We have arrived in New Zealand!

With the Pacific Cyclone season approaching, we needed to be in New Zealand by the beginning of November so cut short our stay in Tonga.  A three day passage took us to North Minerva Reef, a last opportunity to anchor in an atoll for the time being.  Minerva Reef  consists of  two separate reefs, North and South, both are awash at high water - there is one pass into the lagoon, and at high tide all you can see are the waves crashing on the outer rim of the reef - and the lighthouse, which is a rather unusual sight on an atoll hundreds of miles from anywhere in the middle of the Pacific!

Minerva Reef was named after the first of several whaling ships to be shipwrecked there in the 1820’s.  It has an interesting history - in the early 1970’s an American millionaire attempted to create a Tax Free Sovereign Micro-nation on the reef, allegedly he had a budget of $100 million, barges of sand arrived from Australia in an attempt to create dry land.  The surrounding Pacific Nations did not approve - Tonga was officially handed all rights to Minerva Reef.  Undeterred by the first failure, another group of Americans attempted to occupy the reef in 1982 and were rebuffed by the Tongans.  All was peaceful until 2005 when Fiji decided to have a go.  In 2010 they blew up the lighthouse - the Tongans rebuilt it - the Fijians blew it up again - the Tongans rebuilt it and proposed a trade off with Fiji’s L’au group of islands for Minerva Reef.  The debate continues!

The remnants of a previous lighthouse on the North Minerva Reef - Nautilus is one of the yachts in the background.

Minerva Reef at low water.

Waves crashing onto the reef on the windward side of the atoll.  This is all covered at high water.

Minerva makes a very convenient stopping over spot for yachts between Tonga and New Zealand - we were joined there by Hugh and Annie from Vega, as well as Rito and Angela from SheSan,  and Pele and  Ulla from Loupan.  Along with Rick and Amanda on Duplicat, we ended up spending several days sheltering there from some very strong winds before we set off on the final push to New Zealand.  The diving on the outer wall of the reef was absolutely spectacular - fantastic coral canyons and a drop off that almost gave you vertigo.  Unfortunately due to the strong winds we were only able to do the dive once, with Rick.

Finally there was a break in the weather and we set off for New Zealand - a 915 nm trip.  Having waited out the strong winds in the lagoon, we ended up motoring for 3 full days of the 7 day trip.  It did however give us plenty of opportunity to sort out the boat in preparation for clearing into New Zealand.  New Zealand makes great efforts to protect its agriculture and wildlife, and for that reason no eggs, plants, seeds, uncooked fruit or vegetables or meat that is not tinned can be brought into the islands.  

Ian was not at all upset to be chucking the last of our dried beans and pulses overboard before arriving in New Zealand!

Our instruments record the Longitude as we cross the Prime Meridian from West to East - we have sailed half way round the world!

Our final Pacific Sunset before reaching New Zealand

Superbe sailing conditions (although rather chilly!) as we head for Opua, New Zealand.  We even had a pod of whales guide us in to the bay.

We completed the paperwork formalities in Opua and spent several days in the marina before heading on down to Port Whangerei for a haul out and some repairs - sorting out the welding from the damage we sustained in Panama being one of the essential jobs on the list.

Nautilus dwarfed by the 100 ton Travel Hoist, she only weighs 12 tons.

Andre from Industrial Rebuilds Ltd cutting out the damaged area of the hull.  It’s never relaxing watching someone with an angle grinder working on your boat.

Job Done!  The corner of the transom fully repaired and the fuel locker at the back enclosed by Andre of Industrial Rebuilds Ltd and new extended stainless steel guard rails built and fitted by Mark from Northern Marine Machining.  We could highly recommend both of these companies to carry out boat works.

And finally - our route to New Zealand

The statistics so far ...

