Tap Tap Tap go the sticks on the stone floor

Sunday morning I awoke early as normal 5:30 AM and decided to get ready for church (which on Sunday is at 7 AM, every other day it is at 5 AM).  I quickly had some granola and shaved.  I got Bill to drop me off at the boat ramp and was on my way to town at 6 AM.  I walked up over the hill and down to the main road (about a quarter or half mile).  I likely walked another quarter mile or longer before hitching a ride into town.  The couple had 7 children, a young girl and baby in the front seat with the parents, an older girl in the back seat with me and 2 boys in the box of the truck. 2 children were not in the vehicle.  I got to the main church in town at 6:28. At 6:30 the bells began to peel. There were already a few people inside so in I went.  at 6:40 a fellow arrived and sat 1 row up from me and across the aisle.  He had a 12 string guitar which he proceeded to tune.  He then started to play (practising his songs for he morning) and singing along with the most melodious voice. A real treat to listen to him quietly singing.  In Jimmy Cornell's guide it tells that the people of Wallis are some of the best singers around.  I knew I was in for a treat once I heard this fellow warming up.  At 6:45 the bells rang again.  The seats around this fellow were starting to fill up and he was busy passing sheets of words out to the choir. The seats of the church were starting to fill as were the ones around and next to me. A middle aged lady arrived and sat 1 row in front of the fellow with the guitar and also started to warm up her voice.  What an incredible sound.  The church is made of bricks cut out of lava and there are some bricks cut out of coral as well.  Stayed tuned and I will post a picture of the church and the bricks in a later blog when I have an internet connection. The floor under the pews is concrete but the hall ways and the area around raised area at the front (perhaps it is called the dais.  The alter boys and men of clergy all came out - 15 perhaps more of them -dressed in white robes.  6 or 8 fellows came in carrying long staffs with a carved cross on top and carving the first foot or 2 from the top.  The staffs were 7 or 8 feet long with a spiral groove carved into the rest of the staff. They surrounded the raised area at the front and 2 were in the corners of the church at the front.  Suddenly the fellow at the front of the church banged his staff on the stone floor 3 or 4 times.  The bells started to ring and the priest entered.  There was a short prayer or welcome in Wallisian and the choir began to sing. The most glorious sound burst forth from the mainly female choir with 3 men.  A real treat to the ears.  As the service progressed I would watch the lips of the fellow with the guitar and was able to add a bit of bass to the most melodious sound as the choir and a few of the congregation sang.  At some point the priest would sing a phrase and the congregation would repeat it.  During the 14 minute sermon or address from the priest I was able to understand 3 words that he repeated several times Papua New Guinea...  Once the offering was taken once again TAP TAP TAP goes the staff on the stone floor.  Several of the others with staffs had obviously moved to the back of the church (which had 250 to 300 people in it) and suddenly they all started tapping their staffs on the stone floor.  The fellow in front of me had tapped the floor several times during the service.  Following the offering communion was served.  At the end of the 1 hour 20 minute service I went and went over to the fellow with the guitar and said "Excuse-Moi". I then asked if he understood English.  He replied no so I told him the music was very nice and thanked him very much in French.  I turned to go and he extended his hand and I shook it.
I quickly walked the quarter mile to the highway where I would need to try catch a ride so as to arrive before all the church goers had left.  I was picked up by 3 ladies and one had lived in Australia for 6 months and could speak pretty decent English.  I asked her why they tapped the sticks on the floor and after asking and going saying tap tap tap she finally got what I was asking and said "It's to let people know to stand up".

Goodbye Vava'u,Farewell Tonga- I'll Be Baaack!

It is with mixed feelings that I leave Tonga and Vava'u Islands.  We left our anchorage about 1 PM on July 12 and had incredible sights to see on our way out.  First we observed Late which is a volcanic island in the distance.  Then I spotted whales dead ahead. These whales seemed to be just on the surface enjoying life.  At one point they were likely 100 metres(maybe more) away and they seemed to be just floating there.  I watched as they slowly disappeared behind us with several whales blowing at the same time.  We then saw some more whales ahead. What an incredible sight.
As I watched Vava'u disappear in the distance I could only think (in the words of Arnold Schwartzeneger) "I'll be baaack"  I need to share this incredible spot with my family.
I will fill in the missing parts of the trip in Vava'u in future blogs so please come back to read and see the pictures of this glorious spot.
We have been underway for over 2 days now. Shortly after leaving we realized that No Regrets as usual was going too fast and we would get there before we wanted to.  We immediately put a reef in the main(reduced the amount of main sail we had up) to slow down. By supper time we put a 2nd reef in the main and reduced the size of the jibe.
We have now decided to change our destination to the Wallis Island group and not go to Tokelau as originally planned.  We have taken down the main sail completely and the jib is partly furled up.  At this moment the wind is 26 to 28 knots and we are going 9 knots.  The waves are getting big and the boat for the most part is level.  I just hopped up and we reduced the jibe a bit more. Now we are going 7 to 8 knots.
Many of you can stop reading now as I think that I am about to start to philosophy.  As I said in my first sentence it is with mixed feelings that I leave Tonga.  Do we know what we want out of life?  Are there dreams - deep down dreams- that you still have unfulfilled?  We need to all ask ourselves these questions and be truly honest with ourselves. As I travel across this vast Pacific ocean one has to wonder about many things, about many places, and about many thoughts.  With all this in mind I will let you get lost in your thoughts, your dreams and your life.

