Well folks...after only one full day on Tongatapu we were due to fly to the second most populated island in Tonga (approx 18,000) - Vava'u!

The domestic terminal in Nuku'alofa was fantastically casual...we needed no proof of I.D. and there was no gate number or anything even close. It was basically a cafe from where you could take flights. Ours would take us first to the island of Ha'apai - drop a few people off/pick a few up and then we would go on to Vava'u (pronounced va-var-hu).

Both flights offered amazing views of the Pacific Ocean. The water is clearer than bath water and where coral atolls adorn the sea bed, they're clearly visible from the plane. Besides these, Tonga is made up of some 174 islands dotted about all over the place, and their palm lined beaches looked pretty spectacular from the air too! The pilot on the second flight even took us on some twists and turns so we could see better. That didn't please some of the more queasy passengers but we thought it was great! We'll put photos up asap for you to judge for yourselves though.

With another simple airport negotiated we stepped through into the thronging crowd of taxi drivers and hoteliers in search of our pick-up for the Vava'u Villa! Quickly found and into a car we were introduced to one half of our hosts here, Sandy. We soon discovered that Sandy spends half his time in Tonga, running the guesthouse and a restaurant, and half his time skiing in Banff, Canada where he runs a hotel. He owns plenty more than this but I won't go into it all here. Needless to say, he's quite the entrepreneur and quickly had us down for dinner at his restaurant 'The Giggling Whale'!

We ate that night overlooking the harbour and some really fabulous yachts...although the season being nearly over, many apparently have sailed onwards.

Sandy and Cathy (the second half) really are the best hosts! For one, their surname is Best, but we do really feel at home here. We are the only guests in the house and share the living spaces with them. They're so welcoming and have been eagerly signing us up for various activities, including our favourite - scuba diving!

We'd decided between us that we'd really like to spend our first day on the island going for a little exploration into the main town Neiafu. However, our plans were altered slightly when Sandy offered us a little afternoon's jaunt on his longboat. So, off we went through the harbour where Sandy pulled alongside most of the boats to chat briefly to their various owners and convince them to spend at least one of their remaining nights in The Giggling Whale. Then, once out of the harbour we picked up some speed and dashed off towards some of the nearby islands making up the archipelago.

I don't want to go on about the clarity of the water, so from now if you just assume we can see the bottom everywhere we went, that's close enough! We ventured into a little cave, a sore subject still with Cathy who didn't think their boat should've been going in caves! We thought it was good though, and that was despite the bats sleeping on the roof!

Once out of the cave, our next stop was Port Maurelle. God knows why this is called PORT Maurelle as it's clearly just a beach...a very nice beach, but no port...we chatted briefly with some 'yachties' and Sandy whizzed us on to Nuku Beach. As with the clarity of the water, also take for granted that all beaches in Tonga are incredible! White sand, a few shells here and there and all lined with palm trees...all of them. Nuku was so remote though, the water was shallow enough for a bit of a swim around while we were there and we learnt that it has recently changed location, courtesy of the recent tsunami. Proof of this was the mooring buoy slap bang in the middle of the sand!

Sandy's final destination of the afternoon before home was for lunch on Mala, I took the helm for a while on the way which was fun!

So that was us pretty much sold on Tonga! Vava'u in particular is just heavenly...

We managed our 'day of rest' the following day and we ambled through the village...but our next adventure would be right around the corner. Six Kiwis, four dives, two days and the King of Tonga's own band!

Early on Thursday morning we were down at the mariner to go scuba diving. On the boat were a Swedish couple, six New Zealanders and us...plus the Tongan staff. We all thoroughly enjoyed our two dives, although having been a while since our last ones, I was a bit nervous to start.

At the end of our dives, we mentioned going to Sandy and Cathy's restaurant for $10 Beer and a Burger...and that got everyone else in there too! It didn't take long for Sandy to convince everyone to return later for the traditional music night where no other than the Kings own band would perform! Very exciting!

The night was great fun, we got to know all our fellow divers and the band were great! The music was very stereotypical South Pacific Ukelele stlye...so good, that today we bought their CD! As the evening wore on, we realised that the music was better and better, this was due to the copious amounts of kava that the band were enjoying. It's basically hooch, Tongan style. Made from ground up ginger roots, it looks (and tastes) like mud. It's non-alcoholic, but slightly narcotic. We joined in the fun and had our own little kava ceremony where we all sat cross-legged and were handed a bowl of kava for gulping down...this followed by clapping makes us truly welcome in Tongan society!

We were up today for dives three and four, the Kiwis were back as well and once again we had a great couple of dives. This time a bit more adventurous as we swam through tunnels and into caves hunting for sharks! Only baby reef sharks though...and they were sleeping...they didn't seem too menacing, all the time in our heads was the Jaws theme though!

Back on dry land we've had a pleasant afternoon, Sandy took us to explore a bit more of the island and we bumped into those Kiwis again! I think they're following us...maybe they think the same though.

Vava'u is such a lovely place, it's so far from 'the beaten track' that there are very few tourists and the majority of those who are here, are 'yachties'! They really are amazing, some of them have entire families (complete with dogs) on their boat, whilst others are on a more solitary journey. For some it's home and others it's a hobby, but all are so friendly. They evidently spend a good deal of time here, as it's one of the world's sailing hotspots apparently, we can tell! We've spoken to quite a number of them, and their lives are as fascinatingly different from ours as anybody we've met along our way.

Anyway...we like Tonga basically, specifically Vava'u as in retrospect, Tongatapu was a tad dull.

We've no immediate plans for our last few days here, but no doubt Sandy and Cathy will endeavour to fill our time!

Love to all

Nick and Katie

xxx