Total miles sailed since leaving the UK:    26,423nm

Miles sailed in 2017:                                    9,195nm

Nights spent at sea in 2017:                        55 nights

Longest single passage in 2017:                 24 days, Galapagos to Marquesas.  3033 nm 

Number of Countries visited in 2017:        11     (Dutch Antilles, Columbia, Panama, Galapagos, Marquesas, Tuamotos, Society Islands, Cook Islands,

                                                                              Niue, Tonga, New Zealand)

So now the boat is out of the water, sails and ropes washed and removed.  We will be leaving her here for several months and heading home via South Island, catching up with friends and family and finally experiencing a winter again!  We plan to return here at the start of the Southern Hemisphere winter, a few more things to sort out on the boat and then hopefully Fiji and maybe back to Minerva Reef and Tonga in 2018.  This blog only covers sailing, so will be on hold now until we’re back on the water.

The Kingdom of Tonga

To ensure an arrival in Tonga in daylight, we allowed three nights for the 250Nm journey - as it happened, we had a very fast, albeit very wet trip as it rained for one entire night. We had to reef down considerably to arrive in Neifau in daylight.  The Kingdom of Tonga actually consists of 177 islands, many of which are uninhabited, in four distinct groups - we did not visit the most northerly group (the Niuas) but started instead in the Vava'u Group, heading for the Official Port of Entry in Neiafu where we could clear into the Kingdom and also where we had arranged to meet Nick and Sally who were visiting us from the UK.

Tongans are deeply religious, the Christian church plays a central part in Tongan life - Sunday is a day of worship, eating and rest - all shops are shut and the streets are deserted.  There are a huge number of churches on the islands, the Free Wesleyan having the most follows - much of a family's income is donated to the Church, and there are more Church Schools than Government ones, each with their distinct and very smart uniform.  

Like most of the Tongan Churches, Neiafu Catholic Church is a huge and impressive building.

Nick and Sally check out the produce at the local market in Neiafu

Locally grown produce is abundant - these lovely ladies sold us 13 papaya and the palm leaf basket for 10 pa'anga, less than £4.

Apparently they all have owners, but pigs and piglets roam free on all the Tongan islands we visited - the piglets form a major part of the Tongan Feast.

The harbour of Neiafu, at the left side of the lagoon in the photo, is a huge and very well protected bay - although you can anchor, we opted for a mooring buoy as it is over 20 metres deep near the town.

The Vava'u Group consists of 60 islands and is considered to be the prime cruising area in Tonga.  We visited 6 of the anchorages - they have even been given numbers to assist the many Charter boat cruisers who get lost and are unable to remember which island they are on!   The water around Tonga is exceptionally clear and we enjoyed some wonderful snorkelling.

Sunlight through the water in Mariner's Cave, anchorage Number 7! (Also known as Port Maurelle or Fangakima)

A wonderful ball of fish, Swallows Cave, also Fangakima

The absolute highlight of our time in the Vava'u group was a day trip whalewatching.  Humpback whales migrate through the Tongan waters between June and October to calf and mate - in the 1800's there were around 150,000 humpbacks in these waters, but hunting and other human activity has decimated the numbers to a mere 12,000 today.   Along with four other sailors, we were picked up from the yacht in a motor boat and set off out to sea at high speed, looking for any signs of whales on the horizon.  For three hours we seemed to see whales in the distance, but by the time we got there they had moved off.  We had an early lunch break, feeling a bit disappointed, and they they arrived ...  first there was a 'Heat Run', a group of male Humpback whales rushing past, surfacing and breaching.  The plan was to swim with them, but we were too slow - by the time we had got into the water, they had passed us.  Next came the most amazing display by a group of four humpbacks.

Fluking - they stay relatively still in the water, and just seem to splash their tails as hard as they can for several minutes.

An adult breaching next to a calf

Flipper- slapping, the humpback is on it's side in the water, splashing it's long arm-like flippers.

Spy hopping

We did finally get to swim with the whales - this is not universally approved of as a practice, it may disrupt the whales.  In Tonga only relatively few licenced operators are permitted to approach the whales and allow swimming, private individuals must keep at least 300m from the whales.  We went into the water in groups of 4, with our guide who ensured we did not approach too closely - the whales did seem to totally ignore us, and it was rather more a case of us getting out of their way when they approached us.

Swimming with Humpback whales - the guide reckoned the calf was between one and two weeks old, the group consisted of the mother and calf, who stayed very close together and two male 'escorts', which we were told would probably not have been related to the calf.  It was an extraordinary experience.

