Author: richwest3

October 2, 2012

Hello?  Is anyone out there?  Why don’t you email?  Was it something we said?

We’d love to hear from you – anyone reading this.  Our email address is on the “contact us” link above.

Thanks,

Rich and Cyndi

Late September/Early October, 2012

After we arrived in Tonga, both Rich and I suffered from a bout of cruising/travel burnout. It was no reflection on Tonga, which was wonderful. In fact, being in Tonga gave us the safe and comfortable place we needed to weather the burnout. I would compare it to fighting off a virus as you tackle some huge project in your life, where you don’t succumb to it until you finish the project and are safe at home, then bam!

Actually, a lot of the cruisers seemed to be struggling with various degrees of this syndrome. We’ve all come a long way over a lot of ocean to be here, and nearly everyone had to endure at least one difficult passage. I think if Tonga had a good all-weather marina, there would have been a few people leaving their boats and heading home for a break from cruising. But Tonga does not have such a marina, and now we all had the scariest passage ahead of us: the dreaded passage to New Zealand.

Everyone is afraid of the New Zealand passage as there are low pressure systems carrying high winds and rough seas that pass regularly between it and Tonga. The guy who gave the first talk about New Zealand was answering anxious questions and got a bit exasperated with them, finally grabbing the mike and saying that Opua is not in the body bag business! New Zealanders are an enterprising people, and if there were a good business for body bags for cruising sailors, they would be selling them. He added that we would be hard-pressed to find a funeral home in Opua. (Note: Opua is in the Bay of Islands in north New Zealand and is where most of the cruisers will be checking into the country).

Rich and I felt bad about being burnt out as we were in such a beautiful place and felt so blessed to be here. But I thought about it and realized that no matter how you travel—by plane, boat, car, train, or on foot—the thrill of novelty can only last so long before it starts to wear thin. There comes a time when you just have to take a break for awhile, and so we did. I could always tell who in the fleet was suffering the same sort of burnout: the boats that stayed put in the harbor and didn’t sail out to the nearby islands. For a long time, we were one of those boats.

I will say after a week or so in Neiafu we both were feeling better. Still, we stayed put, just living life in town, hanging out at the Aquarium Cafe, and spending more time “being” instead of always “doing.” Rich later overheard a conversation where someone said, “Legacy’s been here three weeks!” Yes, it was true. But it was also true that by that point we were finally making plans to get out to the islands.

The most appropriate picture for this blog post would be one of Rich and I drinking an afternoon beer at the Aquarium. Since I don’t have a photo of that, I will instead put in some of my favorite pictures of our time at the Neiafu harbor. -Cyndi

September 30, 2012

Years ago (probably ‘04 or so), Rich and I met a wonderful woman named Diane who worked with the Peace Corps and was assigned to Vava’u, Tonga. She ended up with one of our products: a stuffed teddy bear that says a bedtime prayer, and it had strongly affected some of the young people she worked with. When it quit working; she contacted us and said she would soon be visiting her home in San Diego, and could she buy another bear? Needless to say, we gathered all the bears we had and donated them to her.

While she was in San Diego, we met her for lunch and learned more about Tonga. She worked with this incredible church and its pastor, Pastor Havili, who did so much to help troubled youth in the area. She was in the market for a piano keyboard for the church as the one they had quit working, and did we know of anything? Actually, we did: Rich’s piano teacher had a professional keyboard that he was planning to sell. Rich called him immediately and told him about the church, and he ended up donating the keyboard. Rich arranged to get it on the plane with Diane when she flew back and we paid the extra fees.

Later, we were thrilled to hear how well it was working and how a young man from the church played it beautifully. We hoped to get to Tonga someday and hear it for ourselves.

Well, we finally made it! We met with Pastor Havili and Sione, the assistant pastor who turned out to be the young man who had taught himself to play the keyboard. We visited the church, first going to a special Tongan feast they were holding for some visiting missionaries and then later going to a church service. Music is a very important part of Tongan church services and Tongans are well known for their beautiful singing. They lived up to their reputation as the singing and music was amazing! The keyboard is still working perfectly and Sione is a gifted player. -Cyndi

September 28, 2012

One of the must-dos in Tonga is the Tongan feast. Every Polynesian society has their own version of these feasts, which feature traditional song and dance along with the traditional foods. There are many feasts to choose from during cruising season in Vavau, some of them near Neiafu and some at the outer islands (which means you have to take your boat). Some were on lovely beaches, some became large cruiser parties, and some were more educational. They were all a great way for some of the villages to make some money, sell their wares, and share their culture.

We chose a feast that was in the educational category (although it did have a beautiful setting). The woman who runs it is a Tongan American businesswoman who has moved back to Vava’u and uses her own home on the beach as the site. She has taught the people of her village how to do these feasts professionally, and then teaches those of us who attend about the Tongan rituals and customs. It was a really special evening. -Cyndi

September 27, 2012

We had a special surprise stop on our whale excursion. The tour operator of Whales in the Wild (the outfit we went with) was dropping off his visiting son and daughter-in-law at a small resort on Eua’iki Island (aka Treasure Island). What a treat to be able to see this island up close, and the little resort looks like a nice place to stay.

Would we be anchoring here in the future? Maybe. Many of these islands have spots where you can anchor for the day, but then it’s best to move someplace more protected overnight. This place was such a beautiful stop that I decided to give it its own blog post. -Cyndi