There were some very strange noises coming from under the hull as Phylis was hove-to in Vaitukakau Bay. It was 6am and very dark. We were waiting for first light to show us the way into Neiafu Harbour, our first landfall after leaving the island of Niue some 48 hours earlier. Suddenly there were bubbling noises and some thumps on the hull - could it have been a whale?? We will never know. We had just completed another reasonable passage of two days with no drama to report apart from losing a day somewhere. Suddenly today became tomorrow and yesterday disappeared. Once the sun started to poke its face above the horizon we motored through the outer islands and into the bay. Hello Tonga!!
"Go to the fishermans dock and wait for the customs officials to come to you", a friendly voice said on the radio. Getting onto the dock was easy as there was a 20kt beam-on wind pushing us in sideways, getting off would be another matter. A friendly Kiwi couple on an adjacent yacht (they were clearing out) helped us in. Fortunately it was high tide and with Phylis' deck level with the dock we managed to keep her fendered off the very yacht unfriendly concrete dock. And so we waited. "They know you're here" said a passing person. All the officials insisted on coming aboard - not a problem, only the gap between Phylis and the top of the dock was getting bigger as the tide dropped. This is going to get interesting I thought. The Environmental dude hopped aboard with no problem. The customs guy, impressively decked out in the local uniform (black maxi skirt with a woven reed mat thing wrapped around his torso) appeared. He was the size of a house. He looked, he pondered and eventually took the leap. Somehow he landed without incident (need to check out those new cracks on the deck) and managed to step down and squeeze himself down our companion way. Better be quick, I thought, otherwise there would be no way he'd get back ashore. He managed, and by 12.00 noon we were all done and dusted.
The very unfriendly fisherman's dock
We were wedged into a space between the Kiwi boat and an old rusty fishing boat. By now it was gusting 25kts with a nasty little chop developing. There was no way anyone was getting off the dock without assistance. We were adjusting the fenders every 10 minutes or so to keep off the barnacle encrusted dockside. The prospect of being stranded all night having to constantly move fenders up and down began to dawn upon us. After two largely sleepless nights at sea we were beginning to feel extremely pissed off. Fortunately the Kiwi's had a mate with a tour boat, we just had to wait for him to return to port. Eventually he turned up and pulled us off the dock with little effort from his generous twin outboards. We were off and shooted across the bay to pick up a convenient mooring ball. Finally, by 4pm we had engines off and a G&T in hand.
Our own personal aquarium on our mooring ball
Phylis on her mooring ball in Neiafu Harbour and her crew ready to go explore the town
"What's Tonga like", messaged my Son. That's quite a difficult thing to answer as it all depends on what you're looking for. Without doubt it makes for a pretty glorious cruising region. If you just stay in the north amongst the Vava'u island group you can find over 40 charted anchorages lying within a myriad of islands and coves. Some are just day anchorages, some offer all round protection. On the bigger islands you'll find small villages populated by extremely friendly folk who will often offer you whatever surplus produce they have. The more enterprising villages will put on a Tongan feast. The food is reasonable, given the circumstances, and who doesn't like a freshly roasted cruiser.
The dock at Matamaka village after one of the very small boats offloaded it's 18 passengers from Neiafu
The village green, complete with volleyball court, in Nuapapu village
Dogs and pigs roam free everywhere you go
We went to a Tongan evening at the Aquarium Café complete with guitar band and dancers, the dancing is much more conservative compared to dancing and jiggling we saw in Rarotonga
The guitar band sat around the Kava bowl, indulging between each song, and yes we did try it - a sort of radish tasting liquid made from powdered root of a plant - apparently this was a weak one
The fishing here is pretty good too, especially when someone else catches it for you.
A Yellowfin Tuna kindly donated by a group on a charter boat in the anchorage at Matamaka who had caught too many fish and their freezer was already full, the fishing table and fillet knife have now been christened
It's amazing where you will find enterprising expats. While moored in Tapana Bay we heard of a Basque couple who had set up a business on the adjacent hillside. They were cruising the South Pacific some 20 years ago until they reached Tonga and went no further. Up on a hill they have built a glorious little restaurant that looks like something straight out of a Robinson Crusoe film set. With a set menu of tapas and paella we had a great evening including a bit of a live virtuoso guitar performance by the husband.
