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Rachael Edwards <rkedwards89@gmail.com> 2 June 2012 12:19
To: Caren Edwards <cekedwards@gmail.com>, Sam Edwards <samdedwards@gmail.com>, Dana Edwards
<danajohnedwards@gmail.com>, Susan Edwards <susandorisedwards@gmail.com>, Erik Edwards
<eriksagatunedwards@gmail.com>, "Edwards, Lisa" <lisa.edwards@marquette.edu>, bruce edwards
<brucehaven@yahoo.com>, Leonard Edwards <judgeleonardedwards@gmail.com>, John Merryman
<merry@law.stanford.edu>, Sue Kelman <sueakelman@yahoo.com>, "Barton, Colleen A" <cbarton@geomi.com>,
Paul Denison <paul_denison@cate.org>, Liane Fitzgerald <liane.f@gmail.com>, Rose Goodall
<rose_petal88@hotmail.com>, Katie Klett <katieklett@hotmail.com>, anna lipkin <annalouiselipkin@yahoo.com>,
Jackie Liu <jackie.eve@gmail.com>, Chiara Benham <clbenham@gmail.com>, Jeremy Porter
Hi all!!
We are settled in to our new life for the next 6 weeks or so here in Tonga. We are WOOFING (working for our stay) at a little beach resort
on the main island of Tongatapu named Heilala garden resort.
Quick update of how we got here:
We started sailing on Irene with Kerry (a family friend from NZ) in Panama during the beginning of March. We transited the canal at night, which was quite impressive and quite disorganized for such a major
operation. Line handlers couldn’t tie cleats, captains yelling at each other etc.
We sailed from Panama to the Galapagos where we spent a few days swimming with seals and turtles and stalking iguanas. I have never seen such tame animals in my life. The turtles allowed us to pet their shells as they cruised past, and the seals (especially the pups) would basically climb on top of us. We spent a magical afternoon body surfing the shallow waves in a lagoon filled with all the pups of a colony. I tried to sneak one aboard but Jeremy wouldn’t let me.
From the Galapagos we started our 21 day passage to the Marquesas where we spent a week or so hiking around to the world's second largest waterfall and eating large amounts of tropical fruit. Daniel, a friendly local who would welcome yachties (and who we knew back in
1999) had since passed, but the beautiful bay surrounded by steep volcanic cliffs is still named after him.
We stopped by the Tuamotus for a whopping 3 days and bought black pearls and did some beautiful drift dives with nurse and reef sharks. Overall, the sailing part of our journey was more of a means of transport rather than “cruising”.
Now we are in Tonga and plan to slow down and soak in this place that is far less developed than places like Fiji. No chain stores have been established (yet!) and no hotel chains block the beaches.
Life here has been very nice. We are located about a 30 min bus ride from town and things are very quiet. We can bike to local Chinese run markets to buy daily necessities (and practice my mandarin!) The bikes are always a laugh with baby pigs littering the road, flying foxes dangling from the trees (and screeching like parrots), Chinese road workers (sometimes) smiling, and the Tongans always hollering out “bye” instead of “hi”.
The beach on high tide is great for snorkeling and surfing. At low tide we found a secret white sand beach that emerges from the ocean.
It's about a 20 min walk around a sharp limestone corner and we believe to be the only ones that frequent it. It's now called JJ's beach.
Surfing has been good. Head high waves that JJ has been playing in on high tide. Max of 3 people are out at any given time but there are far more surf spots than surfers. I've been getting used to the concept of reef surfing, which still spooks me a bit. The water is so crystal
clear that is makes the 4 foot deep water appear to be only a slick varnish on top of a sharp reef. Transiting to short boarding is another adventure, but Jeremy is kind enough to push me in to waves in between his rides. We are expecting a twelve foot swell in the next
few days.
We biked down the road a few days ago to visit the amazing blowhole coastline that Tonga is graced with. The swell is so big on the outside of the reef and creates so much pressure upon its contact with the reef that it has hollowed out underwater caves that release its pressure via holes in the limestone. The water shoots 30 feet high and it sounds like we are in the middle of a war zone.
On average we work 4 hours a day and spend the rest of the day beach combing, surfing, biking. Recent jobs have included: rethatching fales (bures=traditional houses), rat proofing houses, cleaning the seaweed off the beach, maintaining bikes. I have learned to use almost
every tool in the shed (including electric) and have become quite a handy woman!
We fly to Fiji on August 4, where we are meeting up with Caledonia (Jeremy’s older brother’s boat). We hope to head up to Hapai and Va’vau before August, hopefully when the whales are here. This is meant to be one of the best spots to get in the water with the whales. They should be here in a month or so to play right off our beach. Can't wait to hear their songs!
We are headed out to one of the motus (“Big mama’s”) on Monday, which is the unofficial yacht club of Tonga. We’ll snorkel, check out the scene, and post a crew available ad.
Hope all is well.
Lots and lots of Love,
Rachael and Jeremy
P.S. Can't send pictures because of internet speed.
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