Perfect Beach 7 -

How many perfect beaches could there be? We call this beach #7 just because we ran out of cool names for all the great beaches here. This one even has a perfect place for playing volleyball!

We ate all 30 of the pineapples in the last 5 days so we need to head back to the city to "pineapple up!".

We are thinking of taking the main sail off for hurricane season, as we will have to take it off anyway to put the new track on. The Tongan weather forecast (along with the "important" global warming committee") calls for 3 hurricanes this season with at least one over a category 3. So based on that we are thinking that we may get one (1), which would be an increase over the last 7 years when they have had none (0). Maybe they are not just counting Vavau but the whole region. That might make a difference!

Courage

Cave Diving -

We are at a new island with our own private beach.  The other one had houses, vacation homes on islands adjacent to it, which was nice too.  This one, like many of them, looks gorgeous!  A long stretch of beach that is touted as one of the cruiser's favorites!!  Clear water surrounds us and there are lots of places with trees overhanging the beach for plenty of shade, protected anchorage, but a nice gentle breeze to keep things comfortable.  Everyone went to shore while I stayed back to make dinner, so it's peaceful quiet around here.  I could clean or email while things cook, so here I am.

On the way here, we stopped at Mariner's Cave.  Cool place.  You get GPS coordinates to a spot along a cliff like island with lots of undercuts and blowholes.  We stopped the boat and jumped into the dinghy with our masks and snorkels and a dive light.  We motored along the shore until we found a shadowy area underwater. Then we jumped in and it indeed appeared to be a hole underwater going somewhere.  Somewhat intimidating, Cassidy, Wolfie and I stared at the hole for a while.  It's hard to commit to swimming into a big black mouth of a cave not knowing how deep or how far you were committing to going.  So, Courage jumped out of the dinghy, put on his flippers and swam in.  He disappeared and was gone.  We all looked at each other and had to assume he'd made it.  A short time later, he reappeared and indicated that it was much farther than he'd initially anticipated.  But it was do-able.  This time, after catching his breath, he planned to start right at the mouth of the cave, not before the entrance.  Soon, he dove again.  This time, I went down and watched how long he swam before he went back up.  It was a distance, but certainly a possible distance.  Then Cassidy mustered up enough breath and courage to go, and off she went.  Just as I was getting my deep breaths to go, Courage popped back out.  He was going to swim a safety behind me to make sure I went far enough.  I got my air, and went.  It went well, I came up with plenty of room to spare.  My sinuses almost exploded under water, but other than that, it was great!  The cave was large and beautiful!  You could see with the light coming in through the underwater entrance, and that was enough.  There was lots of room to swim around in there.  As the waves came in, the humid air in the cave would compress causing a fog, then as it depressurized, the air would clear.  It was very weird and interesting.  You could also feel the pressure changes in your ears.  They'd plug up and clear all on their own with the waves and changes in pressure.  It really was a neat place and I'm very glad we went.  The departure wasn't nearly as intimidating as the entrance since you could clearly see the outside and how far you needed to go.  That being said, for some reason I didn't feel like I was making ground like I did when I was swimming in, so at one point I reached up and grabbed onto the rock above me and pushed myself along, then Courage dropped down and gave me a final pull out and push to the surface.  I was making it, but slower than I'd like to have been so it was nice to get the boost!!

We are down to our final 4 pineapples.  Probably heading back to Neiafu Sunday night or Monday.  The market is closed tomorrow anyway, so no rush and we're only an hour away.  We could probably dinghy there and back if we wanted to leave the big boat here.  But it's so easy with our own mooring, a motorcycle onshore, and a restaurant with $3 for rice and chicken curry that I think we'll take the big boat.  Not to mention, we need to return the library books before the library closes for the season.  We've read them all and have enjoyed having a new set of books to look at.  We will certainly donate some old school books when we are done with them.

OK, someone has to make dinner. . .
Shannon

Blue Lagoon

We are at the blue lagoon, and the weather is perfect. We have our very own deserted island, with a soft white beach, caves, and a bon-fire that just never goes out.  The children don't even come home for lunch.  And even when we send them to shore dressed, within an hour they have found the simplicity of nudity. The water is clear and warm, and the sunrises and sunsets are beautiful.

All of Tonga has turned out to be very nice. The people are wonderful; the food is super fresh and tastes so good. (It has been a while since we have had this much fresh food).  And to top it all off there is virtually no crime.  I think we found a great place to spend our cyclone season. There is a different plan for next year every time I think about it.  Shannon is always surprised how fluid my plans are. (Drawn in sand at low tide - below the tide line!)

Intrepid and Integrity are reading every day now, Innocence is getting it figured out, Vitality is still trying to figure out how she sun-burned her bum, and Valiant is always looking for a buddy to go swimming with him.  And that is pretty much a detailed report on the young ones.  Cassidy and Wolf are doing great and falling in love with the freedom of the cruising lifestyle.

All is super here!

