( May 2023)
Tuvalu is a tiny atoll nation consisting of 9 atolls where 12,000 people reside. Along with the Marshall Islands, it is one of the least visited countries in the world but it is grave danger of disappearing under the sea due to global warming. There is a massive project underway to reclaim land in the Funafuti lagoon where they are making the main island higher and where eventually everything and everyone will be moved to. In the worst case scenario, New Zealand has agreed to take all Tuvaluans which is great, but it really would be a shame to lose this little country and it’s wonderful people and culture. They are another peaceful, happy and gentle community.
Having arrived last night after a 12.5 day sail, the morning of the 2nd was a leisurely one before we went ashore to find Customs and Immigration. Fongafale island ( the main island) in Funafuti atoll is gorgeous! It is lush and green with tarmaced roads and it’s inhabitants are smiley and super friendly. After some confusion as to where/who we should report to first (and being wrongly informed) and moving Imagination 2km up the coast, we were cleared in with relative ease and efficiency. There is a 2km distance between Customs and Immigration and we decided to walk it to get some exercise which, after a long time onboard, felt good. We were not so unusual here as there are several other white people about and it felt nice not to be so conspicuous but we still got lots of waves, smiles and “hello’s” as we walked, particularly from children.
On the 3rd, we had errands to run and spent an hour or so locating a welder who was located on the other side of the runway. The airport is open and the runway used as a road, football pitch and the locals sleep there when it’s particularly hot as it has a breeze running along it. There are 3 flights a week from Fiji and everyone knows when they are due and there are also some smaller flights coming and going too. We sorted out SIM cards and visited the Tourist Office where we were told that the following day there was going to be a market with people coming from other islands to sell local produce and goods and that there would be local food available and so, having taken a part to the welder the following day, we went along to see what was happening after a lamb curry lunch and a drink at a nearby bar. We had a really lovely few hours amongst the various stalls and locals enjoying time together and there was a fabulous live band playing ( Tropical Breeze Band) and even some traditional dancing. We enjoyed it so much, that after going back to Imagination to float with a couple of beers to cool down, we returned in the evening for more music, dancing and food.
Friday the 5th, we decided to move to the South end of the atoll for a change of scenery, and we weren’t disappointed. Small islands, beautiful turquoise water and peace and quiet. We all went for a snorkel and saw the biggest Butterflyfish, a bright yellow and black spotted juvenile boxfish and many young Napoleon Wrasse. The following day was filled with experimenting with Shawn’s drone, snorkelling and relaxing on board and on Sunday we moved up to another Motu where there was an extensive area of very healthy coral of different varieties which is amongst the best and healthiest Shawn has ever seen anywhere. On Monday the 8th, we moved back to the original anchorage so that we could get ready for the arrival of our additional crew member who flew in from Fiji late morning on Tuesday the 9th. Olga is a friend of Chistines who travels solo extensively, skiing, diving and hiking despite her advancing years…..fabulous! On the 10th, they both went on an excursion across the atoll to a Marine Park and had a lovely day on some sandy islands, although they reported that the coral is mostly dead. Shawn spent a couple of hours in the Port engine room checking and changing engine mounts before he and Ally went ashore for a while for lunch before spending some time in the water. Thursday 11th, Ally and Shawn spent much of the day going backwards and forwards to fill up the diesel with 8 jerry cans. The filling station staff went above and beyond to help us out, transporting us and the full tanks to the jetty either in a truck or on mutliple motorbikes! The main form of transport here is motorcycle with folks of all ages using them….babes in arms, toddlers, friends and family and even slaughtered pigs all travel on them. Late afternoon, we all had the task of provisioning for the next few weeks before Christine and Olga ate ashore for dinner.
On Friday, we headed back down South so that Olga could enjoy the area and she and Christine took the 2nd dinghy to go and visit a tiny community of 15 families on one of the small islands – they were very warmly welcomed and they had a lovely time talking to them and learning about their way of life. We all enjoyed some snorkelling and had plenty of time to relax on board. On Monday morning (15th), we went back to Fungafale to clear out with Customs and Immigration so that we could leave the following day, but found out it was a Public Holiday and so all offices were closed. It was an exceedingly hot day with very little breeze and so it was wonderful to spend time in the warm water off the back of the boat late afternoon. We were all up early the next morning to go ashore to do the formalities and apart from having to wait a little while for the officials to turn up, all was simple, straightforward and quick. The anchor was up by 12.50 and apart from a short delay when we realised we hadn’t sent off the pre-arrival form for Tonga and had to stop and loiter to sort it out before we lost internet, we were through the pass at 14.25 with very light wind, sunshine with some cloud and calm seas.
