The Kingdom of Tonga

2nd October 2007

After a perfect two day sail from Apia in Western Samoa with 15-20 knots on our beam, we arrived at the small Tongan island of Niuatoputapu or New Potatoes as the cruisers refer to it. We’d heard that we should keep our eyes out for hump back whales at this time of year and just as we were coming up to the pass in the reef we spotted a pod off our starboard bow! There were two adults that appeared to be playing on the surface, they’d lift their tails high into the air and then smack them against the water. Now and again one of them would jump right out of the water and fall back down on its side splashing water twenty feet into the air. An awesome sight so we switched off the engine and let ourselves drift towards them to get a closer look without scaring them off. As we edged closer and closer we started to realize the enormity of their bodies, over twice the size of the boat, and realized what kind of damage they could do to us if they decided to use us as a play toy. We started the engine and gradually moved off towards the anchorage and a safer distance...An awesome sight!!

The pass in the reef was long and thin but with the use of our computerized charts and well trained eyes we managed to maneuver safely through and drop our anchor in the crystal clear waters of the lagoon. We had to wait on board for the officials to come to the small dock and then Jimmy ran ashore in the dingy to pick them up. They were laid back and happy and seemed to be more interested in whether or not we had cigarettes on board to sell them than doing official business! We found out later that the supply ship hadn’t come from the main Tongan islands for a few months and the whole island was out of cigarettes and so they were treated like gold. Our friends on Helen Kate who are both smokers had a really hard time going ashore without being mobbed by a group of nicotine deprived locals! We also heard from a local lady that they had no flour, sugar and salt but that was far less important than cigarettes!!

To complete our check in we had to go ashore and ride in their truck to the main town three miles away to exchange money and pay our fees. The deal did not include a ride back however and so we were left to find our own way along the gravel tracks and over grown paths. From what we’d seen already Niuatoputpu seemed to be the poorest place we’d been to in the Pacific. The locals have to be fully self sufficient, keeping their own Pigs, chickens and horses and fishing everyday. They live in small huts often containing ten to fifteen members of their family in a kind of compound.
The women dry long pieces of a local type of grass to sell for weaving on other islands allowing them to make a small income or do the weaving themselves to sell as mats to tourists. They are extremely friendly people and on many occasions we were invited to their houses for meals consisting of anything from roast piglets, crabs, even horse meat and a variety of locally grown vegetables.

The popular drink is coconut milk which they also use a lot in cooking. On Sundays one family invited all the cruisers to a Motu (Small Island) for a feast on the beach where they provide the main meal and the cruisers each bring a dessert. That’s the kind of feast everyone likes as cruisers are so creative with chocolate brownies, peach crumbles and fudge pudding to name a few!!

One night we were invited to drink Kava with some of the local community, it’s a drink made from a root which is ground up and mixed with water. It is traditionally only the men allowed to join in but because we weren’t from the island they made an exception. Everyone sits in small groups in a circle around the kava bowl and is poured half a coconut shell of Kava and have to drink it down in one go. It looks like muddy water and doesn’t taste much better. If you drink enough it’s supposed to have a hypnotic affect but all we could taste was a peppery flavor that made our mouths tingle. The men would drink a few cup and then break into a chorus of singing which was very overpowering and beautiful, we felt really lucky to be there. Jimmy was very impressed with the Kava and is now keen to buy some for the boat!

After a great week of snorkeling, fishing and BBQ’s on the beach the weather turned bad as storm passed over us and we were hit with heavy wind and rains. At 7 am one morning friends called us to look outside as another sail boat had fouled its anchor and was dragging down on top of us. I hardly had time to put down the radio when we heard the smash as it hit us full on the bow. Their yacht was lying sideways across our bow with its rudder caught on our anchor chain and no one awake on board.
We battled the heavy rain and winds and managed to wake them up and after half an hour of fighting we were able to break them free and move off to safety. Luckily no one was hurt and both boats came out with just bumps and scratches but no serious damage. Later we were to hear ,however, that the same boat went up onto the reef in Fiji loosing its keel and unable to carry on with the crossing. These things happen when sailing and you just have to pray that everyone comes away safely. In countries like these there are very little medical facilities which is why we have to carry full medical supplies on board and be prepared for any emergency.

Once the weather cleared we prepared the boat to head south to the Vava’u Group, the northern group of Tongan islands. We spent a couple of weeks there exploring the islands and meeting back up with a lot of friends that we hadn’t seen since the Society Islands. The Vava’u group is a great place to cruise in protected waters but we were limited to a small amount of time before we had to move on to Fiji.