Vava’u archipelago

The Vava’u archipelago is a cruising heaven. It is composed of 60 islands distributed over an area of 18nmiles east-west and 16nmiles north-south. Much of the archipelago features deep seaways that wind fjord-like around islands, some more than 300 feet high. These features plus warm sandy beaches and an abundance of migrating whales make the area a Polynesian heaven and a world class sailing area.

Neiafu Harbor is comparable to a large lake protected on from the wind and weather on all sides. The most protected hurricane hole we have ever seen. The town overlooks the harbor and there is an abundance of quaint waterfront cafes and marine focused businesses.

Moody Vava’u Harbour

Both Moorings and Sunsail have charter businesses here and numerous cruising boats are securely on moorings provided by the shore based businesses.

Salacia at Neiafu

  

We have had great meals at the Giggling Whale, Aquarium Cafe and the Dancing Rooster. The names say it all !!!!

On Friday afternoon there is a twilight race for the visiting yachts and locals alike. Even dinghies participate like this cute little number. The oars are used as rudders

Sailing dinghy

We experienced a Tongan funeral while moored in the bay. At first we thought it was choir practice but as the night progressed the singing of the same hymn continued until 6am when the church bells started to ring. The funeral procession, lead by the orchestra then started. 6 cows, 30 pigs and numerous chickens were slaughtered for the feast that included all of the neighbouring villages. This is a big drain on the family and many go into debt to give their loved one a fitting farewell.

People in mourning at the markets

We motored Salacia from Neiafu around to  Barnacle Bay where we  had a wonderful Tongan Feast. The range of dishes was amazing and the young girls dancing was charming. The anchorage was protected in the easterly winds and we could anchor in 10m. This was preferable to anchoring in 30 metres in the very crowded bay next door.

Tongan Feast

Tongan tradition is that the dancers are oiled so that money from the audience will "stick"

The youngsters are in awe of their sisters dancing

Stephen sampling the Kava at the feast

We returned to our mooring at Neiafu early morning to celebrate Ross and Dian’s last day on Salacia. They caught a plane back to the capital early this morning before winging their way to Sydney. There is still a strong wind warning out so we are doing jobs and taking advantages of the wonderful facilities.