La Paella Restaurant, the paella is cooked over a wood fire
Enjoying the sunset before our tapas
The after dinner entertainment
We elected to stay in the north and day hopped around the main hotspots returning to the main town of Neiafu to reprovision. Most days would see us either exploring an island or snorkeling its fringes. It was quite a treat to finally see living coral and the abundance of associated marine life. Of course, the main thing visitors want to see here are whales. We saw a fair bit of them, either breaching right in front of us or spouting in the distance. One night I woke up to the sound of whale song coming up from the depths or was it Kym trumping in her sleep.
An unusual visitor to the mooring field in Neiafu, this sea plane landed and then took a tour round the boats before flying off again - very strange!
Finding somewhere to beach the dinghy could be quite interesting depending on the state of the tide, most of the beaches had very shallow coral in front of them making low tide arrival or departure tricky
Sunset at Matamaka with S/V Emma Louise and S/V Duende
We were very close to the reef on our mooring ball at Matamaka, but the snorkeling from the boat was great!
A spectacular coral mound at Ovalau Island was teaming with fish
Giant clam on the reef off Matamaka
Blue starfish seemed to be everywhere at Matamaka and Nuku, this was the only one we saw with 6 arms though...
There were also quite of few of this squishy pink starfish, as well as some black ones that we didn't manage to get a photo of
The reef off the village at Matamaka had quite a few of these nasty devils - Crown of Thorns Starfish - they can have up to 23 arms and devour the reef
Living coral, a treat after snorkeling in French Polynesia
Every little coral mound seemed to have its own resident fish
Lots of little brightly coloured fishies
Swimming back to the boat in Nuku we came across this monster, some kind of sea snake about 4m long and very scary looking, we didn't linger close to him for long
Someone is checking us out....
We did have make one alarming discovery. While anchoring off Nuku Island Kym suddenly shouted and stopped letting out anchor chain. I ran to the bow wondering what was amiss. She pointed at the chain and said take a look at that. Bloody hell! One of the links was nearly severed. How many times had we had that chain down relying on its integrity? The culprit, we determined, was the chain hook on the snubber line that had somehow got itself twisted on the link. We think this occurred way back in the Marquesas where we experienced some pretty strong side-on winds. We have now top and tailed the anchor chain and put a temporary soft shackle around the link.
Not what you want to see when looking at your anchor chain!
Neiafu is the hub of the northern group of islands. With a well protected harbour and over 50 mooring balls, most transiting yachts make this their first port of call. The town itself is a pretty scruffy affair but the smiles and generosity of the locals soon win you over. The island itself is in a pretty spectacular location and a quick walk up to Mount Talau reveals all its charms.
The small boat harbor in Neiafu where you can leave your dinghy if you can find somewhere to squeeze it in amongst the local boats
Neiafu main street
The view across Neiafu Harbour and to the islands beyond from the top of Mount Talau. Phylis is one of the little white dots in the middle
Provisions in the western style are limited but there is a reasonable fresh produce market. As with many other islands we've visited, you know when a cargo ship has docked as the shop shelves suddenly have good stuff on them, and boy, you'd better be quick.
'Utukalongalu Market with a wide array of fresh produce
Potatoes, cauliflower and cabbage sorted, now just to find something to go with it...
Most yacht service businesses are run by expats who collectively run a very useful daily net, so there's no excuse to miss out on any happenings. There is a pretty lively social scene going on as you can imagine with so many boats around. Even we, the very conservative crew of Phylis, have managed to make drunken prats of ourselves. But who cares really. As my mate Ron says, "you're a long time dead."
Celebrating Aron's birthday, after a few beers on Raeo we headed to the Tapas bar for a few more and a game of pool - who would have thought the Kiwi's would have their own rules for pool??
After a few more beers and some tapas the dancing began
Mick and the birthday girl
There are 171 islands in the Kingdom of Tonga and less than one quarter are inhabited; a cruiser could easily lose himself here for many years. Unfortunately for us, time is pressing. Our current plan is to leave here around the 4th August and head off to Savusavu in Fiji. It's another pesky three nighter, so no time to acclimatise; you just get very tired. We're looking forward to cruising Fiji and will be there until November when we will haul Phylis at Vuda Point Marina and stick her hull in a pit for cyclone season. We plan to return to Fiji in April of next year and take it from there.