Sol from Risho Maru and Mark head out together for a deep water snorkel
That’s Mark up there
Time to replace the masthead light
Could the water be more perfect?
Peaks of Bora Bora
The rays are waiting for the tourist boats to stop and feed them. They all swim over and wait when they hear an outboard engine.
We got to recognize some of the rays as the same group came to be fed every day (well, they looked the same to us)
Picasso fish
Beautiful view of Bora Bora from our anchorage
$1,500 bucks a night and up
Great place for dinner
We all meet for a hilarious evening at the Taravana Yacht Club
Mark scrubs the bottom
Mark scubs Sabbatical III
The fish was about 2 feet long, and accompanied the rays wherever they went looking for handouts
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A zillion fish swim by
Clams and coral
Underwater gardens
We took a water taxi to the airport to pick up a package, but found it was back at the main harbor
Calling home
Peter dives deep
FInn follows his dad
Peter from Risho Maru walks around on the ocean floor.
Snorkeling outside the reef we see a large shark 40 to 50 feet under us
Society Islands
Suwarrow Atoll, Cook Islands
Suddenly Mark can not stop catching fish.
A nice wahoo for dinner
Anchorage Island is the main island of Suwarrow
Laura greets the monument to Tom Neale at the entrance to the park
Tom lived alone on Suvarov in 1952 for nearly two years, and then came back several years later to try it again. Read his book "An Island to Oneself".
This is where the caretakers John and Veronica live . All visitors must check in and are allowed to stay up to 2 weeks… but John does make exceptions for those who can not pull themselves away
Enough water is collected here for the caretaker, his wife and 4 sons
Beautiful view of the anchorage from the beach
The perfection of the snorkeling in Suvarov is marred only by the abundance of sharks. You are fine as long as you don’t try spearfishing.
One of the many trumpetfish in Suvarov waters
Tiny bluefish hide in the coral and dart in and out
Colorful coral
While Mark took an underwater video and lots of pictures of this guy, I quickly swam the other direction
An underwater garden and a Napoleon Rath fish
Great shot of how the surface of the water looks from underneath
These came in all shapes and sizes – some were a foot long
In honor or Tom Neale
Close friend Alexandra from Risho Maru
Our good friend Peter from Risho Maru
Laura, Alex and Finn
Mark with Peter, Alexandra and
Finn (age 8) of Risho Maru
Laura with the Risho Marus
Pieces of dry coral on the exposed reef
We had between 10 and 15 boats in the harbor at all times during the 2 weeks we were there. It has become a popular place among yachties.
Laura pushes Finn on the palm-tree swing
Several boats motor over to nearby Monkey Island on our dinghies
One of the boats sails away and we see them leave over the exposed reef at low tide
Clear water and blue skies seen from underwater
Crazy clams
Two Peters and Mark
Bright blue parrot fish swim in the shallow water on the off-shore reef of Anchorage Island in Suvarov
This motto was faithfully followed by almost all the yachties
Baby bird
Thousands of birds fly up from their roosts as they hear us approach
Laura and friend Gesche from "Yara"
Bird Island
Bird Island
Bird Island- Suvarov
Cathing grouper was fun and easy. They couldn’t resist our lures.
A giant grouper caught while out trolling in our dinghy
Two of John’s sons show us how to clean a grouper
The caretakers of Suvarov – they live here for 6 months with their 4 boys and help the yachties with fishing
Friends from various boats in the harbor gather for a pot-luck dinner on the beach and music
Samoa (Apia)
The Risho Marus looking out over the beautiful beach on the east coast of Samoa
Our rental van – filled with cockroaches – or "kakalakas" as our Austrian friends say.
Pineapple growing in the hills
Guide squeezing out delicious coconut cream for Finn
Guide tearing off coconut husk
We sit and watch the coconut opening and grinding demonstration.
