GHOST

Tonga has a population of around 100,000 with 171 islands split into 4 main groups. The Vavau group is particularly well known as a mecca for yachties as the islands provide loads of anchorages all in close proximity to the main town. It is spectacularly beautiful, with great snorkelling and is also home to the humpback whales as they give birth and raise their young before heading back to the Antarctic.

We arrived in Neiafu Harbour, the main town in the Vavau group at lunchtime and after circling for half an hour, a space on the customs quay finally became available so Delos and GHOST rafted up together. Soon the first of 4 officials visited to commence check-in procedures. Apparently they don't like to leave the boat without an official on board because once the first official (customs) had finished he waited around for the next to arrive and asked for a beer. Perhaps it was because it was Friday afternoon and we were the last yachts to check in but the officials didn't seem in a hurry to leave and we soon had the health and quarantine inspectors on board drinking beers too. Finally the last inspector (for immigration) arrived, he had been delayed at the airport by a late arriving flight. All in all it took around 4 hours to do all the formalities and we got through plenty of beer! As the quay was now clear we asked if we could stay the night rather than moving out to a mooring - no problem we were told.

After a sundowner with Eric & Anne on Osso Blanco, Eric gave us a quick tour of town where there are several restaurants along the main shore, quite noticeably these are all owned by ex-pats. We had settled on dinner in the Dancing Rooster which had particularly tasty homemade pasta. Behan & Jamie from Totem arrived later for a drink and it was good to catch up as Behan and Anne told us the best anchorages to visit from the 40+ spots recommended in the moorings sailing guide to the area. After dinner Delos & Ghost headed into town to investigate a few bars, one of which featured dancing French navy men and Fakaleiti - the Polynesian culture of men raised to dress as women....

Unfortunately a container ship was arriving early so at 7am we were roused and asked to move the boats as we would be in the way of the mooring lines - groan. So after relocating to a mooring buoy we headed in to visit the excellent local market - what a treat to have a good selection after the skimpy findings across most of the Pacific, with the only exception being Tahiti. We had a good day chilling out in town and catching up on the internet and were recommended to head to the Giggling Whale restaurant that night where there was a great local band and kava circle. Drinking kava is a social tradition practiced in many pacific cultures and many people attribute a lack of crime to its soothing properties. The band was really excellent, the food pretty good and the kava much better than we had made ourselves in Niue - apparently the key is to strain it to remove the bits of bark!

The next morning we were keen to get out and explore some of the anchorages and decided to head to "Number 6" near Mala island where there was reported to be excellent snorkelling. The moorings guide reports a derelict hotel so we were surprised to be welcomed to make ourselves at home on Mala's beach and visit the bar upstairs if we wanted. Brady was straight up there and we were all soon enjoying the view and drinking a few beers. The hotel with 8 cottages had been bought in the last few months and the new owners were really friendly and said that we could use their beach for a Barbie that night - they even provided a table and chairs and joined us for a drink!

Delos headed back to town the following night but we were keen to keep exploring and make the most of our limited time here, Delos having no such need to hurry as they plan to make Tonga their home for the hurricane season. We headed out to anchorage number 30 - the most Easterly anchorage where you can see the sea crashing onto the reef and islands. Getting to number 30 is a bit tricky as you need to navigate a narrow pass through the reef. Unfortunately the reported starboard market buoys were nowhere in evidence but luckily another boat was just ahead of us being guided through by dingy so we followed behind.

It was a supremely beautiful spot, and due to a high in the weather which meant no wind, was more reminiscent of a lake. We had a good explore around yesterday, snorkelling (unfortunately no lobster bounty) and climbing all over the nearby islands to investigate blowholes. Today we're heading to anchorage number 25 where we can access the main town tonight.