Photo: Well deserved swim in fresh water spring
Our sail from Vava'u to Niuatoputapu followed the pattern for our other passages, 20 - 25 knot winds and messy seas, who said passage making was relaxing!!!! Niuatoputapu is the northern most of the Tongan islands and was badly affected by a tsunami on 30th Sept 2009. The earth quake occurred at 07:00 followed by the tsunami wave at 7:16, the locals did not have much time to get to higher ground, 9 locals lost their lives. All the yachts in the ICA fleet assisted the aid effort by transporting aid from Vava'u for the islanders and in addition made their own donations. We were the first yacht visitors they have seen in the 9mths since the tsunami. We arrived in Niuatoputapu on Sunday. Tongans are very religious and nothing is done on a Sunday yet the locals had baked bread for us all, two loaves per yacht, as an arrival gift, although we all made a donation for the bread. This was clearly the start of a very humbling experience for us all.
On Monday we met the local government official and nurse on the wharf to hand over the aid packages we transported. We were then taken by truck to the middle village of the island for a quick look and then walked the 3km back to the wharf looking at the damage caused by the tsunami and the rebuilding efforts taking place. Monday night there was a welcome feast for us from the villages, what a humbling experience. We were picked up from the wharf and taken by truck to the local high school were the locals had prepared an evening of entertainment and traditional Tongan food for us. We were welcomed by the government official, all given flower garlands and then a lady from the Womens Committee was the MC. The women of the island are the main revenue earners with their local crafts, weaving and shell crafts. The men do some fishing and there is some cropping, but it is the women who provide the income. The Womens Committee, formed in 2006, is aiming to build a Womens Centre, to assist in developing the women's skills. There were demonstrations of how the plants are cut, trimmed, bleached and turned into the material for weaving. Dinner was served on plates made from the banana plant, local food and sea food which were delicious. The locals did not partake in the food, which was a strange experience. Following dinner, the local school boys performed a 'war dance' and a young girl performed a local dance. One of the strangest feelings was that the locals were thanking us for coming to their island, not so much for the aid. It seemed as if we should have been the ones doing the thanking for having us during the rebuilding phase of shattered lives and villages. It is clear that the island is looking to attract other yachts and hope we will all spread the word. I am sure we will. At the conclusion of the evening, we were all taken back to the wharf in the trucks; everyone was very humbled by the generosity and warmth shown by the locals. They would be the kindest and warmest people we have encountered in Tonga, yet clearly the poorest also.
Tuesday's radio sched started with a discussion amongst the yachts as to what else we think we can do to assist these people. Some ideas surfaced for later in the week. At 10:00 we again assembled at the wharf for a 2.5 hour tramp up the local hill with the promise of a swim in a fresh water hole at the end. The tramp turned into a 5 hour mountain climbing, abseiling, sometime gradual hill hike with spectacular views of the island and the lagoon, but there were a few injuries. The worst of which was quite bad rope burns from one of the early abseils which meant Lyn had to make the remainder of the trip, a good couple of hours, with very little use of her hands. At the end of the tramp, we all enjoyed the swim in the fresh water hole and John organized a truck to pick us up to get us back to the boats. We were keen to get Lyn's hands cleaned and dressed.
Wednesday was a gentle stroll to the beach on the southern side of the island, apart from 7 hardy souls who took the opportunity to walk up to the top of the volcano. Beachcombing was limited as the beach is no longer the sandy beach Lyn and John remember from their last trip, it is now mostly broken coral and very few shells. In the afternoon we had a pot luck BBQ on 'Anna's Island', by the outer reef of the lagoon with the locals. Talking to them, the island used to be densely wooded with palm trees and you could not see through to the other side (the island is only small), now the other side is clearly visible and the devastation is obvious. Broken coral litters the shore line, although you can see where the sea has already started to break it down to sand. Apparently the island was completely underwater when the tsunami hit.
Thursday was preparation day for leaving on Friday morning for Fiji. We have enjoyed the isolation of Niuatoputapu; it has been the least westernised of all the islands we have visited to date. The people have been friendly and very welcoming, but it is time to move on.
Friday morning at 09:30 we upped anchor and headed out through the reef, next stop SavuSavu, Fiji. The trip took us 3 days and 2 nights with everything from beautiful down wind sailing with a poled out wing on wing sailing, 20 -35 knots winds with heavy rain for 6 hours and a great final day sailing with the gennaker up. We were the first yacht in the fleet to arrive, even beat the catamarans. Brian is going to write a small update whilst we are in SavuSavu about how Dol has been going.