

Lookout point on Eukafa Island. Gary has the machete as we had to clear our own path.

Raider of the ancient Tongan Princess tomb.

2nd swallow's cave (right beside the other one). You can take the dinghy and/or snorkel in both.

Tonga update Oct 23, 2014

The Vava'u group of islands in Tonga consists of about 60 islands spread across about 250 square miles. The largest island is 'Uta Vava'u on which the main city of Neiafu lies. This island is quite large, it takes up way more than half the land mass, but the only place we visited was Neiafu, primarily to get food and internet. The other islands are very small, many with beautiful sand beaches, small traditional villages (no stores), lots of coral rock, and lots of vegetation. We have been slowly exploring many of these small islands, and since they are so close together, you can explore a few in a day.

After a few days in town we went out to Hunga island. On the way we had our most successful fishing day. In about 1 hour we caught 2 small tuna, 1 mahi mahi and 1 wahoo. Enough to feed us and friends for many days.

The entrance to Hunga lagoon is very narrow, about 30 feet across, from a rock pinnacle that juts out of the water in the passage between the islands. Nirvana can only enter at mid to high tide, otherwise the reef we cross is too shallow. And as usual there is always current when entering passes like these. We entered no problem, but I nearly had a heart attack when we left as the depth sounder read 0 feet below the keel and the current was sweeping us out. We anchored off Fofoa Island where there are a handful of inhabitants. In the afternoon Harrison played his guitar for a group of Aussies that have a cottage there, and Axel played with a bunch of Aussie boys that lived next door.

At Vaka'eitu Island there is a Tongan family with 11 kids that lives on the beach in a hut made of branches and plastic tarps. We left Axel to play with their 9 years old boy named Kava, and when we came back they were having fun fighting with hammers. Next to this island we snorkeled in an area called the coral gardens. We saw indigo elk horn coral, a variety of other corals, a huge octopus, and many fish. On our second night here, we attended a traditional Tongan feast on Lape Island. Very yummy. The kids really liked the taro chips (like potato chips but made from taro). Gigi really didn't like the look of the suckling pig, it was too much for her to see the whole animal.

Off Eukafa Island we swam with humpback whales. We all jumped in the dinghy and followed the whales and got in and swam with a mother and her baby. It is incredible to be in the water with such large animals. On the island we had quite an adventurous hike. As there was no real trail, we had to bushwhack our way up to the lookout point and the Tongan princess' tomb. Axel climbed into the tomb. Made me think of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
In Neiafu we saw 2 traditional sailing canoes arrive from Hawaii. They were each about 60 feet long and either rowed or sailed all the way and were made in the traditional Polynesia style.

Ovalau Island had a huge beautiful white sand beach that we explored and met a local fisherman in this outrigger canoe.

Currently we are anchored off Tapana Island. We are planning on exploring the beach and going on a short hike as soon as the kids finish schoolwork for the day. Last night Gigi kayaked into some of the caves along the coast, but got eaten by mosquitoes.

Julie

Tonga update Oct 13, 2014

We had an easy passage from Niue to Tonga, and we crossed the dateline, so we are now 1 day ahead of our friends in America and Canada. On arrival into Tonga we went to the customs dock where 4 different officials must check you and your boat into the country. They are the customs, immigrations, quarantine and health officers. Of course they all (or almost all) require a fee to be paid, so I ran up to the bank to get some of the local currency, the Pa'anga, while Gary finished the process and Harrison made coffee for each officer.

We noticed while we were being processed that many of the other cruising boats we had met along the way looked like they were getting ready for a race. So as soon as we cleared into Tonga we heard over the radio 10 minutes until the start. We tried to reach someone on the radio to find out what was happening, but to no avail. So we got off the dock and headed for the area that appeared to be the start. Gary and Harrison were pulling up the main when I heard 1 minute to start. We only turned the motor off when we reached the start line, as we were still getting the main up.

Our friends on Rewa looked like they knew what they were doing and where the course was, so we decided our strategy was to follow them. It was a fun race from the main town of Neiafu to a pretty little bay, Tepana, surrounded by a white sand beach, where they had arranged for a sampling of local cuisine and a show of local dancing including fire dancing that evening. We spent a pleasant afternoon on Rewa listening to Harrison serenade everyone and enjoying beverages people had collected from all over the world.

Late the next day we headed back into town, as our provisions were getting a little thin. But the next day when trying to buy groceries, I found out that the isn't much variety in food, and most of it didn't appeal to us. There is no yogurt, hardly any cheese, doughy white bread, very little meat except for strange pork cuts, almost no baking supplies,…  Although they do have very nice fruits and vegetables.

