We have been diving (night and days), snorkeling, touring the island with Ann and François - generally having a great time. The past two evening we have been doing night diving - 2 days after the full moon is the best time to find some of the shells Brian and Carl are looking for. It has been good to conquer my fear of the ocean at night. We did a fast drift dive thru a narrow passage from the outer reef inward where there was lots of current - scary exhilarating and fun all at the same time. The weather [View Full Entry]

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Sorry about the lack of pictures on the last couple of blogs. On Friday, we waited for the customs and immigration people to come out to the boat. They never arrive so we went in and were able to do all the custom and immigration on land. It was late but I wanted to check my emails and put something on my blog before they closed. I had 10 mins. - not long when things are slow. I will put some pics up today. Wallis Island, French territory, currency = Polynesia francs. June 26th. We motored over to the port Mata [View Full Entry]

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CHANGE IN WEATHER The weather has been awful since I arrived in South Pacific - in Tonga wet cold and windy - wet, warm and wind on the trip here. In Wallis Island it is still wet windy and warm very unusually for this time of year. Sunday there were blue skies!!! It is really beautiful and I have to keep pinching myself to realize this is real and not a dream. Brian and I went for a dive Sunday morning; for me to check out my gear and he wanted to check the anchor was secure with all the wind. [View Full Entry]

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June 22nd TONGA The 3hr flight to Tonga was uneventful - which is what I like. I arrived in Tonga and it was raining, windy and cold. My flight to Vava’u in Northern Tonga was cancelled and I had to wait for the later flight. I sat in the domestic airport - the equivalent of large shed - the only saving grace was the restaurant which sold hot and cold drinks and food. I had numerous cups of tea to keep me warm. While in the airport I struck up a conversation with an American girl work for VPO in Tonga. [View Full Entry]

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June 22nd TONGA The 3hr flight to Tonga was uneventful - which is what I like. I arrived in Tonga and it was raining, windy and cold. My flight to Vava’u in Northern Tonga was cancelled and I had to wait for the later flight. I sat in the domestic airport - the equivalent of large shed - the only saving grace was the restaurant which sold hot and cold drinks and food. I had numerous cups of tea to keep me warm. While in the airport I struck up a conversation with an American girl work for VPO in Tonga. [View Full Entry]

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We crossed the International Dateline so we are now (I think) 18 hours ahead of you at home. We lost Tuesday completely, but are making it up one hour at a time as we move westward around the globe. Always nice to get that extra hour a couple of times a week. Yesterday we were in Tonga, the first flat island we have visited. Unlike the others which were volcanic and, therefore, mountainous, Tonga is a huge coral reef and flat as a pancake. It is extremely lush and beautiful, but a terrible mess. Rusted out cars all over the place [View Full Entry]

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Tonga I am still unable to include pictures: in the interim I will plublish some commentary and add the pictures once we return home. The original schedule was one day of sailing to Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. The captain informed us that a large storm was battering the Cook Islands and that we would be detouring away from that area and that our next port of call would be Vavau, Tonga. What he didn’t mention is that this is the typhoon season in the South Pacific. Well after 3!/2 days we finally arrived. The [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Tonga, the Vava’u island group to blue skies and lush green islands. The topography was different to what we both expected but not disappointing. We docked next to the main wharf and watched the procession of local bureaucrats…quarantine, customs, immigration and health come on board for us to fill out their paper work and a chat. They where all very sweet as Si had sustained a burn (cup of hot coffee) on route and needed to get it checked by the doctor. The health guy drove us to the hospital, the bank and back to the hospital rather [View Full Entry]

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Well this post has taken much longer than expected to get up here. I'll keep the text short and leave you to the photos. Vava'u was the treat of the trip. I got to bike through jungle trails, swim with humpback whales, go diving and lounge around on the beach. This island is off the tourist track and I really enjoyed it. I've enrolled in a gym boot camp as part of a marketing stunt for my office.... it's breaking my balls. Up at 5:30 to crawl around on my stomach through muddy fields and pack around a pack filled with [View Full Entry]

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Gangly girls, hair tightly braided in plaits, swinging the skirts of their checkered button down dresses, giggle and clutch worn school books tightly to their chests. The boys, shuffling along in dusty lava lavas, carry crumbled cheeto's bags in one hand, IPOD's in the other, and bounce their chins to unheard beats of bass and drums. Nearby, a cluster of weathered men and a chipped concrete table coalesce in a dynamic social scene. Bent heads focus on the checker board before them while forgotten cigarettes glow faintly from soiled fingertips. Discarded newspapers, previously perused and c [View Full Entry]

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