Neiafu
01 July 2014
24 to 27 Jun 14
Neiafu
We had moored up very easily and the next morning (Tues 24 Jun) went in to town. Our first stop was a chat with Beluga Diving who owned the mooring. They were very friendly, happy to see us, and charged us T$15 per night, payable whenever (which seems to be the Tongan way). Next stop was customs down by the commercial wharf (where the ferries come alongside). We are required to do ‘Internal Arrival’ which is a simple process of leaving our departure documentation with the official. Again, very pleasant and helpful customs officers with no suggestion of bribes or anything untoward; oh that all officialdom is like this!
The town was bustling with a real energetic air. The Wesleyan Church was having a big conference so many Tongan people had come in from the islands. The focus was the large Wesleyan church in the centre of town, and the college next door. The conference seemed to include many speeches (again, this seems to be the Tongan way) along with some very large feasts. At least one feast took up all the grounds of the college. However, again in the Tongan way it was all very proper, as a couple of friendly policemen told us solemnly, the men stay in one dormitory on that side of town, the women in another dormitory on the opposite side of town!
The town was also setting up for the King’s birthday the next week with scaffolding and banners being erected all over the place. Some of these were quite impressive structures, spanning the road with very bright LED light strings. As we left, the first ones were turned on, and happily lit up the area with flashing lights in a multicoloured sequence. As we left, just one lit up the sky, so it will be interesting to see what half a dozen do.
The town itself is quite small. There lots of churches ranging from the impressive Catholic Cathedral and large Wesleyan church to more mundane Church of Tonga and Methodist, to name a few. There is also a sizeable market near the wharf selling local produce and handicrafts. There is a range of reasonably priced vegetables and fruit. Of course, not everything is available. One Australian complained that she could not get lettuce. We replied that she should make coleslaw as cabbage, onion and carrot is readily available. Rule number 1; eat what the locals eat! The pricing seems easy as the produce is in T$3, 5, or 10 stacks or bags. Needless to say we happily restocked with the fresh produce.
The town also has a number of the ‘Chinese’ shops. These sell what they sell, and that can be quite a range, from hardware to clothes, sweets and bread. It is very much a case of going in and seeing if they have what you want. None are very large; indeed, all seem small, dimly lit and crammed full of goods.
There are also several ex-pat enterprises serving the cruising community. These include a number of cafes, restaurants and bars, as well as dive shops, adventure tour guide and charter firms. Indeed, there is a ‘cruisers net’ each morning on VHF channel 26 at 0830. Here there is a wide range of chat, hosted by local enterprises in turn, including contacts, weather, sales and wants, and events. There are even commercials as it ends with the sponsors adverts; all spoken over the VHF – no recordings here! Indeed, the VHF seems the main communication channel with the frequencies allocated to local enterprises and cruisers calling up as required to book meals, travel, moorings etc. Channel 26 is particularly active. We listened to it most of the time (Channel 16 is still the guard channel) and got a really good impression of what is going on. It also had very many moments; including vet visits, who was bringing how many dog boxes of what sizes, who was organizing a beach BBQ and where, and who was suffering the next day!
We stayed around town for a few days. Helen was still not 100% so we went to the pharmacy (which also has a resident doctor). Almost before Helen spoke the pharmacist was already walking towards a shelf. Helen explained here problem (persistent diarrhea) and the pharmacist picked up a packet of Loperamide. This is what the doctor in Pangea hospital had prescribed. The shelf was literally full of these packets, so we bought two. Helen’s problem must be pretty common!
One day Paul decided to walk up the hill close to town (Mount Talau, clearly visible as a flat topped hill with a comms aerial). Well, there must be good views, and the hill was … there. So, a walk through town, then a few country roads, then tracks, then a steep path that got steeper. The steeper parts did have a rope to assist. However, this was very frayed in places and tied to small trees; not something to entrust your life to, but a useful support. The top was tree covered, but there were paths leading off to view points. These were literally at the edge of the small plateau; the trees clear, there is a rock, stand on the rock, that is the viewpoint. And what an impressive view the viewpoints gave! 4 of them covered West through South to East including the town. The views could only be described as absolutely beautiful. The colours of the sea ranged from pale turquoise to deep blues depending on depth. Reefs were fringed in white. The land was a variety of green with occasional brown dirt road. And the sky was blue with white or light grey clouds. The views encompassed most of Vava’u with the many reefs, shoals and small islets, clearly visible to the South. Paul insists the walk was well worth it; Helen might not agree!
Our mooring was to the South side of town, and seemed to be near where the bands were practicing for the Kings Birthday parade. They were quite good and it was nice being serenaded by a variety of marches and other tunes. Admittedly after 8 hours or so it did get a little wearing, but not bad at all. We assume there was more than one band practicing, or the one band had amazing stamina!
Our social life continued. One afternoon we ended up with Bruce and Christine (Freebird II) and John and Michelle (Connandale) on board for impromptu afternoon drinks and nibbles. Apparently their dinghies wove their way back after midnight; good chat and company!
So after a good break at a secure mooring we paid our mooring rent, dumped rubbish (T$2 per bag, recyclables free) and went to explore the Vava’u group.