Local bus in Samoa
Colorful construction site
Samoa – crossroads of the South Pacific
Fish market in Samoa
Fish market in Samoa
Fish market
Samoan girl on bus
Robert Lewis Stevenson’s house
Some of the posted rules at the brand new, over officious marina
Bahai Temple
Laura and Finn in the Bahai Temple’s garden
Overlook of waterfalls
Great names in Samoa
Traditional Samoan house or "fale"
Togitogiga recreation reserve
Small water fall in Togitogiga recreation reserve
Large and beautiful waterfall
Our guide shows us how to easily crack open the coconut
A beautiful beach in Samoa
The things not to do when at Apia Harbour Marina
Alex and Peter from Risho Maru
Coastline of Samoa
One of many waterfalls in Samoa
Local sign
Finn peeks out from our rental car
Beautiful countryside
Island Kingdom of Samoa
Tonga — the Vava'u Group
Airport in Neifu
Ben comes to see us – September 27, 2007
Alex and Finn greet us on their boat
Baked by Risho Maru for Ben
A parade carries on even though Tonga loses to France in the Rugby World Cup
A parade carries on even though Tonga loses
The mat skirt is a traditional costume
More parade participants down the main street
Some local folks
In the main market in Neifu
Laura is happy to have Ben with us
At the main market in Neifu
Neifu market
A dollar will buy quite a few bananas
Great little meetings spot for all the sailers – food, drinks and internet access
We had cloudy weather for the first week
A few vendors came by the boat to sell baskets and jewelry
Vava’u public library
Outside the tourist office
The Pitts go to church
The singing was so beautiful – everyone sings so well
Catholic Church
Mark and Finn
Alex from Risho Maru
Lunch on Sunday
Lunch on Sunday
Regine, Anne, Laura, Alex, Gerard and Finn
Ben and Kara (from Magnum)
Vava’u Club
Pigs everywhere
We walk up to a park
A view of the harbor from our walk
Friendly Tongan kids
You have to keep an eye out for the spiders
More spiders
Big fat pig
Mandarines
A magnificent tree in town
After our hike Finn smelled like a pig and Alex made him strip down right on the dock so she could wash him off before they went back to their boat
Heading out of Neifu to one of the 40 anchorages in the Vava’u group
Sabbatical III at anchor
After a cold cloudy day, we take a walk on the beach in the evening.
Ben on the beach at anchorage #8
Anchorage #8
There weren’t too many cold days, but this one certainly was brisk
Ben
Ben
Ben
Mark
Old boat onshore
Ben awaiting a pick-up
Ben became friendly with the 5 people on board Robyn’s Nest and they motored by to pick him up and take him snorkeling at an underwater cave
The fruit man
The fruit man’s wife
Some of the fruit man’s kids
Underway to another anchorage
Mark checks out the sails
Just hanging out
Coming back to the boat
Nice view
All the anchorages in Tonga have real names, but the sailers refer to them by their number on a popular Moorings yacht charter company map.
Opportunity to buy handicrafts before the Tongan Feast
Tongan Feast at Anchorage #11
School kids perform
The small boy in the center was the star of the show
The little girl smiled like this non-stop
Tongan Feast
Tongan feast
Tongan feast
Tongan feast
Tongan feast
Tongan feast
Ben tries Kava
A little too much Kava for this fellow
Tongan feast
Tongan feast
Ben sits across from Denise during the feast
A Spanish restaurant just off of anchorage #11
Ben pours wine for our friends
Our friends join us at La Paella for a very fun evening
Ben at anchorage #11
Ben and Laura
Ben and Mark
Sabbatical III and Risho Maru
Risho Maru
Wonderful friends
Watermelon and pineapples are abundant in Tonga
Laura watches out for coral
Laura keeps a watch out for coral
Organized by Ronny from Nautilus for the "kids", but everyone participated and had a great time.
Finn plays a game
Pirate’s party
Peter’s turn
Alex’s turn
Katherine – Ian’s friend on Afriki – has a turn
The kids await instructions for the next game
Pirate’s party
Laura sits with Regine (Galdus) and Britta and Michael (Vera)
Ben, Katherine,Krista and Ian
Silly game – we laughed until we cried
Sunset at the Pirate’s party
Sunset at Pirate’s party
Laura sits with Alex and Finn
Ronny, the party organizer, and a single hander, is sitting to the right of the two Claudia’s from Tahaa
Ben and Finn schmooze
Gorgeous clouds
Even cloudy days can be beautiful
Beautiful coastline anchorage #23
Wild vegetation at anchorage #23
Nature at its best
Ben
View from the cliffs of anchorage #23
The musicians get together the night after the pirate’s party
Anchorage #23
Laura with Regine and Gerard
We go for a wonderful hike at anchorage #23 with the "Galdus"
Anchorage #23
Red dirt on anchorage #23
View from hills on anchorage #23
The PItts out for a hike
Katherine from Afriki goes for a walk with us
One of the prettiest places we were at
Anchorage #23 – Vava’u
Anchorage #23 – Vava’u
Anchorage #23 – Vava’u
Gesche and Yannic
Gesche, Herbert and Yannic come to the small sandy beach on their rowing dinghy
Alex and Finn
Anchorage #23 – Vava’u
We go for a run – but only Gesche is in good enough shape to really run.
