On our first morning after arriving in Tonga it was off to town to stock up on fresh supplies and the all important local SIM card so we could get connected online again. One of the carriers, Digicel had moved from a shop in the main street and set up an outlet in a converted shipping container on the site of their communications tower. Makes sense if you already have the real estate.
In company with Blue Summit and Distant Sun we headed up to the top of the next island Foa Is which has 2 resorts operated by the same people. Getting into the anchorage can be a bit tricky navigating through the extensive reef, fortunately we had good light and high tide so it wasn't a problem.
The reefs in the Ha'apai's have some great snorkeling and the lagoon on the other side of our anchorage at Foa Is was special with a large variety of corals and fishes. Here Ann discovered the best specimen of a tiger cowry shell we have ever found in the wild. Unfortunately once we got it to the surface we could see that it was still alive so after a photo we put it back in its crevice under a coral outcrop.
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| 75mm Tiger Cowry |
The anchorage was a perfect spot to try out our new inflatable stand up paddleboard (SUP). This being the first time we had used it we were still on a learning curve. Not only on how to use it but also how hard to inflate it. Lesson 1:- it is not very stable if it isn't rigid enough. After Patrick and Cran fell off a few times, Cran decided to check the instructions and discovered it was only at about half the recommended pressure. Linda did manage to use it without falling off but she referred to it as a KDP (knelling down paddleboard) rather than a SUP. The whole exercise was a lot of fun and generated a lot of laughs. Will update on how we go next time with it properly inflated.
The anchorage was also perfect for going up the rig to fix issues with the genoa fuller foils. No wind so a good time to drop the sail and get Cran up the rig to tighten the screws on the foil junctions. An interesting exercise as Cran has to be raised up on a rope that wants to go straight up from the base of the mast but Cran needs to be going up at the forestay.
The resorts were very cruiser friendly and we were welcome to use their facilities so it was dinner at the resort that had the sunset outlook and lunch at the resort that overlooked the lagoon. The staff also advised us on the best snorkeling and local attractions.
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| Outlook from the lunch deck |
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| Distant Sun, Blue Summit and Lettin'Go crews enjoying burgers, pizzas and beer |
After a few days it was time to move on. Blue Summit and Distant Sun were ready to head north to the Vava'u Group and Lettin'Go had more exploring and adventures to the south. The tide wasn't as favourable when we were leaving the lagoon at Foa Is so Patrick climbed up the mast to our crows nest for an elevated position to direct us through the reef channels with the other two boats following close behind.
Over the remaining few days we had before Patrick and Linda flew out we visited a number of islands, went ashore to a local village and visited the primary school with a gift of school materials.
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| Sunset drinks on the beach and a fire to dispose of our combustible rubbish |
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| Traditional Tongan graves outside the village |
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| It's off to school we go |
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| Headmaster and his class |
The eastern islands in the Ha'apai Group are inside a fringing reef. The reef is on the weather side so the eastern side of the islands are usually rocky with a lagoon between the island and the outer reef and the protected western side are generally sandy beaches. Both sides offer great beach combing and exploring.
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| The western side. Typical picture of a tropical isle |
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| The eastern side. Rocky but still very beautiful |
All too quickly the day for Patrick and Linda to leave us came around. After an early breakfast it was a dinghy ride to the Ha'apai Beach Resort where we had organised with Matt to drive them to the airport. They were not only great company but also great crew and made the difficult passage from NZ to Tonga safer and enjoyable. The boat felt a lot emptier after they left and we still had some chilli and peanut butter left!