We worked our way south through the Vava'u Group to the tiny island of Fonua'One'One, well protected by a reef the uninhapited island is only about 0.2 Nm from end to end.  At low tide a narrow beach surrounded the densely wooded island - we walked round it in about half an hour.  The next morning we set off at first light for the Ha'apai group, nearly 60 Nm to the south - we had excellent wind and made good time, arriving well before sunset.  Our first destination was Haano where we had to check in again with the Ha'apai Customs and Immigration.  We were also able to buy a few basic provisions and we even had a meal ashore in the Mariner's Cafe which is owned and run by a Polish lady who decided 5 years ago she wanted to buy a business overseas.  She told us she found it online, made a two day visit to Tonga and then made the snap decision to move to the other side of the world and try her hand at the restaurant business.  It seems to be going well for her.

Working our way south through the Ha'apai group we then stopped at Lifuka, Uoleva, Nomuka Ike - no numbers this time, as they are too far away for the Charter fleets from Vava'u.

Nick and Sally in Haano 

The beach at Lifuka - yet another island paradise!

We met up with Rick and Amanda from yacht Duplicat on the uninhapited island of Nomuka Ike and enjoyed snorkelling and a walk around part of the island with them. The island is thickly wooded, but part of it has been fenced off and wild pigs and cattle graze there - I was amazed by the destruction they cause to the woods.

Ground clearance by pigs - none of the fallen coconuts are left to sprout.

Cruisers are frequently asked by locals for spare rope for their cow - initially we were baffled by the concept, but now it all makes sense - the cows are kept tethered to minimise and control the areas they destroy with their grazing.

The remains of the fishing vessel Takuo, washed ashore on Nomuka Ike over ten years ago during a storm.  Nautilus and Duplicat are in the anchorage, the land across the bay is the larger Nomuka island with a population of approximately 1000.

Time was now running out for our visitors, we had to set off for the Tongatapu group of islands, 60 Nm to the south for them to catch their flight home.  Another dawn start, but this time we were not so lucky with the wind.  It was a beat - unusual for these parts, the wind was from the south, we had to motor sail in order to cover the distance in daylight.  We did however manage to catch two fish, (very unusual for us!) so it would be tuna for dinner, and also we saw several whales, including one that surfaced about 50 metres from the boat and waved its fluke at us before diving back down to the depths.

The main port of Nuku'alofa does not cater for yachts - instead we anchored off the delightful little island of Pangiamotu approximately 1.5 miles across the lagooon, and home of Big Mama's Yacht Club, a beach side bar / restaurant that caters for day trippers from the main town of Nuku'alofa and the trickle of yachts that stop here on the way to New Zealand and Australia.  The island is small enough to walk round in half an hour, and the snorkelling on a couple of old steel fishing boats wrecks as well as in the shallows next to the shore was excellent.  We ate in the resturant on Nick and Sally's last night on the boat, and Big Mama herself joined us for a post meal drink - the island belongs to the Royal Family who granted her permission to run the restaurant, which she had been doing with her husband Earle for the last 45 years.

Nick and Sally's final day on with us was spent on a round Tongatapu trip (organised by Big Mama) - the highlight was the  Mapu'a 'a Vaea blowholes, caused by the erosion of the coral rock, they extend for 5 km along the south coast of Tongatapu.

The waves crash into the coral cliff, even on a calm day with little swell it was a truly impressive sight - almost hypnotic, you could watch it for hours.

In close second place amongst the island's attractions was  'Anahulu Cave, you worked your way down a poorly lit path underground, surrounded by dripping stalactites and stalagmites with small bats flying overhead hoping that the generator running the lights wouldn't fail until you arrived at the freshwater pool - a very strange experience, it sounds horrible and far too much like potholing, but it was actually wonderful, if rather spooky.

Sally enjoying an underground swim in the 'Anahulu Cave.

Another bizarre attraction was the Tsunami Rock - a single large coral boulder ripped from the reef and pushed over 100 metres inshore by an ancient Tsunami it is believed to be the largest rock of its kind in the world.   We also saw the site where Captain Cook landed on Tonga, complete with a plaque commemorating a visit by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and Princess And in 1970 - a rather murky area of mangroves, certainly not one of the island's highlights.  We also saw trees full of Flying Foxes - large fruit bats with white furry heads and black ears and noses.