The Humpback whales beckon

We awoke this morning to the sound of whales. The sun was not up yet but there was enough light to see. The whales were about 1/3 of a mile away and were obviously talking to each other. I saw them blow twice and surface 3 times. On one occasion I saw the fluke of a whales tail. It was an incredible sight. Even more exciting  was the fact we were seeing them in the wild without a tour guide taking us to see them. It certainly made my week. It was very tempting to hop in the dingy and follow them as they disappeared behind the island but you are not supposed to approach them.  You are also not to get too close to them.  The humpback whales come here every year to the warmer waters from the polar waters to have their young and because there are lots of krill for them to eat here. As I waited for the whales to appear I watched the rays (about 1 foot across)swim over our anchor and anchor chain. 

As there was very little wind we decided to take the old screecher down and put the new one up. Once we were done we had to try the new sail out. It worked wonderfully. We moved to a new anchorage on Nuku Island that has a great sand beach and the snorkelling was great along the reef. We later went and visited a deep cave

that we could dingy right into. It had a hole in the top.

On our way back to No Regrets we stopped & visited with Chapter 2 and Tahawus and we were invited for happy hour.  We spent a few hours on the beach. I learned a new technique in the art of building sand castles. It is called drizzling the sand

Here with 2 different colours of sand the effect is quite dramatic. 

 Zeke made brownies and we motored over to Port Maurelle for Happy hour. We caught up on all of their adventures since we last saw them and when we were done we moved to Neiafu and took our favourite mooring ball near Kjell's place. 

If you go to 

Zekethesailor.net

And go to the bottom of the post you will see the faint picture of the whale. 

Tapana and Fetoko Islands

Our next stop Tapana Island. We took a mooring ball the belonged to the Ark Gallery

which is a floating art gallery run by an artist from Oregon who has spent 35 years here. The next day I walked into Neiafu for supplies. On my return I trucked up a steep bank where the cliff has abated a bit and across a large tall grass (grass as tall as I was) field to join Zeke and Bill at an archeological site

where the Tongans had cut coral slabs from the beach. The next day we took the dingy into town and brought back this huge box

with our screecher and the box with the hydraulic pump for our auto pilot.  That afternoon we headed off for Fetoko Island. I was at the helm negotiating a tricky pass between the coral and Zeke announced there were

Manta Rays to starboard side. These Rays were about 8 feet across. I was asked to circle back 4 times for great pictures and videos. When we got to Fetoko Island and attempted to anchor we did fine. I got the snorkel and fins out to insure that the anchor was well set & it was sitting on top of the rock. I tried to move it over onto a sandy spot but unfortunately it was 2 inches of sand on top of the rock. We finally got the anchor set & went to shore to visit Ben who told us to check out the tree house and his 9 sided buildings that were just being constructed. The view from the tree house

was spectacular and the balconies on the 9 sided houses

were over the water. The restaurant and kitchen area was built into the side of a hill. 

Visiting the many Islands of the Vava'u group

Our first stop was Hunga Island. We were actually on a mooring ball near Fofoa Island. While stopped here we did a hike up a very steep bank and followed a trail to a better traveled trail that took us to a beach. The next day I met a fellow Canadian who had been born in Winnipeg and spend considerable time in British Columbia prior to going to Belize and then moving to Tonga. 

From here we went to Vaka'eitu island where there is a very protected anchorage. When we landed we discovered a banyan tree that a local had made a place out of 

Can you believe the size of the tree 

From here we visited a very secluded beach by hiking over to it.

While there I found a very interesting discovery. Pumice on the beach. 

Pumice 

It actually floats 

That means that there has to be a volcano spewing pumice and ash at this moment or in the not to distant past. 

Our first few days in Neiafu

Upon arrival we had to go through customs, then immigration, next health and quarantine. We were then given a tour of the town by Kjell our BPO contact who is from Norway and sailed across in a 28 foot boat as far as Indonesia and then came back to Tonga where he now owns a resort called Mystic Sands. He is married and has an almost 2 year old son. We did the shopping we needed to do and had a great tour of town and the market. 

The next day we went into town for that shower with an unlimited amount of water. Unfortunately the water was cold so we have not been back since. We invited Kjell on board for coffee as he wanted to see No Regrets. He brought his son on board and I spent the entire time chasing him around the boat making sure he did not end up in the water. Those who know me know I love kids and had a great time.

He would stick his head into the pilot house window and make some noise then climb on top of the pilot house and stick his head in the hatch & get the attention of the people inside then he climbed over the boom and stuck his head in the other hatch. Then he wanted to slide down the windows into the cockpit which I wouldn't let him do  so we would climb down off the pilot house climb into the cockpit onto the floor and then up the other side ready for the next adventure or to do the same thing all over again. His parents told me the next day that he was exhausted when he got home. I was glad to hear that because I was exhausted chasing him around. A few days later we found a bakery in town. Once we made arrangements to have the screecher and a hydraulic pump for the auto pilot delivered we were ready to leave until they arrived. 

Trip from Niue to Vava'u, Tonga

We checked the weather and also had other boats let us know that the wind was about to change direction and start to blow strong so that the anchorage at Niue would become a rolly one. The decision was made that we would head to our next destination. We left around noon with the hope to arrive in daylight the following day. The first 24 hours was a great sail. It became apparent that we would be spending a 2nd night on the water. The wind began to build and by night fall we were having a pretty bouncy ride. We had slowed down so as not to arrive in the dark and because it made it a lot smoother ride at a slower speed. We came around Vava'u north end at 5 in the morning in the dark. It was blowing 23 to 28 knots and the rough seas continued almost until we were in the channel on the way to Neiafu which is the port of entry for Vava'u. We pulled up to the dock as advised and the officials arrived and suggested we move off the dock and take a mooring ball for our safety due to the high winds and waves. Kjell, our BPO contract was there to meet us & suggested we take a mooring ball at the lee end of the bay up near his house which we did. We were all glad to be out of the wind and were even more tickled to find out we were able to connect to Kjell's internet.