Tonga, Ano Beach, 17 August 2008

Tonga, Ano Beach, 17 August 2008

We sailed yesterday afternoon from Nieafu, the capital of Vavau to Pangai Motu island and Ano beach for yesterday evening’s feast - of which more later. Friday afternoon we had shore leave in Nieafu, spent initially in the internet café - everyone’s first stop - and then exploring the town. It was abuzz with the excitement and preparation of the new King’s visit, King George Tupou the Fifth. He was crowned in early August and is doing a tour of his Kingdom. In preparation of the festivities planned for Monday, the locals were putting out the bunting and seemingly sweeping clean every nook and cranny of the place! There is an interesting succession story in prospect, since George, at the age of 59, does not have any children. His brother, the next in line, was disowned for marrying below the required social level and the question is whether any of his three children might be in line for potential succession. In any event, George apparently has democratic reform on his agenda, so this might become less of an issue in the future.

There wasn’t a great deal to see in the town, so after a cursory visit we all congregated in the quayside bar - originally enough called the Mermaid bar - for afternoon beers and aperitifs. It was very much an expat place, with a sailing race being organised by the expat locals at 16h00 - presumably followed by a round of gin and tonic! I was wondering about the mix of stories which must have made up the bar; how had all these people somehow found themselves up in this idyllic island group?

In the evening a group of us went for dinner in a reasonable restaurant, with the supposed selling point of having a Swiss chef! One wonders what the attractions of fondu or raclette might have been in Tonga, but it turned out to be more on the local side.

On Saturday morning we again had shore leave and by 9am the party was really starting to get going in the town - a day early - with very loud island music blaring out of one of the municipal buildings! All too reminiscent of the Apia bus driver!! I decided to check out a walk to the local Mount Talau, which despite its name, is only 400 metres high.



It does, however, boast fantastic views over the harbour and north east of the island. The walk over there was also fun as we passed a small military base, where the personnel were busy practising in a brass band for the King’s visit - one felt they needed more than a day’s more practice if truth be told!

In the afternoon we sailed round to Ano beach, enjoying the views of the magnificent coastline and small dreamlike islands passing by - the perfect cliché of the desert island, green foliage, sandy beaches and deep turquoise water lapping at the edges.

Pretty amazing stuff and to see it from a tallship makes it even more special. We arrived towards the end of the afternoon, just in time for the Tongan feast. It was quite some feast, with a range of local delicacies, roast pig, seafood and some things that were less identifiable!

The locals also tried to entice us with local produce, and then entertained us with a dancing show later on. It was ok, but I always find these things slightly contrived especially when you feel obliged to hand over your small change, which is then eagerly counted by the village matriarch after each dance!! After the festivities we came back to the boat and partook in a cava session, cava being a drink made from the root of a peppermint tree. It was quite an experience, making your mouth tingle almost like an anaesthetic. The way the effects of a major drinking session were described it sounded slightly reminiscent of absinthe, which of course I have never tried!

Today we are off to search for whales in the bay! I think we have just set off as the boat seems to have acquired a more remarked sway; I am currently below deck writing this!

Well, we saw two whales, but only fleetingly as they surfaced twice before returning to the depths, the tailfins arcing upwards as they dived. We were quite some distance from them, but it was still an impressive sight and a privilege to see them in real life. We hope to see more on the rest of the trip.

Later in the afternoon we sailed to another anchorage, in the very picture cliché of a tropical island: rich foliage on the island, a shallow yet incredible white looking sandy beach and the richest, purest, deepest dark turquoise blue you could hope to see.

Stunning - words can’t describe it, certainly not mine…! In the afternoon we swam off the boat and I got the ship windsurfer out for a spin around the bay. It was good fun, even with the old equipment and the light wind - I’m hoping for a stronger breeze on another occasion! I was also attacked by the good pirate ship Soren Larsen, as the crew fired water baloons at me with their rather vicious looking catapult! All good stuff! We had earlier tried this out on an unsuspecting passing yacht, coming ostensibly to take photos of our graceful ship, only to be pelted with water baloons. Truly anglo-saxon behaviour, which left at least one German member of the voyage crew perplexed as to this unique greeting!

We’re now preparing for Sunday roast, well the Ali and Carsen the cooks are! It’s a special one too, as we’re marking the King’s visit with a ‘Right Royal’ fancy dressing night - Elvis has already made an appearance on deck and I have a rasta hat, dug out of the ship’s stores - a Rasta King? Tenuous, but hopefully it will do the trick!

Rob