Last but not least, it was time to party party party and so we did when we got to Pangaimotu, the little island off of Nukualofa. All of us, "yachties" ended up here to await a weather window for our departure to New Zealand. Its an analysis paralysis situation where we all study the weather, maps, consult our hired meteorlogical gurus and discuss it over and over and over. In the meantime, we party. We were fortunate to be invited to the 60th B day party of the owner of the island. He is related to the royal family and was given the island by the previous King of Tonga more than 20 years ago. His wife, Big Mama is in the photo with the Red Bastard. There he goes again, rubbing shoulders(and noses) with the nobility. She, Big Mama, created a great bar/restaurant/ yacht club complete with a sand floor. They do eveything for you including taking your fuel cans, water cans, propane tanks etc to town, filling them and returning them to you. They, like most Tongans, are warm, sincere and are wonderful to spend time with. It was a great time spent with all the other boaters we have met and travelled with since Mexico. There are boats here also from Germany, Sweden, Finland, England, Denmark, France, The Netherlands, Brazil etc etc etc. Alas, our window opened, we departed and here we are, safely in Kiwi Land. Pls remember that you can add a comment to the blog by clicking on "comments" at the bottom of each entry and type us a message. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Love to all. John Linda and Pat
1 of our favorite islands was Ooleva where we found that bright orange cook shack, part of a backpackers "resort" What a setting, no one for miles except us boaters, nothing to do but stroll the golden sandy beaches, sun, snorkel, eat, sleep and .....
Thats where the night shot was taken under a full moon with clouds scuddying by and the palms waving at the night.
The market photos were all taken on a typical market day in Nieafu.
Well, the time had come to say farewell to Tonga after 3 months of some of the most beautiful scenery and people. The images I will add to this are from our last days in Nieafu, the center of the northern islands, the 2 weeks+ we spent sailing from there through the Hapaii Group and on to Nukualofa, the capitol and main town in the Tongatapu Group. After a great week anchored off Pangaimotu Island(Big Mama's Yacht Club) we left for New Zealand. The trip took just shy of 8 days of which we had to motor 35% of the time anf the rest was a great sail with 3 days of 25+ knot winds and waves of 10-12 feet. At present I'm updating this from a marina in Opua, NZ. It is just heaven here with great genuine, warm, sincere people who all must have been born with both a zest for life and a sense of humour. Kiwis are a great bunch.
The village photos are from the very remote Hapaii Group.1, maybe 2 islands had electricity, 1 had vehicles but there were lots of curious kids everywhere. Thanks to Gloria and Jon Bentzen, we handed out at least 3-400 pens and pencils to the school teachers on these islands. School supplies are in great demand. The shots of what we may consider shacks are their houses, raised off the grounds so the pigs and chickens have shelter and it keeps any rodents away. They lead the simplest of lives, cook over open fires and share in the abundant wealth of the sea and orchards.
3 comments:
I have passed along all of your e-mails to all of the "Boys of Summer" and their significant others and I am quite sure they are following your adventure with great interest!
As to the lack of replies or comments I can only say that you all look like your having way to much fun! Perhaps that is a little depressing for some of us back here sweating it out at our offices, fighting our way through our daily snarling commutes and the drench of one pineapple express after another pouring millimeters of record breaking rain at record wind speeds!
This of course is nothing compared to the constant daily reminders now from every possible news source of the disasters of the markets, our economy,the global recession and the plummeting value of the Canadian Loonie! It is all consuming and takes over our lives!
Now personnally if you really want to get our attention and hear some comments, then lets see a little bit of misery! Lets see those 50 knot squals, lets see the chaos below decks from 12ft seas, lets see the humping and grinding of winches trying to put in that third reef in the mainsail and lets see the drench of a few over the bow green waves!!!!!!
Throw in a couple of close up shots of those exhausted drawn out faces after a sleepless, sickening 10 to 15 day passage and I think you will be good to go!
Sincerely and best wishes,
Brian
We who are fighting the bull back in the "real world" need our fantasy fix from you, so keep it coming. I would like to think that you are the real world, and we are the fantasy world and we can live once more thru your adventures. I would love to be in the position to decide "do I spend 4 months or 16 months in New Zealand?" Instead, I make decisions like "if I do not have enough money to buy the wine I want, which one will I buy?". Keep up our spirits by having enough fun for all of us. rofriday
Hey John,
Just 'cause we don't say much doesn't mean we aren't here, following your adventure with great interest.
Brian has pretty much captured the sentiment of everyone who did not have the good fortune (or good sense?) to have cashed out sometime before the last two months. It literally means for many of us that retirement that seemed a realistic prospect for the next one or two years may now be deferred to five or six. Of course, the bull may come raging back in six months, and all this anxiety will seem so stupid. But somehow, I don't think so, not quite so quick.
Anyway, that is so far from your reality right now that I won't stay there another minute. The Tongans sound so wonderful, so real, so kind, and your interactions with them have been a treasure.
And now you're at (or en route to) New Zealand, hobbit-land extraordinaire! And may stay for 18months, I'm hearing. Fantastic!! Here's hoping the blog entries will keep on coming, and we wish you nothing but the best.
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