Tonga

The past two weeks in Tonga have drastically exceeded our expectations. From Niue, we sailed to the Vava'u Island Group of Tonga. The island chain consists of 50 islands, of which 13 are inhabited by a population of about 16,000 people.

We checked into the main village in the islands, Neiafu. The village is small, and the few restaurants, markets, and churches are within walking distance of the anchorage. For such a small population, the schools are the center of the community. Each school wears a different color of uniform. Most schools are sponsored by a religious group. The best school is considered to be the Mormon school. Tuition is 700 Tongan a year (~$350 US). If the child receives good grades, the school reimburses the tuition. The reimbursement is sponsored by the Morman church. Even though children are not Morman, they work to learn the Morman principals.

After customs, immigraton, and checking our email, we ventured out into the island group to explore the more remote islands of Tonga. We anchored off the island of Vakaeitu, whose only inhabitats are the family of Hika and David and their 11 children. Hika and her family invited us to the beach for a pig roast the following evening. In exchange for dinner, the boat made a donation to the family and left them with pipecleaners, plastic beads, a soccer ball, herb seeds, popcorn and reused jars so that Hika could keep her sugar and flour dry. The pig that they brought to the beach had been dead about 10 minutes. They proceeded to singe and scrape the hair off of the 6 month old little piggie. Then a 9 year old boy grabbed all of the guts out of the stomach in two large handfuls, saving the edible guts to toast like a marshmallow. We took turns turning the pig on the spit and drinking coconuts with the children. While we ate on the beach, the family took turns signing Tongan songs and a few rounds of “The more we get together the happier we'll be.” Getting to know Hika and her family was a pleasure. Years ago, Hika gave her two oldest children, both daughters to her sister, who only had sons. Recently, she has given her youngest child (1 ½ years old) to her best friend who works as a red cross liason. For a family that had very little, Hika and her family were overly generous in their sharing for food and culture. The evening was very special to the crew of Nexus, Kiapa & ViVo.

The anchorage was beautiful and in close proximity to a snorkel location called the Coral Gardens. Snorkeling through the coral was breathtaking. There were corals in all shapes and sizes of every color, including neon blue and bright yellow. This snorkel spot is only accessible for an hour either side of high tide as you must swim through the breakers over the reef.

In transit, we stopped at Mariner's Cave, named for William Mariner. It took Lauren a while to gather the courage to make the dive, but after a little coaxing, everyone made it into the cave. Mariner's Cave was named for William Mariner who was a cabin boy on the Port-au-Price that came to Tonga in 1805. The native Tongans massacred the sailors of the ship, but the king adopted 14 year old Mariner and taught him the language and culture of Tonga. Mariner was shown this cave, hidden below the waters surface, by the king. Four years later, the king died and Mariner was permitted to leave on a passing ship. Mariner's account was documented in the book “An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands.

”

Swallows Cave was another cave we visited, but by dingy rather than diving. The cave was huge and had an area at the top that was open to light. Swallows cave is covered in graffiti, some dating back to 1886.

Brian and Russ befriended an owner of a gunboat when Nexus checked into Tonga. They were pretty excited when the owner asked them to take the boat out for a spin. Laurie and Lauren used their free time to attend a Sunday service at the Church of Tonga. It was quite an experience as the congregation took turns speaking in tongues while other members sang.

After our week or so of exploration, we retreated back to the main village to meet up with the rest of the ARC boats. The ARC put on a great rendezvous event, complete with kava, leis, dancing, singing, and a traditional Tongan meal. Nexus was awarded the second place award in the multihull division for the previous leg of sailing.

We have recently arrived in Fiji and are looking forward to exploring another beautiful set of islands.