Courage

Beveridge Reef Photos

Playing on the Deck

Feeding a Shark

Tonga Stop Over -

We have a great cyclone hole here, and have arranged for a mooring with 10 tons of concrete on the bottom. Now we are exploring the beautiful islands of the Vavau group. Once again the people are super friendly, and most of them speak some/perfect English. The water is warm and clear, and the coral is beautiful. 

We have a wonderful island all to ourselves with no flies, and plenty of firewood. We had our fist bonfire with marshmallows yesterday. Vitality is now swimming some these days, so at least she can swim back to shore when the wave tries to pull her off the beach. Valiant is still a sinker, and is careful to always stay close to someone who can pull him out of the water if the need arises.

Since we are planning on staying here until April timeframe I went ahead and registered the motorcycle here in Tonga. Fairly simple to do and only $70 for a year! We are slowly getting a collection of license plates and driver’s licenses. Cassidy got her first license in Aitutaki and her official (good in New Zealand) license in Niue!!

Exploring the island by motorcycle is wonderful and very pleasant. We even used it to get the boxes for Intrepid's Halloween outfit. Shannon on the back of the motorcycle with a roll of linoleum under her bottom, and sticking out a couple of feet on each side, and both her arms filled with empty cardboard boxes sticking out in every direction. But it was all worth it as Intrepid won the prize for the best costume!

Courage

Tonga -

We arrived in Tonga on the 28th. Having crossed the date line and never really knowing the days of the week anyway really confused us for days. We got the dates pretty quick, but it wasn't until the 31st that we learned that it was Friday, not Saturday as we thought. So, we'd heard to hit the fresh fruit market Saturday at 10 am to get the deals as they liquidate the ripe stuff rather than take it home for the weekend. We hit it Friday morning and didn't notice any deals going on?? Friday night we learned that it was still Friday (not Saturday as we thought), so the next morning we hit the market again, and sure enough, the ladies were both making deals and gifting the children the very ripe fruits. We really loaded up since we were going to head out that afternoon to the islands.

We are very happy to have chosen Tonga for cyclone season. The bay is very protected from winds (there were none! Sometimes a breeze through the hatches helps on a warm, humid day). The moorings are serious with thick polypropylene rope and concrete foundations. They are down on tourism this year and willing to make deals on the moorings for long-term rates. The town is nice. 
Definitely poor, run down houses, sadly garbage on the side of the roads (which we have not seen in quite a long time, the last significant time was in Panama). But the people are typically nicely dressed in long traditional skirts and men wear long straight "skirts" type things. They are very friendly and helpful, although sometimes seem a bit shy. The women love the children, so the kids are blending in everywhere and making friends.

The shopping has been a relief! Finally! There's a big market where farmers sell their fruits and veggies every day (except Saturday afternoon and Sundays). Bananas, papayas ($.60 US), small watermelon ($2.50), 3 pineapples ($2.50), cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, bell peppers . . . We haven't had this variety and this low of prices in such a long time!! And finally, fresh eggs!! Not imported from New Zealand, so weeks old at best. There's a family with stacks and stacks of eggs, I asked if they were local, they said yes, all from their family! I said you must have a LOT of chickens, and she laughed and said yes they do. I can only imagine! Every day they have huge stacks of eggs, every day I see lots of people buying those eggs. And they are $8. US for 30, finally down from $.50 to $1 per egg from French Polynesia through the Cooks and Niue. Besides this exciting market, another cruiser showed us a farm up the hill where they say you can get anything fresh picked that you want and they claimed that it was a quarter the prices of the fresh market. We went by, but it was closed. Beautifully laid out greenhouses and it benefits a "Youth Congress". Definitely going to hit it up next week!!!! The grocery stores have more than I expected, a few canned veggies, spaghetti sauce, flour, sugar, butter, rice, a few noodles, some random meat cuts, chips, cookies, etc. Not everything I could hope for, but definitely workable!! Not going to find oats, brown rice, quinoa, corn flour, and other specialty items. 
I heard from another boat that they ran out of butter in town and were out for weeks, so you have to plan ahead a little bit or do without. Also prices go up as the town runs out of things, so don't count on steady pricing. Also heard that some prices change as you hit the register if you aren't local. I've been watching at the stores I go to and it seems to be holding with advertised prices.

We got the motorcycle registered, so it's legal and everything. We've been out exploring. Found a hardware store where we can get some lumber for the cockpit and got some cheap linoleum for the torn up stuff in the cockpit, which I've wanted since well before French Polynesia and couldn't find. So we're finding little things we haven't in months, prices are much better, we are official with our transportation, people are friendly, anchorage is very flat and protected, and we are eating fresh. It's all looking good.

We went to a Halloween party at a Cafe that overlooks the anchorage and met some local kids, most of whom are expatriates and great contacts! The kids had a great time; Intrepid won best kid's costume and a free pizza for the family. We found a locals restaurant where I had chicken curry and rice for $2.50 US!! How can you beat that??? Then Courage ordered a jug of juice. When they brought it out it was bright orange, he asked what juice it was, and she answered, "Juice of Tang." Ohhhh. But it was great as we were quite thirsty.

