Along the Merry Way....

The Kingdom of Tonga is full of shipwrecks. The country is such a reef-filled place that this is no surprise! It takes quite a bit of skill to safely navigate the reefs and approach many of these islands. When we were anchored at Ha'afeva, we saw marked on the charts that there was a shipwreck across the lagoon. About a mile away, the tip of an the old ship poked out of the water. The tip was visible at low tide, but completely disappeared at high tide. So choosing our time carefully, Uncle Kurt and I rowed over to explore. A giant Korean fishing vessel lay on an angle in the water. Its stern (rear) was lodged on the reef. Its giant metal body stretched out behind this, and the prow (nose) was lying on the sandy bottom between the jungle of coral heads. At low tide, most of the ship was only about a meter below the surface, so I was able to snorkel and explore. You could still see the letters faintly painted on the metal hull, and the giant structure was an imposing form below ...

After a slightly nerve-wracking entry between two poorly marked reefs, we found peaceful anchorage in a lagoon next to the island Ha'afeva. In comparison to the dirty, cyclone-devastated town of Pangai, which we had just left, we were struck by this island's beauty and happy vibe. Fruit trees and cows were everywhere, and people were out raking their front yards and collecting stray coconuts. We were able to visit the local school, and here we were greeted by a crowd of children, who ran back to the main building yelling, "Palangi! Palangi!" (white person! white person!). In Ha'afeva we went on the hunt for fresh fruit and vegetables because our supplies were depleted. The headmaster of the school introduced us to a local man named Peta, who took us on a merry chase through the jungle to find food. He shook the oranges out of the trees for us and hacked down the papaya and a giant clump of bananas with his machete. Afterwards, we went to pay him for the goods, b...

A new king was being crowned in Tonga when we got there, and all of Tongatapu was in a hubbub! There was a ritual drinking of kava on the fields near the royal palace. Kava comes from a root and paralyses you if you drink enough of it! It's very common to drink in Tonga, especially with the Tongan men. (Incidentally, I was once invited to a kava party at the little island of Uoleva, but Pim and Josje didn't want to go, and I didn't want to paralyse myself in a strange hut with a bunch of unknown people on a deserted island!). Other festivities included great crowds of schoolchildren dancing in bright colours. And, as I mentioned before, the shipwrecks near the city were towed away out of sight so that visitors flying in wouldn't see them. Lots of flags and excitement!