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Starblazer - 25/05/2015 - Exploring the Ha'apai



In the introduction to Ken's Cruising Guide to Tonga he describes the Ha'apai as like the Tuamotus, of French Polynesia, a sentiment with which I agree to some extent. There are a lot of islands, a lot of reefs and a lot of long sandy beaches, there are also a number of passes between islands and reefs. The one missing feature is the narrow pass into a circular atoll, something I can do without though we entered Minerva Reef quite easily, exiting was an altogether rougher experience!

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The Ha'apai are divided into several island chains. From Ha'apai Beach Resort on Lifuka we wriggled our way between reefs and shallows and went south to the next island, Uoleva. The anchorage toward the southwest of the island, tucked between two reefs, gave access to Serenity Beach Resort run by Jackie and Uoleva Yacht Club, a bar run by Craig. A word on resorts here; they are small with chalets dotted among the trees, nothing like the big, luxurious resorts such as Musket Cove.

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The next string of islands, separated from Uoleva by a pass, comprise Tatafa, Uiha which is populated and a string of three islands joined by sand bars: Tofanga, Uonukuhahaki and Uonukuhihifo. The current in the pass was 3 knots against us and we progressed sideways towards a narrow pass between Tatafa and a reef. They say there are 'old sailors', 'bold sailors' but very few 'old, bold sailors' so we did the sensible thing and turned around and took the long way around the reef and down to the anchorage off Uonukuhahaki Island. These three islands are inhabited by a few cows and calves. We were warned that if the bull showed any interest in us we should step swiftly into the sea! The snorkelling just off the beach halfway along Uonukuhahaki was quite good and, depending on wind and current, the lagoon south of the island is also a good snorkelling site. The holding in the anchorage is very good.

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The next reef system south is crescent shaped with Limu, a tiny circular island, right in the centre. We walked all around Limu in 20 minutes which included spending time looking for seashells. The snorkelling is reputedly very good here but the water was quite choppy and we needed to move on to arrive at an overnight anchorage in daylight. We motorsailed west towards Ha'afeva, an inhabited island in the Kotu group of islands within Ha'apai. We went ashore the next morning with the crew of three other boats. The village is on the opposite side if the island from the anchorage and has about 45-50 families and 6 different churches. We met the nurse practitioner who manages the 'hospital', she is on a two year posting from Nukulofa on Tongatapu. Another young woman, Anna, showed us the way to the school which has three classes spanning years 1-6, after primary school the children transfer to secondary schools at Pangai on Lifutu, Neiafu on Vava'u or Nukulofa, the capital of Tonga. We talked to the headmaster, Peter, who taught years 1&2. Anna took us to her home and gave us bananas and a breadfruit. On the way out of the village Charlie invited us to follow him to his garden to collect some fruit. I learnt 'just here' meant 'this way' and did not indicate proximity, it was a long way! He climbed up impossibly straight, smooth trees to collect papayas, very thin twiggy branches to find oranges and lemons, used a hook on a pole to dislodge coconuts and dug up cassava root for us. Next morning Anna and her husband came out to the boats to do a cookery demonstration on one of the catamarans. It was time to leave as we needed to reach our next anchorage in good light.

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We had been told that the church singing on Uiha was very good so that was our next destination, 14 miles to windward. We motorsailed in two big tacks and anchored off the village. Trillium had arrived before us and went ashore to find out the time of the service. Something got lost in translation, we arrived at the Tonga Free Church in time for a 9.00 service which finally started at 10.12! The church was large and dilapidated, the congregation comprised 5 women, 8 men including the minister and 11 small children plus four of us. The singing, however, was powerful and tuneful. Back on board it was time to leave, to head north through the pass which had defeated us a week earlier, then retrace our track to the Ha'apai Beach Resort.

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The photo shows the fruit from Charlie, if in doubt the lemons are on the left. Yes, I know they look like oranges and their flesh is orange but their taste is pure lemon!



Joyce














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