Anchorage #23 – Vava’u
Anchorage #23 – Vava’u
Anchorage #23 – Vava’u
Mark
Peter and Gesche teach Ben to windsurf
Alex
Underway
Tom and Ellen “drive” over for dinner
Mark is a happy host
Laura and Britta
Britta, Michael, Ellen and Tom (not pictured) join us for dinner with Ben on the boat
We are both in our dinghies heading towards La Paella for a farewell dinner with Ben
La Paella
Ben picks up some drums and accompanies the singer
Alex and Peter dance like professionals
The proprietress cooks, sings and dances
Ben gets into it
Michael and Britta are with us at La Paella
The goat stole the show . He had a dog friend and the two of them seemed unhindered by species in their affections for each other!
La Paella
Michael and Britta
Peter and Finn
Alex and Peter
Alex and Peter
La Paella
Suave Peter tries to teach Laura how to dance
The proprietress likes Ben and invites him to come back and accompany them again – but he is leaving the next day.
Ben says goodbye to affectionate Finn
At the airport again – October 18
At the airport
Tonga was the site of a multi-nation forum of South Pacific leaders and they tried to spiff up the town with signs and posters greeting every dignitary
Greeting to Prime Minister of Australia
Ben takes some final shots
Beautiful archway leading to airport
Interesting sign in English
After Ben leaves Mark and I head down to a beautiful isolated island in the southern part of the Vava’u group. Tricky entrance with lots of coral, but worth it.
We burn our anchorage on the lovely beach ( how romantic!)
Anchorage #41
Red crab
Anchorage #41
Strange moth comes inside
You can see the coral reef
Coral heads everywhere
Anchorage #41
Anchorage #41
Michael and Britta say goodbye as they head back to their boat and get ready to sail to New Zealand a few weeks before us.
Tonga
Tongatapu and the passage to New Zealand
Mark was not about to let this mahi mahi get away
Catching more fish en route to Nuku’alofa Tonga
Finn and Yanic look down into the galley from the deck
Big Mama’s – Tongatapu
Sign in the town of Nuku’alofa welcoming visitors
Independence Day Festival- Nuku’alofa
Independence Day Festival- Nuku’alofa
Independence Day Festival- Nuku’alofa
Octopus and eels for sale
Octopus
Octopus
Buying tomatoes in preparation for sale to New Zealand
Gesche plays ping-pong with Alex
Alex playing ping-pong outside Big Mama’s
We relax before dinner – the night before our departure to New Zealand
Nice toilet rules – on a sign in town
Beautiful sunset as we set out towards New Zealand
Looks just like a waterfall in the sky
Huge tanker passes us a day outside New Zealand
First glimpse of New Zealand from up close
At the dock in Opua, New Zealand
They came by to say goodbye
We are Nuku’alofa on the island of Tongatapu. I am at
an internet cafe. We are planning to leave for new
Zealand tomorrow afternoon. We sailed here yesterday
from Kelesia and I caught 4 fish including a very
large tuna (16-18 pounds) and a dorado (mahi-mahi) of
about the same size. We fed 8 people yesterday with
the fish and have about 12 adult size portions left.
The picture has me with the dorado. More later.
M.
New Zealand
The anchorage in Opua
The group of 15 boats who fought the low pressure system and straggled into Opua called themselves the Hindsight Club
They were fantastic at leading the daily radio net
And the last verse is:
Now we’re all in Opua, so safe and secure-ah
Our foulies are hanging to dry,
We all made it by golly
We’re safe, warm and jolly
And next time I think we should fly!
Asylum, Bahati and Roxi
Our friends from “Margarita”
Anders, Anne-Marie and Margit
Interesting name
View of the bay in Opua
Gesche, Herbert and little Yannic
View of Opua while hiking with Yara
Mark, Laura, Herbert and Yannic
Mark and Finn at Mark’s 58th birthday
Happy Birthday with the Risho Marus
Both Gesche and Risho Maru baked Mark a cake!
Yannic and Finn
On the sail from Opua to Whangerei
On the sail from Opua to Whangerei
On the sail from Opua to Whangerei
On the sail from Opua to Whangerei
Hillside by anchorage in Urquhart Bay
Happy to be here
Outstanding scenery and greenery in Urquhart Bay
Fantastic landscape in Urquhart Bay
Rainbow over Urquhart Bay
Cute little park on the way to center of Whangerei from Riverside Marina
