the Whales and limestone caverns

The Royal Palace and the Limestone caves where I swam

Mark, Phil and I explored more of Tongatapu by car, ending up descending deep into limestone caverns carved out through the ancient beds of coral. Spectacular stalactites and stalactites reached towards each other often forming thick pillars that must have taken ages to grow.

As we descended with our guides we could hear splashing and shrieking, and it soon became apparent that there were fresh water lakes down there. Two expat Tongan families visiting home from Hawaii and Texas were having great fun leaping in.  Neither of my companions fancied it, but as we left I found another set of steps leading down to water in a deserted area and, reluctant to miss a wild swim, I stripped off and went in.  The water was surprisingly warm and delicious. I explored more of the cave until I joined up with the families who all were thrilled to be shown a way through to a new area.

The next day was mirror calm so we took Tin Tin out through the reef to look for whales and were thrilled to come across several groups with mother and calf gently cruising along.

Phil, who is a determined fisherman has just lost his lure to a very big fish strike in the reef pass, so the whales were a nice compensation. We anchored  close inside the reef and had an excellent snorkel amidst completely new coral scenery, reminiscent of spreading acacia trees on the Serengeti plains.  The trees were two or three feet across and were vivid lime green,  copper, and purple and blue.  Fish didn't seem as abundant but there were shoals of lime green fish like leaves blowing in the breeze.

The next day Justin and Siobhan arrived and we had the whole boat shipshape after our maintenance work.  That evening we anchored TinTin off the Big Mama Yacht Club again and enjoyed the sunset together over a drink.

Tin Tin's mark painted on the wreck at Big Mama YC

This morning I had everyone up early for  busy day.    I set off with Mark at 07:30  to spray paint Tin Tin' s logo onto the wreck by the yacht club, then got everyone to Immigration at 09:00 in order to sign on the new crew and get our clearance to head north to Vavau.

The Besley then set off to explore Tongatapu by car whilst we lads restocked with vegetables and other groceries, and filled up with fuel before returning the car.  Of course here one must take it to a carwash first!  Driving anywhere was slow today as the streets are full of processions of trucks pumping out music, decked out with flags and balloons and laden with people waving flags in readiness for Saturday's rugby match vs Fiji.

1st July 2017 Nukualofa, Tongatapu

We went to the World Cup Qualifier match between Tonga and Samoa, which was attended by vast crowds dressed in red.  It was the first international match  held there for a long time and everyone was excited about it.  We had seats on the grandstand, and I sketched the scene as the crowds rolled in. It was interesting that people near me were Tongans who sometimes supporting Samoa because a relative lived there or played in the team. Everyone seemed very friendly.  Large ladies gyrated wonderfully in the stalls as the music played, or whenever there was a score.   It was a very close match with a thrilling try in the first minute and a dramatic ending as Samoa made a thrilling push with a rolling maul over the Tongan line in the final seconds of theme.  The referee ruled that the ball was held up and gave No Try and then blew the final whistle.  The crowd went  mad with excitement.  Later in the streets parades of cars and trucks had joyful supporters dancing on the car tops and even taking their trousers off and waving them in the air!

That evening Mark and Phil went off to watch the Lions vs NZ match (which Justin was attending in person in NZ) at Big Mamas Yacht Club.  To their surprise the Lions won.

I wasn't feeling well, still recovering from a painful gut which Dr. Kate suggests is diverticular disease - I am on antibiotics.   So I stayed on board and watched Cast Away.