Communities, new friends and old friends..
Neiafu, Vava’u, Tonga
18 39.7 S 173 59.0 W
The Kingdom of Tonga is also known as “the Friendly
Islands”, and we feel lucky to have found out why. We have been to lots of beautiful anchorages
and beaches, but we have met very few locals, as not many people live on the
small islands. Last week we spent three
nights in the “Coral Gardens” on Vaka’eitu Island. Angus and Eloise were busy crafting a long-awaited
wooden shelf for her bunk, so Jack, George and I kayaked ashore to
explore. A Tongan man rushed along the
beach gesturing wildly to us – we were about to and head straight in over some
jaggedy kayak and foot-shredding reef – and he waved us towards a better,
sandier, more forgiving landing spot.
“Malo e Lelei!” we all said as we hopped ashore, which means hello. Fortunately, the second language here is
English, as that was the limit of our Tongan, and we got chatting with David
and his wife, Hika. They are the only family
on the island, and they have eleven (!) children, aged between 5 and 23. There was no sign of any children; just a
couple of over excited dogs and a hut with no roof and some smart bunting. They explained that their children are at
school on a bigger island, and stay there for the week. Some of the older ones are studying and
living in New Zealand. As it was Friday,
several of the younger children would be home that afternoon for the weekend. They would be having a traditional Tongan
Feast the following night for visiting yachts, to help them fund the family’s
education; would we come along? Of
course, we said we would love to, and I said I’d spread the word amongst the
fleet.
I paddled back ashore in the early evening to give them the
good news that we’d rustled up almost 20 people come to the feast. Then I asked where the kids were. They were supposed to have arrived home by
boat around 4pm. It was now 6.30pm, pitch
dark, and there was no sign of them.
David and Hika have a small boat, but their engine is broken. They have a solar panel, but no battery for
it yet. They had no mobile phone, no VHF
radio, and no idea why their children had not arrived. We were able to help them by bringing a phone
(with Tongan SIM) ashore, but they didn’t manage to connect with anyone to
reassure them, so we agreed to return in the morning, and in the end, one of
the other yachts whizzed David two miles in their dinghy to pick up his lost
tribe. They were perfectly safe and had
stayed an extra night at school; the boat that should have brought them home on
Friday had gone fishing instead! It was
an insight for us into island life with no transport, little money and no
communication.
The Feast the next night was a great experience for everyone
except the poor little piggy who was cooked up for us. There were 12 dishes and a bonfire on the
beach, and we all just about managed to find our way around in the dark with
head torches. We couldn’t really see
what we were eating, and poor Angus paid the price for that for a couple of
days, but fortunately the rest of us survived unscathed.. David and Hika’s extended family had all
appeared in a boat to help out with the feast, and our children enjoyed
meeting theirs, although mostly they played football in the dark and raced
hermit crabs on the beach with their boat friends, until a rain squall drew the
night to a natural close.
Our new Tongan friends were keen to take us to Church on
Sunday, but going back to their problem of living on an island with no other people, and having a boat with no engine, we found ourselves taking them to
Church on Victoria. Church was at 10am, preceded by
a Kava drinking ceremony at 9am. Kava is
a ground root that is somewhere between relaxing, lip-numbing and
hallucinogenic, depending on how much is consumed. Angus took the dinghy ashore to collect them,
but they had all gone to pick limes to trade.
Eventually they were all aboard, and we up-anchored and headed across
the lagoon to Matamaka, with our five passengers, including a small baby. The kids all played with lego and shared
their photo books from home. Once
re-anchored and ashore, Angus disappeared with the men (and Eloise and George!)
to drink Kava, while Jack and I waited in the Church. Everyone was dressed in the most beautiful
dresses, smart suits, ties; their real Sunday best. It is well known that the singing in Tonga is
incredible and it is absolutely true.
There were only about 30 people in the church, but it sounded like
130. The harmonies, the intensity, the energy
and the sheer volume of the sound was incredible. The decibels were too much for Jack, who
covered his ears for most of the service, which was mildly embarrassing, but
the rest of us were in awe. The readings
and sermon were lost on us, but the music more than made up for it, as did our
welcome in perfect English from the village chief. At the end of the service we all shook hands
with everyone until we were in a large circle.
Then it was back to the kava ceremony for the men; Angus and David just
for one or two cups, the rest of the village men for the remainder of the day,
apparently.
