The Dangerous Middle...

- Including Malpiti, Niue, and Tonga -

We prepared to leave French Polynesia and waited for a weather window at the spectacular island of Malpiti at the west of the Society Island Group.  We had a fantastic time meeting the locals, climbing the peak, and taking photos.  The passage to Tonga is known as the “Dangerous Middle”.  A section of the South Pacific where there is often a squash zone of strong winds.  The previous week an Australian yacht was wrecked on a reef in the Cook Islands and a Swedish yacht was dismasted.  We set off with calm seas for the week-long passage and motor-sailed on and off for 3 days until the winds finally caught up with us.  Then it was on for young and old as we found we were shortening the sails every few hours until we had 2 reefs in the main and a handkerchief out for a jib!  At this point we decided to divert to Niue instead of continue to Tonga.  Niue is a great little island very much like Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) in size, population, appearance etc.  It was nice to have English-speaking locals, with a strong connection to New Zealand, our first English speaking country in 8 months!  Here we enjoyed renting a car, exploring the tracks, sea caves, gorges, and crystal clear rock pools.  We moved onto Tonga when the swell picked making the anchorage uncomfortable.  The temperature has also been freezing!!  Apparently it has been unseasonal cold weather driven up from the New Zealand winter.  We are now in the Vavau Group in the north of The Kingdom of Tonga and until the last week the country had its coldest week on record.  We didn’t even have sufficient blankets for our beds and we had to wear all our clothes at night while sailing.  In Tonga we met up with our friends from home, Geoff and Jo.  Geoff had just completed a locum with a local medical centre and they joined us for a day sail and some whale watching.  The rest of our time in Tonga was spent with our kid-boat friends.  We will clear customs and immigration tomorrow and set sail for Savu Savu, Fiji, about 3 days of sailing 400NM in light winds keeping a close eye on the uncharted reefs.

On the peak in Malpiti overlooking the pass into the lagoon

Moana Roa at anchor in the lagoon

The church is the feature of most Polynesian towns

The rich colours of the underlying reef and sand

Bora Bora about 30NM away

Sonia and Kara looking out on the hike

Kara and Elizabeth found a whale skull at someone's house

We caught 4 Mahi Mahi on passage to Tonga

Beau saying hello to our visiting Boobie hundreds of miles from land

Our coconut grinding tool is useful for coconut milk in curries

At Niue, the dinghy crane and the only way to land on the wharf

Sundowner on Moana Roa with fellow cruisers Tashi Delek and Adina

The supply ship at Niue comes every 3 weeks from New Zealand

Travis found a banded sea snake sleeping on the bottom

Humpbacks in the anchorage

We rescued a bird that was struggling in the water at the wharf

Great limestone arches

Swimming in the reef surges was fun for the kids

On arrival in Tonga, Travis had an order of 8 lures to make from fellow cruisers

Beautiful islands and anchorages once again...

Swallows Cave in the Vavua Group of Tonga

Pigs on the beach!