Tonga to Fiji( Leg 17)

( June 2023)

Early on the morning of 1^st June we cleared out with Customs for the next island group. Even though we will remain in Tonga, we had to get permission to move off to another area, as we did in Kiribati and The Marshall Islands. The only difference was that the process was extremely quick and easy with just one visit to Customs required and the paperwork completed immediately – no waiting around for days on end. We told the Customs Officer we wanted to leave at 5pm the following day and once the paperwork was done, we moved to another, prettier anchorage. The next day until 13.30 was spent snorkelling, swimming and relaxing before moving to an anchorage just on the outer edge of the island group to make our departure for Ha’apai easier after an early dinner at 17.35 and in fading daylight.

We had another sail into wind which meant some choppy seas for the mostpart and little sleep for most of us. We arrived at Pangai, Lafuka Island in the Ha’apai Island Group at 16.40 where anchoring is a little difficult as there is lots of coral around but we eventually managed to find a good spot about 500 metres offshore. The 4^th was Ally’s birthday and being a Sunday, there was no point in going ashore. In Tonga you are not allowed to work, exercise, do laundry, swim etc on a Sunday and so it was a chilled day on board which gave us time to catch up with online work / correspondance after advertising for crew ( and Ally did do some housework and laundry!! Sssh)

We all went ashore on the 5th to find Customs to clear in with them and went into the Police Station to ask for directions. The very friendly officer told us where it was, but then said most probably noone would be there as it was a public holiday. We went to look anyway just in case and it was closed but just as we were going to walk the short distance back, a guy stopped his car to ask if we were ok. We chatted for a while with him and he then went out of his way to help us out, phoning a Customs Officer who came in just for us, free of charge! We were very apologetic for intruding on her day off, but she was happy and helpful and the formalities were over with very swiftly. As soon as we got back to Imagination, we took the anchor up to head over to a gorgeous anchorage just off of a beautiful white sandy beach, arriving mid afternoon.

We went ashore and found Matafonua Lodge, a fab place on the end of Foa Island that has a bar/restaurant and accomodation. We enjoyed relaxing here for a while with a beer or two. The owner, Darren, is from the UK originally and was a Navy Diver before becoming an underwater videographer – a really nice guy. We also got chatting to some guests staying there ( Police officers on a 2 year placement from New Zealand) who were enjoying a few days holiday away from the main island, Tongatapu. They told us about the snorkelling just off the beach and between the islands and said that they had seen Leopard sharks and so the following day, we went back to the bar for lunch and took all our gear for a snorkel afterwards. It was a beautiful snorkel with so many corals, anenomes, fish, starfish, Moray Eels etc and the underwater scenery was spectacular, but we failed to find the Leopard Sharks. The next morning (7^th), Shawn, Olga and Christine went back for another snorkel and still didn’t see them. Late morning, we all went across to the neighbouring small sland where we enjoyed beachcombing. Ally and Shawn walked all the way round and picked up another mooring ball for when we float the chain and Shawn knocked 2 coconuts out of a tree. They were really heavy, so we found some string to make carrying them easier! We were told today that whales had started to arrive in the area and that one had been 300 metres off the back of Imagination this morning! In Tonga it is illegal to approach or swim with whales unless with a local guide and it is something Olga and Christine are very eager to do before they go back home and so they have decided they will not sail on to Fiji with us – they will leave us in Tongatapu where they will arrange to do a whale watching daytrip before flying to Fiji and onwards home.

Thursday the 8^th was a day spent on board due to rainy weather and it was still raining on Friday the 9^th, but we had to go back to Pangai to visit Customs and clear out so that we could go to the southern outer islands of the Ha’apai group before departing for Tongatapu. We did this late morning and then found somewhere to have lunch before going back to Imagination for another lazy afternoon. The next few days were spent island hopping South and we spent time on a small uninhabited island that had been devastated by a tsunami that hit last year. It’s hard to even imagine the forces involved in creating such chaos. The weather continued to be overcast and wet as the tradewinds are late arriving and even the locals are fed up with the continued grotty weather…it’s cold ( 23.7C! lol) which is in contrast to the heat and warm waters of Tuvalu. Wetsuits for snorkelling are the order of the day for Shawn and Ally who are acclimatised to tropical heat after 11 years in the Caribbean!! The only similarly cool place on this trip so far has been the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. The overnight sail to Pangaimotu ( “Royal island”), Tongatapu was calm and peaceful and at 07.25 on the 15^th as we were approaching the islands, we had humpback whales breaching as they crossed our path. What a spectacular sight as the early morning sun caught their pale bellies when they leapt out of the water and the thunderous sound as they came back down was incredible!!

Our anchor went down in Tongatapu at 09.25 and after lunch, we all went ashore to check in with customs which wasn’t that easy to find (there are no signs here!) after which Christine and Olga did their thing whilst Shawn and Ally located the filling station and bought some gasoline before returning it to the dinghy and then going for a beer while they waited for the other 2 to get back. After lunch the following afternoon, having cleaned their cabins and Ally and Shawn had been ashore this time to buy diesel to refill the main tank, Olga and Christine departed Imagination for their whale watching adventure. The 17^th was a very wet day and once Ally and Shawn had got absolutely drenched going ashore for more diesel, the rest of the day was spent cleaning and reorganising and filling the water tanks with water caught in the watercatcher and hard top drainage. The following morning was gorgeous with lots of sunshine and very little wind which meant perfect conditions for a couple of loads of laundry ( sshhhh…it was a Sunday!….but we weren’t the only ones!) and relaxing onboard with a drink of two and then a British Roast Dinner!

