Finished our check in at the town harbor then moved the boat out to Big Mama's Yacht Club out on Pangiamotu island. This proved tobe a great anchorage and Big Mama's was great. Good food and very cruiser friendly. For a reasonable fee they brought fuel out from town, took our rubbish, processed some laundry and even offered a water taxi back and forth to town. Highly recommend Big Mama's Yacht Club.

We were joined here by another catamaran called Dancing Walrus with Ken and Joni aboard with whom we shared an island tour and several pleasant evenings at cards. The island tour stopped at several interesting archeological sites, a cool bat cave and some blowholes (see pict). We also scored a first-to-find geocache!

The town/city of Nukualofa is the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga and has the king's palace, royal tombs and several big churches. There's also a daily produce market with a large selection and numerous handicrafts for sale. Wendy bought a pretty Ta Ovala (woven waist mat) which are unique to Tonga. We enjoyed exploring the town and seeing some of the cultural sites. The Tongan's are shy, but friendly and we were treated well wherever we went.

This afternoon, we leave for an overnight sail north to the Ha'apai island group in the middle of the Tongan archipelago.