We decided to leave Pangaimotu as soon as Tamsin and Paul arrived. Big Mama who runs the bar organised a highly efficient pickup. They arrived from Sidney at about 11.30pm were picked up by taxi and driven to the jetty on the mainland, about 20 minutes, and then taken by motorboat directly to our boat at anchor off the resort. They arrived just after midnight and were probably a bit surprised to be told that we would be sailing at dawn for the Ha'apais. The reason was that if we left at first light, 5 am, we would be able to arrive at the Ha'apais by the evening. We motored out of the lagoon and headed north. They were sound asleep. Soon we were under sail and shooting along at about 8 knots under full sail. So their first experience of the Pacific was fast and bumpy. We arrived at Nomuka Iki by about 2pm rather than our calculated arrival time of about 5pm. We stopped here for the night. The island was a stopping off place for Captains Cook, Bligh and Tasman. The northerly island has a small village whilst the southerly island which we anchored off has a distinctive wreck and the ruins of a prison.

From Nomuka it was a pleasant day sail to Haafeva. An attractive island where we stayed a few days. Ha'afeva has anchorages to the south and west which made it especially attractive for the poor weather we were expecting. We had moved north quickly to avoid the remnants of the storms which had caused massive flooding in Australia. Although we weren't expecting such strong winds we were expecting the wind to move from every direction.

The island has 100 inhabitants and four churches, mormon, catholic, church of tonga and methodist. Naturally they are the largest buildings. The islanders grow some food and have some pigs and chickens. The village had mains electricity and even a couple of street lights. There are lots of reefs there and we were able to have some good snorkeling. There is another smaller wreck on the ubiquitous reefs which surround the area.

The islands are quite remarkable in that they are almost all low level, typically just a few feet above sea level. Tiny islands almost adrift in a vast ocean but set against one island with a perfect volcanic cone acting as a reminder of the origins of all these islands.

We stayed at Ha'afeva until the thunderstorms passed and then sailed north again with Tamsin and Paul. This time we sailed through the night to the V'avua group - or rather I should say motored as there was not a breath of wind.

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