The Havili crew �-- Sam, Nancy, Darcy and I spent much of the day on shore in
Nomuka today. We were welcomed by the head of school and all the teachers
and students at Kolisi Tupouto�'a (Tupouto�'a College) where I taught in
1980. They sang a number of school songs and a few hymns for us and
performed a couple of dances �-- �"ma�'ulu�'ulu�" by the girls and a �"ta�'olunga�"
by the boys. The students then performed a song that they will be
performing for the upcoming Wesleyan Church quarterly meeting. It was all
marvelous and very reminiscent of the songs and celebrations we performed
way back in my days here. �'Aisake, the head of school, invited us to �"kai
�'efiafi�" (dinner) at his house. We accepted this invitation with gusto and
glee and I knew we were in for an interesting time. After this, Sam, Darcy
and Nancy returned to Havili and to relocate her anchor closer to the
village. The wind was shifting to the north and we wanted a quiet harbor.
I continued to walk around town, guided by Futa Hia, the 9 year old son of
one of my students from 1980. He showed me all over the village and it was
great fun to pass the houses and yards of my former students and their
families who came out to say hello and briefly catch up. We were joined by
a number of Futa�'s young friends and we all had a fun time exploring the
village and I bought them a few crackers and snacks from the tiny �"fale
koloa�" (shops). I stopped and chatted with �'Esilai Taulafo who owns an
outrigger canoe and a couple of octopus lures. He offered to go out and
try to catch an octopus the next morning, to which I readily agreed.

Soon enough, it was time to go to dinner and we returned to �'Aisake�'s house
where his family and the students had turned out an incredible feast of
octopus, chicken, fish, yams, coconuts to drink and even a Tongan spaghetti
dish! �'Aisake and Villiami played guitar and sang as we chatted and ate
all this wonderful food. At the end of the evening, I was asked to sing
�"�'Ise�'Isa�", an old love song that nearly everyone in Tonga knows. I think
several folks had their phones recording a video of this, so there might
even be something on YT or FB by now. Yikes! We all really enjoyed this
time and returned to Havili with tummies and hearts full.

The next morning, �'Esi showed the Havili crew how to prepare the �"maka
feke�" (octopus rock), the lure that is used to catch the wary mollusk.
When finished, he and I set out in our respective craft �-- I poled a 12 foot
outrigger �-- and attempted to get the octopus to �"lele mai�" or �"run to me�"
Unfortunately, with a strong moon and a relatively late tide in the mid
morning hours, we had no luck. Nonetheless, I had an opportunity to try
again and really enjoyed the time with �'

We invited �'Esi over for dinner aboard Havili where we served grilled tuna,
rice and eggplant. He and Sam had plans to go night diving, which they
began around 9:00 PM. I awoke a couple of times while they were out on the
reef and could see an eery glow of their spotlights underwater as they
speared fish until about 1:30 AM when Sam and �'Esi returned with about 60
fish that �'Esi planned to share with family and friends and perhaps to sell
also. Sam kept a parrotfish, a grouper, a snapper and a couple of squid.
Delicious! The next morning, �'Esi returned to say goodbye and to wish us
well on the rest of our journey. He and Sam traded a Tongan pole spear for
Sam�'s diving light. Sam threw in a length of new rubber spear tubing to
round out the deal and �'Esi was positively beaming!

We finally said goodbye to all our friends on Nomuka. It was a wonderful
time to catch up with many old friends and acquaintances and to pass along
a Nomuka connection for Sam to enjoy. He plans to stop again on his way
through the island group next month.

We had some lovely sailing from Nomuka to the tiny island of Limu where we
spent one night. We walked around the island and enjoyed some really good
beach combing and shell collecting. I cast at a few trevally that were
near the shore but caught only a few small snapper. Dinner that night was
a delicious mix of all the fish that Sam and �'Esi speared. We departed
Limu the next morning with Pangai as our destination. On the way, we all
went diving on the barrier reef that protects the waters around Limu and
the nearby islands. Darcy spotted and Sam speared a lobster that easily
fed all four of us for dinner. It was delicious with garlic, butter, olive
oil, S&P served over pasta. Yum!

We checked in at customs in Pangai, Darcy and I confirmed our flights to
Nuku�'alofa the next day and then we all went for a swim off the boat. Our
flight to Pangai was straightforward and we were met at the airport by
�'Etimani Taufa, the grandson of my headmaster from 1980. In Nuku�'alofa, we
went to church, which �-- for me �-- was preceded by drinking kava with Sione,
and the ministers and stewards of the church. Darcy and Sione�'s mother,
Palu, joined us in the church and we enjoyed an hour or so of wonderful
music and the prayerful Tongan language washing over us. We joined the
Taufa family for lunch at their �'api and then returned to town for a walk
and a nap.

We are now getting packed and ready to head to the airport for the final
leg of this amazing Tongan Sojourn. There will be some photos to post at
various locations. Thanks for following us along the way! �'Ofa atu!