http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , Tonga en-us Mon, 16 Nov 09 23:35:40 +0000 Mon, 16 Nov 09 23:35:40 +0000 To all my english friends heres a brief recap lifes good. I swam with whales. Look at the pictures Nine oclock female and a calf Bten krnger till nr alla ombord unisont kastar sig mot babord sida p den lilla bten. Valspanaren p bttaket pekar ut mot en till synes ondlig horisont och spnt lter jag blicken fara fram och tillbaka ver havet. Spnningen stiger. Pltsligt bryts den az http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/blog-445936.html Well it's not the Cat Knapp... let me assure you that it was totally worth my while. I didnrsquot think that I was going to be able to dive again in Tonga but timing worked out perfectly for a small group to go out with Brian and Sabinersquos dive shop Fins N Flukes. Sabine is originally from Germany and Brian from Ireland how the two of them ended up in Pangai is beyond me but I met t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Ha--apai/blog-426892.html I was lucky enough to fall into a group going on a dive trip on Sunday. In the Tongan constitution the law states that no one is allowed to do any kind of work on Sundays. So most establishments are not allowed to offer any services of any kind. Luckily this place Happy Harsquoapai Divers got permission from the village elder and 7 of us left for Foa to experience some Tongan diving. I http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Ha--apai/blog-422867.html Okay so this consists of going to Marinerrsquos Cafe and having Aussie beer or American beer if we buy some from MWR and getting Magda to make a pizza for us. Kyle Brittany and I hang out with some of the ADVON Advanced something pretty much the advanced party. Here are some photos of everyone but me getting crazy. We hung out with some Australians from the HMAS WEWAK as well a L http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Ha--apai/blog-422866.html Don't worry me either until this trip... Anchoring at Pangai Tonga was a little bit of a nail biting experience. The water is incredibly clear and the reef system is very intricate. Making the evolution a little more difficult there was a storm front that blew through the entire day with lots of fog and rain. As I stood watch on the bridge Kyle looked at me and told me to come out on the b http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Ha--apai/blog-422159.html We have been diving night and days snorkeling touring the island with Ann and Franois 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-417946.html Tonga in Pictures. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/blog-415947.html CHANGE IN WEATHERThe 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-413878.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-413868.html June 22ndTONGAThe 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 Vavarsquou 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 o http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-412401.html June 22ndTONGAThe 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 Vavarsquou 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 o http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-412400.html 15JUL As usual I digress... letrsquos see if I can keep on task to describe the dayrsquos events. I went on a COMREL to one of the elementary schools Pangai Primary School with Lauren Rago and Rick Parry the two Aussie Public Affairs types Todd the Chaplain Beav the TACRON or air operations guy the musicians and a few other CivMars from the ship. It was so much fun the kids f http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Ha--apai/blog-411006.html Never have I been so comfortably happy to drive extremely slowly down a perfectly straight and decently paved rural road or to see a cockroach in my bathroom. Why do you ask Because these are both things I associate with being in a nice warm island nation where time just goes a little slower.So if you haven't guessed I'm in Tonga. Getting to the final legs of the trip. So far Tonga seems pret http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Tongatapu/blog-410384.html Hi I have been living and working in Ha'apai for over three years now diving and Humpback Whale Watching. Iwe myself and my partner Sabine live in Pangai on the main Island of Lifuka where we own and operate Fins 'n' Flukes dive base. The Ha'apai group is a pretty good choice for backpacking budget accomodation starts at 7 us a night in the guest houses and a big plate of bbq local food can be http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Ha--apai/blog-396415.html 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 Tong http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-373077.html Yes it is Monday for us. We didn't have Sunday which you are enjoying even as I write this. We are now a day ahead of you. We are in the Kingdom of Tonga one of the few countries left in the world that is ruled by a king. As you can see from the two photos it is too shallow for our big ship to dock at the harbor so we are using little boats from the ship called tenders to take people as http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/blog-372147.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-366459.html December 13 I fly from Auckland to Tongatapu the main island on Tonga. I staying at a Lodge outside the capital Nuku'alofa. After 5 days Brre and Marianne arrive Tonga good to see them again. We split up 3 month ago and we had plan to meet to celebrate Cristmas and NewYear together at the Dateline.I been looking for a new place to stay before they arrive so we move to Ha'atafu on the North end http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/blog-356225.html We arrived in Tonga the Vavarsquou 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 bureaucratshellipquarantine 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 sust http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-327231.html 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.... http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-321178.html