Driving round the island you can't but notice the amount of road side graves - our local guide and driver for the day, Wes, explained that burial can only occur on Government approved sites, but traditionally graves are covered with sand to keep the deceased warm and almost all were decorated with artificial flowers.

Roadside Graves - complete with flowers, sand 'blankets' and in many cases large decorated fabric panels.

We have enjoyed our time in Tonga, it seems to have flown by - you could easily spend months here.  The people have all been welcoming and friendly, the sea quality is excellent and the snorkelling wonderful.  Unfortunately we need to be in New Zealand by the beginning of November in order to avoid the cyclone season so there is no choice for us but to leave - we plan to head for Minerva Reef some 350km south of Tonga for a brief stop before New Zealand - the reef, which is awash at high tide, was claimed by Tonga after an American property developer imported tons of sand from Australia with the intention of building a Tax Free Republic on the reef.  Subsequently Fiji has attempted to claim it, resulting in UN involvement as recently as 2011 - the dispute apparently continues.

A final view of Tonga, underwater.  A Red and Black Anemonefish protecting it's patch - the snorkelling in these waters has been exceptional - clear water and abundant coral.  

  

Beveridge Reef and on to Niue

Conditions were still windy when we finally left Aitutaki - assisted by our neighbours on Jadean as we had spent the last week rafted up next to them in the tiny port of Aitutaki.  The 470 miles to Beveridge Reef took us 4 days, well reefed down,  initially sailing in 4 metre waves we experienced gusts of over 40 kts.  Well aware that a catamaran had just come to grief on the reef, we approached in daylight - even knowing where the reef was it was very hard to see any sign of it.  There were humpback whales in the pass, what a welcome!

There is no detail of the atoll on the charts, so we motored in cautiously, following Jadean, and made our way across to the most windward corner of the atoll where the sea state would be calmest due to the protection from the reef and dropped anchor.  We later learnt that the Catamaran, which was gradually getting lower in the water, had been washed across the reef and then the rescuers had anchored it to stop it being washed across the atoll into the pass where it could have become more of a hazard to shipping.  Apparently a salvage operation is planned, although several weeks have now passed and there is no sign of it.

A dramatic ending to one family's dreams.  The couple on board and their young children were rescued by the only vessel in the area, a whale research ship that was in the atoll at the time.  The bottom of the hulls has been ripped off, but it's buoyancy is keeping it afloat.

This sandbank was the only part of the atoll that was above the water when we arrived - by the next day the wind and swell had increased and the waves were breaking over it from both sides. 

We were joined in Beveridge Reef by Ashley and Ben from Nahoa and Jenny and Greg with their children Oliver and Annnika on So What and enjoyed a wonderful fish BBQ on Jadean on our first night there - Ashley and Ben had caught a 2m yellowfin tuna en route, and Barry and Kim a Wahoo of almost the same size.  Luckily both catamarans have sufficient freezer space to accommodate such catches!

Hugh and Annie arrived the next day, so unfortunately missed the BBQ, but we did all go on a snorkel and then a couple of dives in the pass the next day - fabulous underwater 'landscape', hundreds of barracuda and at well over 2m, the biggest grouper any of us had ever seen.

Conditions in Beveridge Reef deteriorated, and we ended up basically stuck on the boats for a couple of days in pretty uncomfortable conditions - being submerged, the reef does not fully block the swell and as the wind had increased the waves were breaking over it and into the atoll especially at high tide.   We spent 4 nights there and then headed on to Niue with Vega.  The others have headed straight to Tonga.

The trip from Beveridge to Niue is about 150 miles, the sort of distance we can frequently manage in 24 hours but yet again we need to leave and arrive in daylight so the only option was a two night sail - we approached Niue in the early hours, it was grey and swathed in rain clouds - it did not look particularly welcoming!

Niue is one of the world's largest coral islands, 14 miles by 12 miles and rising 60 metres out of the sea it is fondly referred to as "The Rock".  It's nearest neighbour (apart from Beveridge Reef) is Tonga, 240 nautical miles to the west.

