Tonga: Day 22 - Whale Watching

Monday, July 22, 2013

We went for this whale experience boat tour today. It was really expensive and kind of a gamble since it is not guaranteed that you see any whales. We were really looking forward to hoping in the water and swimming with them.

The weather was a bit better than it had been the rest of the week. It did not rain, and we had a few sunny periods, but it was still a little cold.

We first took the boat over to this gorgeous little island called Mounu where we picked up our guide, Kristy.

A little dog ran out to welcome us.

We were also greeted by this rainbow in the distance.

After we picked up our guide, it only took about an hour before we saw our first whale.

We ended up seeing about a dozen whales in all directions and got to see various tail-slaps and even two huge breaches where whales jumped all the way out of the water and came splashing down. I unfortunately didn't have the camera rolling at these times.

Sadly, we only got to see these whales for a short period of time and then spent the rest of the day just motoring around looking for more. We were all really let down that we couldn't swim with them.

After giving up, we went back to Mounu for some coffee/tea/milo and some shortbread.

They had some whale bones on the island. Here are some 70 year old upper-jaw bones.

And here are some more recent lower-jaw bones and rib bones.

And finally, here is the huge tooth of a sperm whale.

It was a fun day, but it is a little sad that the best pictures I have from a whale experience tour is of an island.

Tonga: Days 16 - 21: Rain

Tuesday - Sunday, July 16 - 21, 2013

It rained almost constantly over the last week. The locals keep saying "it's never like this", but it is sure like this now! We, and the many other cruisers here in Neiafu, spent a strong majority of the week confined to our boats, discovering leaks.

We are going for a whale watching/swim with the whales tour on Monday, so hopefully the weather clears up!

Tonga: Day 14 - Wrong Place

Sunday, July 14, 2013

It has been raining since we got here, so we haven't been able to do any snorkelling or anything. Also, the Coral Garden is not in this bay, it is located back where we were a few days ago beside Lape Island. 

We are just going to hunker down in the boat for today and look to leave early tomorrow.

Tonga: Day 13 - Hunga Island

Saturday, July 13, 2013

We left early this morning to make the narrow passage during high tide into the bay at Hunga Island. It was an extremely tight passage, maybe fifty feet across, and with only 4 feet beneath the keel at its shallowest point.

We were nervous, but we made it through without a problem. All charts mark navigation buoys in the channel to help guide you, but we found no buoys when we went through.

We grabbed a mooring ball in front of the Ika lahi lodge on the north end of this calm bay.

Tonga: Day 15

Monday, July 15, 2013

We paid for our mooring at the little fishing resort in the bay called Ika Lahi.

The owner, Steve, is supposedly one of the best marlin fishermen in the world and is going to be setting the world record this year for the most marlin caught in a year.

We headed back to Neiafu for a few days to resupply and get some fuel for the rest of our Tonga exploring.

We are looking to take off on Saturday, head down to the Ha'apai group of Tonga for a week or two and then head to Fiji.

Tonga: Day 12 - Kapa Island

Friday, July 12, 2013

We left Lape this morning and tried to make it to the Coral Garden during high tide. The passage there is really shallow and can only be navigated during high tide. We ended up getting there too late and had to find somewhere nearby to drop anchor until tomorrow.

Our first potential anchorage was not well protected, but. Had this beautiful little uninhabited island with a beach at the one tip.

We also passed 'Ava Island', which is named after my niece.

We settled on the second anchorage we looked at. It was well protected, had pristine clear water for snorkelling, and a nice little beach called 'Barnacle Beach'.

Since the water was so clear, I jumped in with a pair of goggles to watch the anchor and see if it was dragging or not while Gary and Jan reversed the boat. This is in 40 feet of water.

After we were secure, Jan and I hopped in the water and explored the shoreline with some snorkel gear.

There were some parrot fish, Napoleon fish, zebra fish,

I found Nemo, the movie can end now,

bright blue starfish,

and huge schools of bait fish.

I felt these little guys nibbling at me as if I were some sort of whale.

Tonga: Day 11 - Lape Market

Thursday, July 9, 2013

The friendly inhabitants of Lape came over to our boat this morning and invited us to their 'market'. I think it is just an impromptu thing they put together when they have a visitor.

So we got ready quickly and dinghied over to their little wharf to check it out. They had it set up in a little tiki hut right off their beach.

Jan ended up buying a basket and a few bags of chips made from tarot root.

They supposedly have feasts here in Lape every weekend too, which are supposed to be the best feasts in Vava'u, but I doubt we will still be around for that. We are looking to move our boat over to 'The Coral Garden' tomorrow for some good snorkeling.

Tonga: Days 8 - 10: Lape

Monday - Wednesday, July 8 - 10, 2013

We left Neiafu and headed for the little island of Lape (still part of the Vava'u group here in Tonga). It was only a 2 hour trip. There are only four mooring balls there, and the island inhabits just 30 people, so we expected it to be a little more private, but were not expecting to have it all to ourselves.

After securing our mooring, we hopped in the dinghy to explore the shoreline and the little single rock of an island beside Lape.

The water is clear as ever here in Tonga.

Tonga: Day 7 - Coconuts

Sunday, July 7, 2013

We were going to sail around today and check out some of the other Tongan islands, but it had been raining non-stop since last night, so we just hung around inside the boat.

We ran the water maker today to fill our reserves and had to keep stopping it to clean the filters as it kept sucking up these damn jellyfish.

After that was done, I thought I'd have a go at opening up some of our coconuts. I used the method we were taught at the feast the other night and it opened fairly easily.

Hit it just above the "eyes", dead center.

And hit it hard. Commit to your swing.

And it will crack.

In two perfect halves.

Tonga: Day 6 - ATVs

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Sailing Across the Pacific Ocean 2013 (Part 21) - Exploring Tonga cont...

We rented some dune buggy things today and did some off-road adventuring around the island.

It was a ton of fun, these things really ripped and we got to see some of the lesser-travelled parts of the island.

Out of the way bush, I don't have time for you.

The first stop was at the northern point of the island and we had a really nice, elevated view of the shoreline.

After a few pictures, we were anxious to get back to tearin' it up in the buggies.

Guy on a horse.

Watch out cows!

Then we went off the offroad.

And came to our second stop, which had another great view of the shoreline.

I never expected to see this on my journey, I thought these guys were only found in Asia. But when we walked over to the edge of the cliff, we were treated to dozens of Giant Fruit Bats flying around.

After motoring around for awhile longer, it started to rain a bit as we came to our final stop at a little beachside cafe.

This place was beautiful and had some great views of the water and his beach.

And the rain gave us a rainbow!

We chatted it up with the bar/cafe owner, who was a great guy, full of life and laughter. He let us try some of his Noni Juice concentrate that him and his family use to treat all ailments. We had a couple of beers while we waited out the storm. One of his cute little puppies was loving the rope dangling from my camera.

After two beers, the storm was still raging (and much harder now), so we said screw it and left.

Every single person I passed waved at me. People are so friendly here!

It was freezing, but we were having too much fun to notice.