As part of this week long race festival, we also joined the pub crawl 2 days after the race. Harrison was very popular as he brought his guitar and was the roaming minstrel for the group. They told us it was fancy dress, so we put on clean nice clothes. We found out that in New Zealand fancy dress means costume. We were definitely surprised.

After a couple of days in town trying to get groceries, laundry, propane, and school done, we moved to the Port Maurelle anchorage. We joined some friends on their boat, Interlude III, to dive into the Mariners cave. You have stand-off with the boat as it is too deep to anchor even a dinghy near the cave, so we took shifts leaving various adults on the boat while others explored the cave. There is no marking showing the cave location, so you have to swim along until you find the entrance, then dive under the rock to enter the cave. You have to dive down about 3 feet and across about 8 feet to swim into the darkness of the cave. Once you are in the cave the light reflects through the water and illuminates the cave. It takes a few minutes for your eyes to adjust, but then you can see the various colors the minerals leaching out of the rock make and the intricate stalactite formations. As the waves roll in the water level is forced up and the cave is filled with mist, then water drops a little and the air is clear again. Through this cycle your ears keep popping as they adjust to the undulating pressure.

We also joined our friends exploring the Swallows cave. It consists of 2 caves both accessible from the water, but there is no need to swim under anything to see these caves. There was 1 massive coral head outside one cave and the other cave was packed with hundreds of fish swimming in circles in the tight space. When we got back to the anchorage the guys went off in the dinghies to catch some fish. Gary came back at dark with a nice trevally and we enjoyed a great dinner with our friends on Nirvana.

Niue - Vaikona cave Oct 5, 2014

On our last day in Niue we explored the Vaikona cave, everyone went except Gigi. It was quite an adventure! It starts with a 30 minute hike through the forest to the cave mouth. As you get closer to the cave the forest turns into a garden of coral rocks reaching up to the sky interspersed with trees and vegetation, and as you get really close the pandamus trees get thick making it hard to walk through the jungle. 

At the entrance of the cave there is a sign warning you of the impending dangers. So we headed in. The first challenge involves climbing down a steep and slippery rock face with the aid of 2 ropes. At the bottom of this entrance down into the cave is a rope that you must cross hand over hand while hanging in a cut in the rocks above the water. It was a little scary for the adults, but really scary for Axel since his legs were not long enough to reach from 1 side to the other, so he really was hanging, and not sure he could do the hand over hand part. Fortunately Harrison was already on the other side and he pulled Axel to safety.

Next you climbed over a couple rocks covered in minerals, moss and moisture, making them slick as ice. Of course if you slipped, you would fall down the jagged rocks into the water below. Next was an easy climb over a big pile of rocks that lead down to the water's edge. Here we swam to a dead end, but to reach the next area of the cave you had to swim under water under about 6 feet of rock. You didn't have to swim very deep,   but you did have to swim across a little ways. We swam across this next pool then climbed a pile of rocks to reach the next pool. Here you swam under a rock arch into another cave area that had a small amount of daylight shining in. Once we climbed onto the rocks at the end of this pool we were all a little chilly from the cool water and even cooler cave air. Now we were all wet and had to climb up a vertical rock face, then shimmy across and down to the next reasonable resting spot. Harrison free climbed up and got a rope ready for the rest of us. Axel was most appreciative of this was a pretty gnarly rock climb. While Harrison got Axel and Gary up the vertical part, I shimmied across the face to look for an exit from the cave. There was 1 exit directly above us, but we weren't sure that even Axel would fit through, so I headed into a crevasse that had daylight at the top. Climbing up both walls and then over a few extremely jagged rocks I made it to the cave exit. Unfortunately that didn't mean our challenges were over. We had to climb through dense vegetation for about 500 yards until we reached the jagged coast then follow that until we got back to the main path. Then we had to hike back out of the jungle.

The stalactite formations in the cave were incredible. Since it is hard to access very few had been broken off, so you got to see how the cave naturally looks, before humans damage it. The few places where daylight reached in were incredible, the light reflected off the walls and the water and kind of danced around in the rich colors of the cave. The water was completely clear, so clear that it was hard to get any depth perception. At one point we looked down through a crack and thought we were looking through water, but it was just a huge drop into another cave of just air. It was a challenging and unique hike, we all agreed it was one of the coolest hikes we had ever done in our lives.

Oct 1 -5, 2014 Niue

Niue has surprised us with its beauty and hospitality. It is the world's largest coral island. There are 1,500 people in this country and all of them are extremely friendly. Everyone driving waves at all the other drivers and even the people walking down the street. When we arrived at the Niue Yacht Club they told us it was difficult to get cash so they would advance us money until we could get cash. This was 5 seconds after meeting us. I don't see SDYC advancing me cash and I have been a member for years. Although then we went to get cash and realized how difficult that was. The bank does not exchange cash or give credit card advances, not sure what they do. But the car rental agency will exchange cash and do credit card advances. We found out that even they can't change the foreign currency at the local bank, they must wait until they travel abroad to change it.

