Papa and Nana’s Visit

September 10-24, 2014

What a treat it was to have my dad and Karen come visit us for two weeks. Now, two weeks can be a long time to have boat guests, but Dad and Karen were easy to have around (and I’m not just saying that because they might read this!) First of all, it was like Christmas when they arrived because of all the stuff they brought for us from The States, including a bunch of “cool” clothes for the boys, which made them very happy. Second of all, they are used to camping and things like conserving water and power weren’t issues at all.

We had a lot of fun at Nuku, Port Maurelle, and Kenutu while they were here. At Nuku we took advantage of low tide and walked around the coral shelf, and I realized that Nana loved all the little sea creatures almost as much as Brenden! We also took advantage of the beach sandspit and had a few epic games of bocce ball.

From Port Maurelle we, of course, buzzed over for some snorkeling at swallows’ cave. Dad isn’t exactly the most natural, graceful person in the water, so now I know where I get it from. Come to think of it, where Andrew must get it from to, because in the water Dad reminded me a whole lot of Andrew (during his visit last year to Moorea), thrashing about while the boys swam circles around him. As usual, I ventured off on my own and saw not one, but two sea snakes, which I decided not to tell Karen about. She’s not too keen on snakes (understatement, understatement!) We also got dad and Karen on the paddle boards for the first time, and the boys had fun with that!

At Kenutu, we took advantage of the hiking and spectacular views and we even kayaked/paddle boarded over to the next island of Omumu to show them the freshwater cave. Our evenings were mostly filled with game playing, alternating between dominoes, cards, and Resistance, and of course there was the odd political conversation thrown in for good measure. Of course, Tim and I had been out of it for so long we are at a serious information deficit. But I guess that could be a good thing.

We spent a couple days in Neiafu getting our tourist fix. First up were the cart safaris, which was a tour of the main island of Vava’u driving go-carts. Alex and I were in a cart together and we joked we should have brought bananas (for all you non-Nintendo nerds this is a reference to Mario Kart). It was a great day as we got to see views of the island we would not have otherwise seen, except that Tim wanted to take Exodus up to the north side of the island in settled weather, since there must be fish up there (yeah, that never happened). Next up was a tour of the botanical gardens, and the founder/owner gave us a fantastic personal tour (i.e., we were the only ones there) even if a bit long winded. He is very passionate about the garden and gave us some interesting insight into Tongan culture. It wasn’t my dad’s cup of tea, though, and I’m sure he would have been happier staying on Exodus with Tim and Alex servicing winches. We finished up with the tour and rushed out of Neiafu to catch up with the other kid boats for a bonfire on Nuku.

We decided to give a Tongan Feast another try, but this time we booked at the one on Lape Island, which includes a cultural tour of the village. Lape Island is anchorage #17 in the guidebook, but there are also about 3 moorings closer to the village, and since one was free, we took it. In the afternoon before the feast, we dinghied over to the very east tip of the Island of Vaka’Eitu (which was anchorage #16). There is a very small beach on the tip where we could park the dinghy and then we took a short trail over to the south side of the island to a beautiful, long, secluded white sand beach. This is the very same beach that I referenced when we stayed at anchorage #16 when I found the trail head but never ventured over. Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon in an absolutely beautiful spot. Some of our friends were anchored off the north side of the reef between the islands of Vaka’Eitu and Langito’o, and it looked like a great place in the settled weather, but we were comfortable on our mooring ball, so we stayed put.

The Tongan Feast on Lape island couldn’t have been more different than the previous one we attended with Yi and Johnny (Three Little Birds). Lape Island is pretty small, and the village has only 27 people (5 families, a teacher, and a minister). They put on these feasts in order to raise money for village projects, like a new wharf, which is complete, and sanitation, or a public restroom, which is also complete; they just need it to rain in order to have water to use it. They greeted us at the wharf with leis, gave us a tour of their village, gave us a demonstration of tapas making and coconut husking, and Brenden was the first to volunteer to try it, of course. There was a little girl who spotted the grandparents immediately and had my dad and Karen holding each of her hands while she jumped, and they lifted her off the ground. She was adorable, and I think Dad and Karen enjoyed her attention as well. The dinner, while superior to the previous feast, still wasn’t exactly our cup of tea, but we didn’t leave hungry. The only thing it was missing was the Tongan music, but that didn’t stop all the cruisers from hanging out and having a good time anyway. The next morning was Sunday, so Dad and Karen were able to go ashore for church and enjoy the beautiful Tongan voices.

After leaving Lape Island, we spent night out at Avalau island (anchorage #40), and we all agreed it had been the most beautiful spot so far. The water was shallow with turquoise water for about 2km to the south where it met a reef with crashing waves. Best of all we heard whales in the night, and in the morning Karen asked me if it was real or she was dreaming. You see, they were there almost two weeks and the only sign of whales we’d had were the whale watching boats zipping around everywhere. Then later in the afternoon as we were getting ready for lunch we spotted spouts and dorsals well off our stern, so Tim took dad and Karen on a rather bouncy dinghy ride out to see them. They didn’t get too close a look, since they got shoed off by a tour boat, but at least they saw whales, finally.

After lunch we went to a cove on the island of Ovaka for snorkeling, and it was amazing, definitely giving the coral gardens a run for its money. And we didn’t even have to swim over a shallow reef to get there! However, it wasn’t practical to anchor Exodus there, so since Tim had snorkeled there the day before he volunteered to drop us off and babysit a drifting Exodus. We enjoyed Avalau island for more than the snorkeling and spectacular views, we also enjoyed going to shore and walking around the entire island. Well, that was just me and the boys, and John and Rosemary too. John and Rosemary were guests of our friends Helen and Stefano on Novae, and we enjoyed their company as well. We had everyone over for sunset drinks on Exodus in the evening, and in the morning, Helen had everyone over for Frappes and Biscotti on Novae. Good Times.

Our final sail with Dad and Karen from the Hunga Lagoon back to Neiafu was a memorable one because the whales put on quite a show for us. We were outside of the protection of the island group and the whales were breaching and showing off their flukes. So glad they got to see that before they left. Back in Neiafu we enjoyed the restaurant scene again with lunch at Mango, Dinner at Bella Vista (a pre-birthday celebration for Brenden), and later in the evening pool and drinks at Marina Wine Bar. Then the next morning we sadly said good-bye to Nana and Papa.