Category Archives: South Pacific

Exploring Point Maurell and Banana Frenzy

Posted on by
2

Over the last few days we have made banana-papaya-yogurt smoothies and banana-peanut butter smoothies for breakfast with the early ripening bananas. Today all the bananas are finally fully ripe and it is time for the banana fest to begin. Christi and Adrienne made banana-pineapple pancakes for breakfast. They baked a batch of papaya-banana-pineapple muffins and a large pan of banana chocolate chip cookie bars.

Unfortunately, it is yet another day of gray skies, cool temperatures and strong winds. The only days we have had good weather were the day we arrived and the three days Christi was in SCUBA class. While we have been eager to visit the anchorages around the Vava’u island group, we haven’t wanted to leave the highly protected mooring in Neiafu harbor to go to a more exposed anchorage. We were told Point Maurell was one of the most protected anchorages and that we wouldn’t be blown around there, so we took a break from cooking and moved to Point Maurell for a change of scenery. Point Maurell is near Neiafu harbor, so it was a short ride and we didn’t get blown too badly in the 25 knot winds. Here are the views from the front and back of Kosmos. Don’t ask why Adrienne was hanging out in the dingy. Continue reading →

A Real Tongan Feast

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday, continued After showers and a short nap, we were off again for a Tongan feast. This time we booked a reputable feast through a booking agent and we were hoping this one was better than the last one at Alofi’s. We were told that feast quality varies from location to location as families put on these feasts. The one we went to is put in every Saturday night and we were told it was good. It was still raining, cold and gloomy.

We needed to stop at the ATM for cash before getting in the taxi to Ano Bay. In the few minutes that it took to go to the ATM, we were soaked all the way through. In the cab, we asked if the feast was indoors. The driver told us no. This was looking like it could be a wet night. Continue reading →

Swimming with the Humpback Whales in Tonga

Posted on by
2

Today we woke up to gray skies. The weather forecast was for 11 foot seas at 8 second intervals and 25 knots of wind. We were supposed to go whale watching and we were wondering if it was such a good plan. We had been told that the whales head out of Vava’u when the weather is bad, returning when it is better. We also have been told the whales leave during the full moon.

Tonga and Niue both are visited every winter by humpback whales that come here to mate and bear their young. Both countries allow you to swim with the whales when you go with a licensed professional whale watch company. Both Niue and Tonga strictly prohibit boaters from chasing after the whales themselves. In Niue it is easy to control the boaters since there are so few visitors, but much harder here in Tonga. Since we haven’t had any luck seeing whales on our own, we decided to go out with the professionals. We would have done it in Niue, but they weren’t seeing any whales while we were there.

Our whale watch boat picked us up from Kosmos. We headed through the maze of islands towards the sea. Here we are leaving Neiafu harbor. You can see all the big commercial buildings along the waterfront in the background.

imgp1346-large.JPG

Continue reading →

Kart Tour of Vava’u Island

Posted on by
Reply

Today we went on a kart tour around the island. The karts look almost like dune buggies and are fun to drive.

imgp1246-large.JPG

We drove for quite a ways along paved roads, getting a good look at some of the villages around the island. The towns we passed through consisted of a shop or two, a large church or two or three, several homes, some large, most small, most needing work. Most of the land along the road was cleared, with little wild vegetation. Continue reading →

Tonga Chores, Visitors and Jinxes

Posted on by
5

Eric spent the entire day yesterday doing boat chores. He changed the pre-filter on the water maker and cleaned the sea strainer, and changed the generator impellor. He also did some good stuff like secure the toaster oven and dish drainer so they don’t go flying when we get hit by a side wave, re-running wires so we could move some of the computer gear to better locations, general reorganizing, and cleaning.

Yesterday was the last day of SCUBA class for Christi. She took her final exam and did three dives in other parts of the harbor. The other dive sites had more life than the site on Tuesday, but were still mostly dead. There were lots more of both starfish and a couple of sea anenomoies. Christi passed the class with flying colors. After three days of being in the sun with her mask on, she has stylish mask tan lines. Continue reading →