We are now out at the islands, currently Ovalau, where I imagine we'll spend a lot of time. Lovely soft white sand beach, no one here, protected from the normal trade winds, and covered in shells and coconuts. We had a nice campfire last night with marshmallows. We haven't been able to do that for months! 
Finally getting a little isolated again! We stopped at Swallow's Cave on the way here, which you can take your dinghy in it's so big! Gorgeous deep waters below it and just amazing walls (other than the unfortunate graffiti) with lots of birds (not bats) flying around in it. There's another cave, Mariner's Cave, that you have to dive down and swim through a tunnel to get into it. Sounds a little concerning, but we've met other boats that have done it and indicate while intimidating, it's not terrible. Sounds also like a really cool experience!!! So we have to find it also!

There are many little islands, and lots of snorkeling and white sandy beaches within eyesight and within 2 hours of our "hurricane hole" making it possible to explore and live life and enjoy, while retreating and hunkering down quickly with any indication of incoming weather. So, with affordable pricing, gorgeous outlying islands, fresh foods, caves to explore and things to do, we are settling in here for the next 4-5 months, making friends, and getting oriented.

There's our little update. We do have some Internet options, but mostly using our SailMail and ham radio to send messages with occasional "real internet" check-in when possible.

Goodnight,
Shannon

Halloween in Tonga

Great Halloween party in Tonga at the Aquarium Cafe. Started with kids games, egg toss, bobbing for apples, costume contest, and snacks. Intrepid won best costume!!! He was a robot made from a cardboard box body, pringle can arms, milk jug helmet, and reflective car window visors for legs all spray painted silver, then an electrical panel installed and some LED lights from cousin Wolfie!! He won a large pizza for the family!! Yeah Intrepid! We all had a great time and are enjoying the atmosphere here in Tonga!

Bobbing for apples

The family in town

Intrepid in Costume

Kids in the dinghy

Ready for Halloween

Life on the Ocean

Cassidy Feeding a Shark

Assembly Time

The one that got away - Eaton by a shark

Shannon with Catch of the Day, Snapper

Wolf Reeling in the fish

Wolf Cannonballing off the bow

Avaiki Cave with Cassidy

Getting ready to jump

Cassidy on perch in cave

Cave Exploring - October 23, 2014

Yesterday morning we took the rental car and explored lots of new sea tracks, a cave where they buried people and had a pile of human bone remains, had a picnic overlooking the lee side of the island with waves crashing against a sheer rock wall, then back down the Anapala Chasm where ancient people use to hike down to get fresh water. We went for a great swim down the chasm and back, it was cold water!! There was a beautiful small spot in the middle of the chasm with sunlight shining in and you could see down the sides and to the bottom. It was awesome!! By the time I swam back across it, the sun had already fallen behind one of the sheer cliff walls and it was dark again. 

We went home and returned the rental car and got the kids and Courage loaded into the dinghy for quiet time, then Cassidy and I headed out on the motorcycle!! We've never tried just the two of us on it. We went to the Talava Arch, a gorgeous arch at the end of the island over a large reef that you can walk on at low tide. You come through a cave to get to it. There are also a couple other smaller caves that you can explore along side the reef. I enjoyed seeing the live cowdries on the reef as well as watching the waves crashing around the arches. 

Then we headed back to town, had an ice cream, then headed out to a cave (?Vaihaca) which is recommended as guided-only. We met a German tourist who told of the horrors of this cave, narrow entrance, steep walls, etc. We had to see it. I thought we could just walk to it, look inside, see if we wanted to enter, then go. Little did I realize that the trail to the cave was as much or more treacherous than the cave itself!!! We hiked literally for almost an hour over rocks, through forests and jungles, etc. They have little orange triangles pointing the way, if not for those, we would surely have been lost. At one point we were walking over rocks covered in long leaves, but periodically you could see large blackness between the rocks. You have to wonder, how far down those spots go. I made clear to Cassidy that she can't fall, if she gets hurt, any rescue would take a long time. There's no way I can carry anyone out of this place. So, finally we find the cave. Cassidy dropped in first, there were ropes to hold onto. It was narrow, but not claustrophobic. As we slid down the opening into the cave, it opened up into this gorgeous oasis with water, mossy rocks with ferns on it, etc. Some light came in from above. At this point, on the guided tour, you jump into the water (looks like a long drop unless we were missing something), then swim to someplace, dive down and pop up into another dark cave. Then dive again, popping up in a final cave. That would be AWESOME, but I'm not doing that without a local guide. We were happy just to have been there and seen it. At this point, returning down the trail to the motorcycle before dark was going to be adventure enough for us. 

It was a great mother-daughter date!! I was totally worn out, but we had a great time!

Shannon