Niue Yacht Club

Shopping is fun as most stores serve more than 1 function.  The ladies fashion store is also the produce store. The gas station is also the bakery. The yacht club is also a backpackers hostel and the concrete construction business. The restaurant is also the scooter rental agency. …

We have thoroughly enjoyed touring around Niue. We rented a car for 2 days so we could see the sights. There are spectacular hikes, caves, chasms, coral and swimming holes. They have these hikes they call sea tracks. They all seem to lead from the main road down to the sea, but that is where the similarities end. The first one we went to was called the Avaiki Cave. We did a short walk from the road down into a cave that spilled into the ocean. It was low tide so you could walk along the reef and snorkel in a few deep pools in the reef. The main part of the cave rose magnificently above the reef, reflecting in the clear water. You could stand in the cave and peer through the clearest water below you at brilliant purple and yellow corals.

At the Matapa Chasm the fresh water draining off the land floated onto of the salty ocean water, making the top layer of the water refreshing, but dive down and you warmed up. Here we swam in a chasm that is about 40 feet wide and 5 to 20 feet deep under water, soaring to about 100 feet above us. We snorkeled with tons of different fish, some large enough that Gary had wished he brought his spear gun with us. Where the chasm spilt into the ocean you have to climb precariously over coral rock to view a spectacular blow hole. Harrison decided to check it out up close, but unfortunately it blew his snorkel right off his head.

We enjoyed a tranquil picnic lunch at the Talava Arches. Here we climbed into a cave that over looked a stunning natural arch perched in the ocean. After our lunch we realized that we were in one side of a double arch.

There were 2 sides to the Limu pools where you could snorkel inside the reef amongst the coral. We saw a huge red and orange octopus on one side, then climbed over to the other pool and snorkeled in 2 different caves amongst the tropical fish and sea snakes.

We hiked down to the Palaha Cave tucked nicely into the rocks above the ocean. The ancient stalagmites were massive and the new ones as they grew were stunning in color. The kids climbed up to a hidden platform high above the main cave floor.

We were all tired after touring all of those spots in one day, so we stopped at the Sails Bar and met a group of people that used to live in Niue 37 years ago. They were so nice they invited us to stay and join them for a BBQ that night.

We took the next day off touring to do boat chores, such as laundry, grocery shopping, internet, autopilot compass fixing, …  But we did end the day with going to the coolest mini golf in the world. This might be the most beautiful course I have ever seen. The course is built around and through the existing coral rock. It is perched on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the ocean, with the anchored boats in the background. Plus the owner was soooo nice and he loved NZ wine, so he and I bonded and enjoyed some of his wines. 

After golf we went to the church and watched the annual singing competition. We saw a number of troupes, but the best 2 were the entire 6th grade class singing and playing ukuleles, and a huge group of older ladies singing a traditional song with the oldest lady, probably about 90, hamming it up while all the rest were seriously singing.

The following day we went touring again. This time we went to the southeast corner of the island. We started by going to the local fishing tournament at Avatele Beach. Almost all of the guys were fishing from outriggers, only a few from skiffs. The biggest fish caught from an outrigger was a 14 kg tuna. The biggest fish was a 20 kg yellow fin tuna caught from a skiff. They also had a free diving category. And after all the fish were weighed they had a huge BBQ. We came too early for the BBQ, but we did get to see the biggest fish.

We hiked through a tropical jungle emerging into a moonscape of coral rocks, then shimmied down a steep ladder to the Togo Chasm. This chasm had white sand and palm trees, which lead to a further chasm with a fresh water pond and also lead to a cave that emerged at the ocean into the crashing sea.

The Anapala Chasm is a narrow chasm filled with refreshing fresh water that only allows light in when the sun is at its midday high. Here we snorkeled though the dimly light passage looking at eels swimming through stalagmites underwater while touching both sides of the chasm. This one ranked high as a truly unique experience. Plus everyone really enjoyed the 156 steep and narrow stairs leading down to the chasm.

The last chasm we will visit will be the Vaikona Chasm today. This one requires a guide or a hand drawn map from a guide to navigate the caves. You have to bring underwater flashlights as there are 2 places where you must swim underwater to pass below rocks to get to the next part of the cave. Axel is so excited about this one!

As you can tell, we really have enjoyed our time in Niue. I have only briefly touched on all the amazing things we saw and did, and I would strongly recommend coming here to anyone that might already be considering it. It is extremely difficult to get to from the US as there is only 1 flight a week from Auckland on Friday afternoons. We know this as we could not clear customs until they were done with the flight. We are so happy we decided to stop, we kept extending the amount of time we spent here as none of us wanted to leave.