While we have enjoyed meeting the locals, we have equally loved
messing about in the water as a family, and watching Eloise, George and Jack
find their independence. The sea is
lovely and warm and it is full of amazing sea life. The older two took themselves on a lengthy
snorkelling trip in Tapana Island a couple of days ago. It was a beautifully sheltered spot, and we
were anchored close to the shore, so we could let them go off by themselves quite
safely. They took the big kayak, two
paddles, an anchor, goggles and flippers, and they must have been gone for a
couple of hours looking at starfish and sea cucumbers, like real little
explorers. Jack, who was wary of
swimming only a few months ago, is hard to keep out of the water. As soon as we are anchored he wants to leap
off the back of the boat, and there he will swim about happily for hours in his
big orange lifejacket, climbing out and jumping back in again. Angus and I are working on our windsurfing - pics to follow when we get a bit better!
Yesterday we had a party on the beach in Port Maurelle with
30 other boats from the Island Cruising New Zealand Rally. The anchorage was jam packed, and the weather
was the sunniest day we have had here, so we could not have asked for
more. It was a bring and share lunch,
and people brought delicious concoctions and shared both their food and their
company. The 25 children spent a full
six hours in the sea with their friends, including Jack in command of his own
kayak, and George and his friend George trying to catch fish with an underwater
net all afternoon. Before we left, when
we told some purist yachties that we were joining a rally, there was some
scepticism, but since making the decision we have not looked back.
The amazing thing about being part of the rally is that we
are part of something much bigger than just our own boat. The whole is so much greater than the sum of
the parts. We are part of a ready-made
community – for friendship, advice, expertise, support and practical help. People have helped each other out hugely with
spares, including lending each other propellors, hatches and other crucial boat
bits. I’ve had a few GP consultations,
fortunately nothing serious. There is no
doubt that we all benefit from sharing experiences between boats. Particularly for the “kid boats”, where life
is pretty full-on, it is great for us to have other parents to compare notes
with, and to admit (in strictest confidence, of course) that we are all slightly
missing our dishwashers and washing machines, it’s hard to get the children to
focus on home-school, it’s pretty crazy doing 24-7 parenting with no breaks,
and we’d really love just one long, hot, power shower followed by a night
between fresh sheets in a bed with no creaking ropes, whistling wind, or
crunching anchor chain noises.
The saddest news from the Rally this week has been the
unfolding story of a boat called Squander.
They set off from Opua at the same time as us, but ripped their main
sail, so went back to New Zealand and ended up having a new one made. The second time they set off, they had
catastrophic rigging failure a few days out; some of their chain plates pulled
away from the hull of the boat. The
shrouds (wires supporting the mast) attach to the chain plates, so this left
them at risk of losing the entire rig, and their ability to sail was extremely
limited. They were motoring slowly back
towards New Zealand for several days, but eventually ran out of fuel. A passing ship attempted a diesel transfer,
but in the end their boat was 60 miles east of Great Barrier Island and unable
to make any headway west, and they judged the risk of losing the mast as
imminent. The skipper took the horrible decision
to abandon ship and the four on board were rescued by helicopter. It is not clear at this time if there will be
a salvage attempt for Squander, but at least those who were on board are all
safe now. The rally feels a bit like a
family. We got to know the owners of
Squander and their crew in Opua, counting them as new friends; they were really
kind to our children, and we really feel for them and wish their trip had ended
differently.
As well as thinking about new friends, today has been
incredible for finding an old friend.
Eighteen years ago, I was here in Tonga with my lovely friend Zoe, as
fourth year medical students, on our electives.
After a week or so learning about diabetes in the hospital on Tongatapu,
the doctors told us to go and explore Vava’u, as it was much more
beautiful. We didn’t need to be asked
twice, and we booked the 24-hour ferry trip.
(We flew the return journey!) In
the waterfront café in Neiafu, Vava’u, we met a New Zealander called Richard,
with his young daughter, and the two of them took us sailing for a week around
the islands on their boat, Providence.
It was a really magical time.
Today we picked up a mooring in Neiafu, and I was pretty
sure I could see Providence nearby. I
dinghied over, and sure enough, it was Providence, but no-one was on
board. We kept our eyes peeled and by the
time we were heading ashore, there was a dinghy tied up behind. Over we went, en famille, and there was
Richard – still the owner, and I reminded him of the happy trip all those years
ago. Before we knew it, he had roped us
into the Friday afternoon “Rum Race” which he organises when he is here. Jack and Angus were put on one boat, with
most of the guys who run the boatyard here.
I was on another with Eloise and George, at the helm,
getting to know the rest of the crew as we went along. It was a great afternoon for a race, even
better because we won, and so great to see an old friend and introduce the
family.
So this is post is a tribute really, to old friends, new
friends, communities, and the whole being so much greater than the sum of its
parts. We feel very lucky indeed. We have a few more days in Tonga and then it’s
off to Fiji. You’ll be relieved to hear
it’s only a 2-3 day trip, so hopefully not too many daily passage blogs to fill
your inboxes..
For photos see our facebook page: www.facebook.com/snow.goose.940
Lots of love from all of us
Laura, Angus, Eloise, George and Jack
Xxx
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