The following 7 days and 4 hours were in stark contrast to the previous couple of sails we had done. There was lots of sunshine, little wind and calm waters and we had to use a engine for much of the time, but it was very pleasant and comfortable. Things changed on the penultimate day, when we had stronger winds, heavy cloud, rain and a massive shift in the wind direction which was not in our favour and added an extra 8 hours onto our trip. Arriving in Vava’u, Tonga was very exciting for us as the topography is much more interesting than the flat atolls we have been visiting over the last 5 months. The Vava’u Island Group consists of many islands in close proximity and we wound our way through to the Port of Refuge, Neiafu, Vava’u to take up a mooring at 16.50 ( 17.50 local time) on the 23rd May. The evening tropical sounds were fabulous and before dusk, the huge fruit bats took to flight – they are a sight to see as they swoop around, landing and swinging in plain view upside down in the trees.
By 08.40 the following morning, we were alongside the dock as is the requirement here for checking in with the authorities. We didn’t have to wait too long before the Customs officer, who also did Immigration, came to us with a pile of forms to be completed and he was quickly followed by a guy from Quaratine who took our garbage away to be incinerated, and lastly we were visited by an officer from the Ministry of Health/Environmental Health who issued the final clearance. All 3 were friendly, cheerful and helpful. Once we had taken down our yellow quarantine flag ( which should be flown below the country courtesy flag on entering a country signalling request for clearance), we were able to walk to the main town area to get local currency, SIM cards and some fresh fruit and veg before moving back out onto a mooring. We all went back ashore for some lunch, further exploration and provisioning and returned again later for dinner. Olga and Christine decided to go to an Italian restaurant as they wanted lobster and Shawn and Ally ate at The Kraken, a great restaurant on the waterfront. We sat with crew from another cat that we had met earlier in the day, along with several others and had a great evening together.
At just after 07.30 on the 24th, Christine, Ally and Shawn met up with Andy, Luke and Mia ( who we sat with for dinner last night) and went for a walk to the top of Mount Talau. The day was a little overcast which was ideal and the walk wasn’t very taxing other than the 180 very steep steps to the top and the views from the top looking over the numerous islands were wonderful. Afterwards, we wanted to buy some gasoline, so took jerry cans ashore and asked a Customs officer sitting in a vehicle for directions to the filling station. It wasn’t too far away, but he offered to drop us there anyway and we then got a taxi back to the dock with a driver who was also a Minister. The Tongan people are just wonderful, but there are also a lot of Chinese residents that own most of the bigger ( although they are still very small by our standards) supermarkets. Whilst browsing in one such shop, there were two boxes of bottles of wine precariously stacked on top of one another and Ally just managed to catch one and send it falling to the floor. Only one bottle broke thankfully and in most other stores, the staff are gracious and quick to accept an apology but on this occasion Ally was made to feel really bad and uncomfortable so we paid 30 Tongan Pa’anga for the wine and left without purchasing anything else!
Late morning, we moved to another area for a couple of hours. After the heat of Tuvalu, Tonga feels much cooler ( 27 degrees C) and the water is much cooler too but we all snorkelled and saw a couple of different species of anenomefish and bright blue starfish before moving to a lovely anchorage off of a beach by late afternoon. The 26th was a very wet and cloudy day and the temperature went down to 24 degrees C. Shawn went snorkelling for a while in the morning before getting stuck into electrical troubleshooting and then he and Ally spent the rest of the day stripping down the generator to try and find why it wouldn’t run, having worked perfectly the previous day. Olga and Christine spent the day inside watching movies etc. Thankfully, the next day was much brighter again and so we all got in the dinghy to visit and snorkel in the “Swallows Caves”. The colours in the rock were wonderful ( if you ignore the graffiti) and there were hundreds of fish in there. They looked like the top of their heads were bright orange, but when we looked more closely we found that it was actually another creature , either a parasite or something in a symbiotic relationship with the fish. Over the next few days we enjoyed another couple of peaceful areas where time was spent relaxing, swimming, snorkelling and exploring. We even had an afternoon BBQ on a tiny little beach with an obligatory game of boules/patonque/bocce/whatever you want to call it. We were back in Neiafu by late afternoon on Tuesday 30th. We had to go back there to top up our provisions once again to check out with Customs to get permission to move on to the next Island group. Our final evening in Vava’u was spent back at The Kraken for another great meal.
Love it to explore these countries with you.