This afternoon we are heading out to the Vavua group in Tonga. 

Julie

Suwarrow photos

Axel caught the biggest trevally

 Ranger Harry and his wife Vaine

Shark feeding frenzy

Sep 23-27 Suwarrow, Sep 27-Oct 1 enroute to Niue

We really enjoyed Suwarrow. This island has sporadically been inhabited by 1 or 2 people, currently the only occupants are the ranger and his wife that live there for 6 months a year. There is no public transportation to the island, so you can only get there by private yacht. Even the government and trade boats don't come by. The government paid to divert a transport boat to the island to drop the ranger and his wife off in May, but they keep hoping and asking for any boat that is going to another one of the Cook Islands to take them, as they are uncertain that the government will come pick them up this year. So it is extremely unique to get to visit a place in this world that is so difficult to reach. It is absolutely unblemished by first world priorities.

The reefs were teeming with fish and a garden of colorful coral, making the snorkeling and fishing incredible. We caught trevally, emperor fish and goat fish so we ate well. We relaxed on the beach with the ranger Harry and his wife Vaine. We hung out for hours in the warmest water I have ever been in. Even Axel did not want to get out of this water. On the far side of the island we fed the sharks our fish cleanings and got fantastic feeding frenzies. There are a lot of sharks in Suwarrow. The most prevalent are the black tip reef sharks, followed by the white tip reef sharks, both of which are thankfully harmless. Unfortunately, they have some grey sharks, and I did not like those. We did some school work, which is one of my least favorite activities with the kids, especially Axel, as it can be like pulling teeth to get him focused and started on his work.  We had quite a bit of fun and good food, as we celebrated Gary and my 19th anniversary and Gigi's 12th birthday.

For our anniversary we enjoyed a lot of really good food and wine. We had beef bourguignon and Gigi made a fantastic banana cream pie. For Gigi's birthday I made hamburger buns, so we could have burgers for lunch. Then for dinner we had fresh caught emperor fish with lemon pasta and caesar salad, topped off with chocolate cupcakes with pink custard frosting (that Gigi made). Before dinner activities included the first time we setup the xbox kinnect, so we had a rumpus session of just dance. Gigi of course was the best dancer. She got lots of nice presents including handcarved Marquesean art from Harrison and a black pearl pendant, but her favorite present was 15 minutes of sat phone time to talk with her friends.

Gary continued to pick Amiable, the sunken yacht in the anchorage, clean of any valuable parts. Every time he came back to the boat he had another piece off the boat. Looking at this boat daily reminds you how incredibly easy it can be to lose everything you have worked so hard for. On our sail from Bora Bora to Maupihaa, as we past Maupeti, we saw a catamaran that had run aground in the pass and was just off the island with one hull almost completed sunk. Fortunately the crew was rescued, but their home was soon to be at the bottom of the ocean. Due to the hazards of the pass at Maupeti the boat could not be towed into the lagoon and it was too far to tow it to Bora Bora. These 2 boats remind us that you cannot be complacent about the reefs or the passes, there are a lot of hazards out here.

Leaving the Suwarrow pass was exciting as the current pushed us through at 11.4 knots, I figure the current added about 5.5 knots.  Once clear of the Suwarrow atoll, we headed southwest toward Niue. We had an exhilarating first 24 hours covering about 192 miles, for an average of 8 knots. The wind was only about 15-25 knots, but the 3m+ waves gave us some good push. Of course that did not last, but the rest of the passage was pleasant sailing averaging between 5-7 knots.  We caught a large mahi mahi that gave Gary quite a fight. We were excited about this fish as it had been over 2 weeks since we were in a grocery store and we understood that the stores in Niue are quite limited.

We arrived in Niue at about 10:30 at night and had to find a mooring buoy in the dark. Fortunately the immigration liaison and the yacht club people were still awake and helped us over the radio so we knew what we needed to do. It took until midday the next day to actually clear through customs, but it was quite simple. Then we had to check in with the Niue Yacht Club, figure out how to get cash, since most store only accept cash, get groceries, get internet,…. Getting cash was harder than you would think it should be. You can't exchange money or get a credit card advance at the bank, there is no ATM, so we were told the only place to get cash was at the car rental agency (go figure). So after getting cash, then lunch, we went to the grocery store for the first time in 3 weeks. We were quite excited to get fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and lemons. The first lemons since San Diego! Amazing how these simple food pleasures can make you happy. Although I am extremely impressed that I have managed to make our fresh food last as long and well as I have. We still had a few fresh veggies (mainly onions and celery) and fruit and one large beef roast.

Today we rented a car and toured some of Niue. We all are extremely impressed with Niue. It may be one of the nicest places to vacation anywhere. But more about that in the next blog. I am too tired from today.

Julie