http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , Tonga , Vava u en-us Sat, 05 Dec 09 22:57:00 +0000 Sat, 05 Dec 09 22:57:00 +0000 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 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 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 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 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 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 tabl http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-320276.html MaloThe highlight of my visit to the Kingdom of Tonga has been my trip up to Vava'u the northern group of Islands about 180 nautical miles further north of Tongatapu.Dad is managing a new airline Chathams Pacific the friendly islands airline which flies domesticaly throughout Tonga. I of course needed to inspect these services so took a trip up to Vava'u for 3 nights.Vava'u is a sailers p http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-305325.html Well we have arrived at our final destination in the Pacific. We are in Tonga and it is absolutly amazing. We will have about 6 days here and then we head off for NZ our final detination. The pictures included are of the society islands. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-278767.html We've all heard about whalewatching from boats or shore and a few companies are now offering the possibility of actually swimming and snorkeling with whales in the wild. Is this a good thingSome whalewatching operators in the Kingdom of Tonga South Pacific islands advertise the possibility of swimming and snorkeling with humpback whales during the cetacean's annual migration from July to Octob http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-230415.html Tonga unique among Pacific nations never completely lost its indigenous governance. The archipelagos of The Friendly Islands were united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. Tonga became a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in 1900 it withdrew from the protectorate and joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. Tonga remains the only monarchy in the Pacific. Tonga has http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-220052.html En we waren gebleven bij de vlucht naar Tongahellip was een goeie vlucht hoewel we niemand kunnen aanraden met Air New Zealand te vliegenhellip nix ten nadele van de stewards aan boord maar er zijn er gewoon te weinig om een goede service te verlenen. Zo kreeg Jacq haar maaltijd redelijk vroeg vegetarische maaltijd worden altijd als 1e geserveerd en moest ik ruim anderhalf uur wachten.. le http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/Vava--u/blog-209687.html