Tonga Sept 2007 3 of 4

Saturday night we went to the nearby village (full-time population ~10, only one church) for a feast and some entertainment. The food was prepared in an umu, or underground oven, and included fish, octopus, shellfish, beef, veggies and fruit. It was REALLY good and there was far more than we could possibly finish. This was followed by music (guitars and voices) and traditional dancing by the village girls. We showed out appreciation by tucking small bills into their dresses. Hard to tell who was more embarrassed! The evening concluded with a few bowls of Kava and some tremendous acapella singing by the village men. A night to remember!

During the night we awakened to the sound of - NO WIND! The next day was peaceful and we broke camp and enjoyed some beautiful and calm paddling. Here Zane paddles along with guide Ofa.

The guides spent the afternoon fishing with some success (a Rock Cod and a Longtom, the Octopus was bait but we ate it anyway), so we had real fish for dinner. After "milking" the coconuts to get the coconut cream for the curry, the pot simmered away over the fire. It was absolutely delicious.

The snorkelling was fantastic. A great diversity of corals and fish. It was nice to see large
areas of coral that had not been torn up by human activity. The new underwater camera worked pretty well, that is until it stopped working!

The next day we broke camp and paddled back to Neiafu. Along the way we paddled into Swallows cave, which was quite beautiful in spite of the graffiti.
Many Thanks to our guides Epeli and Ofa, and all the folks at Friendly Islands Kayaking!

We arrived at another nice campsite, with a village nearby with a few yachts moored in the bay. Excellent snorkelling right off the shore. What more do we need?

Sunday was Fish Curry Day, so we did our best to contribute to the meal. Zane caught 3 reef fish from the back of the kayak, unfortunately too small to contribute to the pot.