Vaca'etui

We have read that the lagoon at Vaka'eitu Island is one of the best all-round anchorages in the Vava'U Group. This was our destination for the next five or so days.

We completed provisioning in Neafu and headed out Tuesday morning, the 7 th of September. We had a good sail but with the late start we decided to spend the night in Port Maurelle again as winds were picking up and the anchorage was almost empty. That changed throughout the night and by sundown there were twelve of us. 

Next morning we headed out to Vaka'eitu Island. It was early so we decided to take the long way around in hope of seeing whales. 

We were not disappointed. They were close enough for us to see their blow, one tail wave, a couple of breeches with one coming right out of the water. I was not quick enough on the camera but to be honest we were still too far away to get any real good photos anyway.

As we turned into the entrance to our anchorage we managed one last sighting. What a treat!

The anchor was set in 40 feet of water with five other boats. Aros Mear (David and Gitte) were here and had made arrangements with the family who lives on this island to prepare a Tongan Feast for that evening.

The water was warmer than we have been experiencing so I was in the water before the ladder was in place! The winds were also reduced. The sun was out. It was a perfect swimming day! I shared my swim with two local turtles - heads up to check me out but quickly dove under when I made a splash!

Kinabalu ( Bob & Judy) arrived in the early afternoon and Judy joined us for a snorkel on the east side of the reef. There were a few interesting things, large schools of small light blue fish and good Go-Pro footage. But we knew the better snorkeling was on the other side of the reef. You need a high tide to traverse the reef so our plan is to try it tomorrow. I swam the half a mile or so back to the boat while David and Judy followed me just in time to get ready for the Tongan Feast!

Tongan feasts are organized for a variety of reasons - birthdays, holidays, tourist attractions. Six boats at the anchorage and 12 people was reason enough for David, the proprietor and his wife Hika to arrange a feast for us. A fire is built in an open pit or open oven (umu). The fire is used initially to heat stones for cooking the side dishes, while the pig is pit on a spit and roasted over the coals.

But there was a bit of confusion, due to poor radio reception, as to when the feast was to be held. Next week? No - today! David's ( the proprietor)  outboard was broken and the pig was still running around alive and happy on another island. So he needed a ride to go and get it. David (Amos Mear) volunteered to take him over to get the pig. Little did they know what this would involve. They got over there, russelled up the pig, put it in a sack and threw it in the dinghy - squealing away! During the 20 minute dinghy ride the pig managed to eat away at the sack and get his snout out. Gitte had to keep her foot on him to keep him still. Not as bad as another incident - people on a catamaran had the pig on board and it did escape and was running all over their boat!

Our pig made it to shore where it was quickly stabbed, gutted and prepared for the spit. At 1730 we took our dinghies to shore and were amazed at the feast that was laid out for us. Not all of the dishes were prepared in the traditional way, in coconut shells in the hot coals covered with banana leaves, but the types of dishes prepare were authentic. And a few not so authentic dishes - grouper prepared three ways - sweet and sour, curry and fried, poison cru, local clams, Teryiaki chicken, beef in sobi noodles, potato salad, crab salad, Cole slaw, sweet potato, and of coarse - the pig complete with lots of crackling. Hika is a professional chef and worked for 14 years in a restaurant in Nuku'alofa. The meal had a real home cooking feel to it and everything was wonderful. The next day we were able to look into her kitchen - very very primitive - making the success of all the dishes even more amazing!

David stealing some crackling!

They also entertained us with traditional Tongan music and dance and a little history of the island. The island was originally inhabited by the King. 150 years ago David's family took ownership. With the beginning of a change to democracy, the monarch held control of all the land and handed out 99 year leases to the people. Due to the history of his family they were awarded a lease for the 8 acres of the island where most families received only  4 acres - 2 to live on and 2 to farm.

I found out the next day that the evening did not end when we returned to our boats. David on Aros Mear was asked to transport two of the family members back out to the other island with the remainder of the food - dinner for the pastor, the school mistress and one old man. Such generosity of spirit. So David did one last trip in the dark!

The next morning the girls decided to go on an adventure by themselves. None of the men wanted to snorkel the other side of the reef. This was to be an adventure as none of us have lots of experience operating the dinghy. We headed out at 1130 just shortly before high tide.

It was Judy's dinghy so she was on the outboard. I sat forward to read the waves ( like I knew what I was doing) and watch out for any shallow coral patches. Gitte was the moral support for Judy with one hand on an oar.

We had another dinghy just ahead of us to find the path but Judy got a bit apprehensive and decided to kill the motor, thinking there wasn't enough water under the keel. "No Judy - we need the power to get over the reef!" Gitte had to restart the outboard as Judy was not strong enough. I am watching the water knowing that we are going to have a few waves break on our bow! Thank goodness they were small  though still big enough to get us all wet and dump 6 inches of water in the dinghy. This resulted in one of the oars getting washed out of the dinghy so we had to do a quick 180, pick it up and then another 180 to get back on track. No panic. Just three very wet girls, laughing and very proud as we passed over the reef into calmer waters! High five to all!

We caught up to Michelle and Beth, put down an anchor and snorkeled up and down the drop off. There was some interesting  coral  though not very colorful. But it was still beautiful.

Now we get to cross over the reef again! But at least this time we get to ride the waves over it. I had to convince Judy to keep more throttle on the motor and to keep us perpendicular to the waves. We went a bit sideways at one point, me urging Judy to keep us perpendicular and we made it across.

I must say - we were very proud of ourselves. Crossing the reef back and forth was actually more exciting then the snorkeling! I swam back to the boat while the girls stayed close by. Pretty tired after so the rest of the day was spent writing this story, fresh water shower and reading.

The next day Judy, David and I went ashore and took a small hike across the island to the other side. The pictures speak for themselves. A couple of shorter swims throughout the day then a quiet evening with chicken sate and peanut sauce, Thai cucumber salad and Thai fried rice for dinner under a half moon! Just another day in paradise.

The beach on the other side!

One last story to show the generosity of these people. A couple of days ago we had lost one of the oars for the dinghy. Not an easy thing to replace. During our walk on the island we noticed that David - the proprietor had one leaning up against a tree. We knew that they did not have very much money so My David offered to buy it from him. It was exactly like the one we had lost. No way he said - y can just have it as I found it in the first place!

David returns with the oar and a smile!

Anchor up on Saturdat, sails set and we head back to Port Maurelle for the night and then into Neafu to reprovision and extend our visa.