October 18 - Arrival at the Kingdom of Tonga

Land Ho!

We are both up early as we approach the beguilingly beautiful Vava'u Group of islands in the Kingdom of Tonga. The islands with their lofty cliffs, green tops, craggy feet and many rocky outcrops make us swivel our heads as we make our way to Neiafu Harbour. Before we even arrive, "Sonsie, Sonsie, Sonsie this is Folau, Folau, Folau," crackles over VHF 16. We don't know any vessels by that name so that can only be our great friend and former Sonsie owner, Chris! He's here chartering a catamaran with some pals for a week. Until we check in officially we can't meet up with him but we start hatching plans...

There are good, clear navigational range markers into the harbour. We tie up all six fenders on our port side and sidle up to the long dock in between two other sailboats. After tie up the check in process begins, with Customs, Immigration and Health officials coming aboard with their forms and questions. I ask questions in turn as I want to work on my Tongan vocabulary immediately. There are many similarities to Samoan, but noticeable differences as well. Languages are always fascinating.

The best part about the check in process is that we get new stamps in our passports. Little inky treasures!

Jim heads up to the nearest bank to change some money to pay the entry fees, stopping in at Digicell to buy a sim card for Internet. There's a super produce market right by the dock so he grabs some fresh supplies for us before we leave the dock. A dinghy is zooming over to say Hello - it's our really nice Italian friends from Zoomax! They have come over to offer to help us pull away from the dock as they experienced some difficulty doing just that a few days back. They take a line just in case but once all the dock lines have been untied, Jim ably reverses Sonsie to steer her bow to starboard and we're away.

Neaifu Harbour is naturally well-protected and very busy, with around 75 boats on moorings or at anchor. We snag a mooring ball behind Zoomax alongside shoreline covered with greenery. In the tree directly off our beam hang 30 big flying foxes - better known as bats! They don't seem to be good at minding their own business as they often step on each other's toes and squeaking, shuffle around and rearrange themselves. Cicadas start their crescendo at dusk, breathing and creaking as one so as to appear like one big creature rather than many tiny.

Best of all, it is cooler here in Tonga than in Samoa, especially in the evenings. Fabulous! We take the temperature of the sea's surface with a handheld device: 27 vs 30 in Samoa - those 3 degrees make a big difference.