Captain Cook was the first European to see the island of Niue in 1774 but the he Natives did not allow him to land.  By the mid 1800's the Missionaries had arrived and been welcomed, and in 1889 the Niue Chief wrote to Queen Victoria asking her to 'stretch out towards us your mighty hand' - in 1901 Niue was briefly declared a British Protectorate before being handed over to New Zealand the same year.  In the 1970's Niue eventually became a Self Governing State in Free Association with New Zealand, and remains so today.

There is only one possible landing place in Niue, the port of Alofi, and due to the coral and the water depth mooring buoys must be used by visiting yachts.  We followed a pod of dolphins to one of the available buoys - later in the day a humpback whale and it's calf slowly made their way through the yachts towards the cliffs - an amazing sight.

Humpback whales in the bay - not a great photo, but wonderful to see - and to hear them calling to each other under the boat.

The first challenge you face in Niue is getting ashore - the only option is to hoist the dinghy up with a small crane - a two person operation that involves hooking the dinghy up to a strop and hosting it out onto the quay.  At times there is a large surge in the harbour which makes it a rather wet experience.

We're hired a car for a couple of days with Hugh and Annie from Vega - the island is incredible, there are over 50 'Sea Treks' down from the road to the sea where you can investigate the magnificent limestone cliffs and caverns and swim or admire the crystal clear waters around Niue.

At low tide you can walk across the old coral platform and swim or snorkel in the pools.

The coral has eroded into wonderful caves and caverns with stalactites and stalagmites.

Talava Arches - one of the many highlights of our trip round the island.

One thing you could not fail to notice when driving round the island was all the derelict buildings - there were literally hundreds in various states of disrepair.  

One of the many abandoned houses we passed on our trip round the island.  We later learnt that much of the damage was caused by Cyclone Heta in 2004 which struck the island with 260km winds and storm surge waves which broke over the top of the 30 metre high coast around the main town of Alofi.  The island population at the time was somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 but as the locals are given New Zealand passports many of them left for NZ and did not return to the island.  The population is currently approximately 1,600, and the island is struck by cyclones approximately once every 10 years.  Like Aitutaki, the island was also covered with gravestones - it seems you can bury your dead wherever you like, maybe in their favourite spot on the island.

On the west coast we took a small sea track from the village of Liku and found ourselves on the edge of the coral shelf around the island.  The shelf is formed with long dead coral, and at low tide it is easy to walk on in the shallows, protected by the outer reef.

Enjoying walking on the coral shelf with Annie.

We didn't think the trip could get any better when we noticed lots of white Tropicbirds circling out to sea, and then we had front row seats to the sight of several whales breaching in the distance.

One of the several humpback whales we saw on the eastern side of Niue.

Our final destination with the car was a trip to the Togo Chasm, according to the information we had received from the Tourist Office, everyone should make at least one trip to Togo - they weren't wrong, it was again absolutely spectacular.  We walked a couple of kilometres through the thick forest which gradually gave way to more and more outcrops of weathered spiky coral.

The forest then gave way to the jagged pinnacles of black coral - there was a narrow concrete path you could follow down to the sea.

A wooden ladder takes you down into a chasm, complete with a little beach and a few coconut palms, from there you can clamber through to the sea at low tide.

The end of the Togo Chasm - the waves are breaking over a coral arch - this area would be underwater at high tide.

Heading back to the car past a skyline of weathered coral pinnacles.

We didn't only see the caves and caverns of Niue from land, we also went for a couple of dives with Magical Niue, one of the two local dive operators.  We went into two caverns, in one we removed our scuba gear and walked around the extraordinary limestones shapes spotting the occasional coconut crab that makes its way in from some hidden entrance at the back of the cavern.  The highlight was the water snakes - there were lots of them both in and outside the caverns, not something we have come across before.

Our time in Niue has now come to an end, we plan to head off to Tonga tomorrow morning where we will be meeting Nick and Sally, our only visitors to have braved a trip half way round theworld to come and visit us!

 
Sunset at Alofi.  Several boats have been put off visiting Niue due to the requirement to use mooring buoys (at a cost) and also the huge increase int he departure tax from NZ$35 to NZ$80 per head that has been levied this year - we are very glad that we came, it is a unique place and we have very much enjoyed our visit here.