Tonga wasn’t quite what we had been expecting, but the weather played a big part in that. The islands are friendly in varying degrees, but not as friendly as other Pacific countries we have visited and we had more overcast and rainy days than sunny which meant beach days and snorkelling weren’t quite the same but it’s all part and parcel of the adventure. It was also very different in that both our crew were German and spoke it most of the time even though they both had great conversational English.

On Monday morning (19^th) we were at Customs to clear out early and again, it was a quick and simple process. With a small amount of Tongan Pa’anga left, we went to the shops and bought some bits and pieces before going back to Imagination to get her ready for departure. The anchor was up by 10.20 and we were on our way to Fiji in fair winds, sunshine and calm seas. The 455nm sail took us 3 days, 21 hours and 35 minutes and we arrived at The Copra Shed Marina, Savusavu, Vanua Levu at 07.55 on the 23rd June. With the marina staff taking care of contacting the authorities and transporting them to the yacht, we were visited by a Health official first before Customs, Immigration and Biosecurity Officials came on board. They were all very friendly and welcoming ladies and within 2.5 hours of arrival we were cleared in. We had to pay clearance fees which could not be done on board, so we went ashore and enjoyed the half an hour walk to the hospital to pay the Health fee and then back to the Biosecurity office. Now, Venua Levu, Fiji IS friendly!! We thought other islands couldn’t be topped, but this was something else. Such genuine warmth with the many “Bula’s” , smiles and waves we got as we walked….it feels so lovely. Although the town is small, it’s bustling and busy and far more “modern” than many other places we have visited over the last 6 months. We were able to sort out a data SIM card and buy a massive bundle for very little in comparison to everywhere else and we had a great lunch and a couple of beers at the marina restaurant before going back to the boat to relax before having an early night to recover from the sail.

As we were coming into the anchorage on the 23rd, we had seen and waved to a friend Shawn had made whilst on his own in Panama. At that time Adam was also “home alone” and they spent a fair bit of time together eating, drinking and shopping and Shawn was able to meet Adam’s partner, Judy, when she returned from her visit home to Germany. They left before Ally returned to Imagination but Shawn and Adam had kept in touch as they were following a similar route to us, so it was fabulous to see Adam’s smiling face and enthusiatic wave as we passed by. On Saturday morning, we went ashore to find someone to fix our portable generator which we did and he managed to deal with it in just a couple of hours which was great. That evening, Adam and Judy came onboard for an evening of catching up, eating and a few drinks – it was a really lovely evening and it was also a very late one lol. Having been so impressed with Joseph, the guy who sorted out the generator, we asked him to look at our 30hp outboard that we had been having issues with over the last few months and he spent Sunday giving it a service and sorting out the problems ( obviously different laws here than in Tonga!). Shawn spent time in the Port Engine room rebuilding the flooring that was collapsing and Ally tidied and cleaned inside and the 26th was another day of cleaning, laundry and setting up cabins before going across to SY Vixen to have sundowners with Adam and Judy…the only trouble is that we all chatted for so long and enjoyed several drinks that the sundowners turned into a whole evening affair. They are great company and we had lots of fun together. The 27th was a provisioning day which much like everywhere else this year ( and in the Caribbean), took all day with multiple visits to multiple stores.

Two of Shawn’s nephews and a niece arrived early on the 28th and it was really good to see them. Once they had settled in a little, we all went ashore to pick up some more shopping and to allow them to get SIM cards and look around a little. That evening we all went ashore to have dinner in the marina restaurant with everyone going to bed almost as soon as we got back to Imagination. The next day was a relaxed one and the 3 “kids” slept in for a while before we all went across to SY Vixen (Adam and Judy) to help get Adam up the mast for a minor repair before we went to buy fresh fruit from the market and some Kava ready for our visits to some of the outer island villages. Kava is normally only consumed by men and it is a root that is powdered, diluted and drunk, bringing about a warm and fuzzy feeling of wellbeing (probably a little like marijuana) and it is totally legal and very freely available either as a root or already powdered. It is a customary obligation that when yachts visit villages in the Lau Islands, the crew must locate the Chief and give a gift of kava root (the act of which is called sevusevu) before being granted permission to visit beaches, swim or go snorkelling etc. After lunch, we had to do more paperwork with Immigration to put Luke, Kyle and Leah on the boat papers. This turned out to be a much more lengthy process than we thought it was going to be, but only because the official doing the forms did it all incorrectly the first time around. Friday the 30th, we finally got to move. We only went 3 nm down the coast to an anchorage just outside the Jean Michel Cousteau ( Yes, Jacques Cousteau’s son) Resort where the water is much nicer and there is some good snorkelling. Luke, Kyle and Leah are onboard for a whole month and we have many good times ahead 🙂

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