Eastern Vava'u Anchorages

September 17th through 30th
We have been continuing to take in the sights and sounds of Vava'u. The open air markets where women sit and work on their weaving has to be one of my favorites. The weaving's become everything from baskets and small bracelets to mats that cover entire floors or their traditional skirts called valas. Taovala's worn by men and kiekie worn by women are tied around the waist as a sign of respect for one's elders and the royal family. The weather has been pleasant with occasional substantial days of rainfall but again we can tell we are getting farther from the equator as is dips down low enough in the evening to occasionally need a jacket and the water is only 72 degrees F.
Below are the next set of anchorages we visited from most easterly back in toward the main town of Neiafu.

Kenutu 18 41.886S,173 55.728W
One of our favorite anchorages, the furthest east of the Vava'u group. Sitting inside an anchorage completely surrounded by coral you view striking cliffs that bear the brunt of dramatic waves from outside on the Pacific. It greatly resembles the northern west coast beaches of California. The shallow waters don't show much for snorkeling but are so warm it is fun to just roll around. There is also a spectacular little cave that again makes you feel like Indiana Jones right hand man as you traverse rocky structures, climb around great vines and roots to make your destination. The destination that day was a dark cold pool of water surrounded by red muddy dirt and the occasional click of disturbed swiftlet birds. We did have one crazy night in this anchorage as 35 knot winds and lots of rain shifted out of the south a bit more and cause our pals on Capaz to slip their anchor hold and back down dangerously close to a fellow cruiser on Scot-Free II. With coral right behind them there wasn't much room to play with so Bruce and Kelly boy from Moorea hopped into our dinghy with flashlights and helped set a second anchor for Capaz to hold them through the night.

Tapala 18 42.518S,173 59.339W
A quiet little anchorage that hosts "the Arc". A floating house boat of sorts, maybe 10' x 15', is home and studio to talented artist Shari and her husband Larry and their charter service. We also found a way to bring cocktail parties to a new high. Due to the fact that boats are rather small and can only hold so many people you move the party to the dinghies. Everyone rafts their dinghies up together with drinks and snackies in tow. Jovial conversation and treats get passed around for everyone to share. Much fun.

Nuku/Kapa 18 42.035S,174 02.225W
Nestled between some smaller islands and coral is this little gem of an anchorage. It is host to the picturesque beach on Nuku. Beautiful white sand, small island of palm trees surrounded by crystal shades of blue. We snorkeled there and found all sorts of creatures new to us. We are on the hunt to find a brand new species of nudibranchs (small colorful looking slugs of sorts) they have discovered here in Tonga. We took a hike over the island which consists of a small dirt path through the few inhabitants homes on the island and their 2 churches. Early Sunday morning one could hear the competed voices and church bells of both. We were also able to search out and explore another cave mistakenly named Swallows Cave as the birds are swiftlettes. Visited in the afternoon the sunlight streaming in offers a beautiful view of the under water part. Bring along a good flashlight and hike back into the land based cave for more exploring.

All in all life is moving along swimmingly in Tonga. We spend most of our day getting the hang of a school routine again. When in the Neiafu anchorage, the afternoons are often filled with a swim at the local pool at the Paradise Hotel with all the kid boats. A very worldly group of children, we celebrated a couple birthdays yesterday and realized just what an amazing experience this is for them. The crowd of kids each took turns singing Happy Birthday in their natives tongues, English, Dutch, German, Portuguese, Cantonese, and Norwegian. Most of the children come from families with two different nationalities thereby speaking 3 languages right of the bat. Feeling inadequate? Luckily for us the smile is universal.
until next time,
Lisa and the boys