I haven’t posted in ages and I’m berating myself for this, although we did sneak off to Foiata island which is in Tonga for a week. A truly wonderful place – remote and tropical, somewhere to kick back and relax, soak up those rays (with suntan lotion slathered on of course), snorkel, swim with the whales and enjoy 3 meals a day of super tasty tucker. And yes I came home weighing more.
I’m a sucker for the internet (think blogging). So I was like a bear with a sore head when I realised that internet access was only available when the computer was tethered to the phone and then it was intermittent. But the proverbial ‘icing on the cake’, was that it was only possible to charge appliances from 6 – 11pm. No problem really, except that we had only one cable for each appliance, so as you can imagine, squabbling ensued. I won’t talk about the hair dryer …
Doing it hard
Island dogs
But we got by. I read a book, contemplated life, ate too much and snorkelled (not at the same time mind you), which I really enjoy. I’m a bit of a wuss though, I’m not keen on sea snakes, reef sharks or anything that appears without warning, and I have been known to literally ‘walk on water’ to avoid them.
Island view
Tonga as it happens, is renown for humpback whales which journey from the Antartica to enjoy the warm environ, mate and give birth before heading back to the chill, ready to do it all over again. Isn’t nature wonderful?
Humpback breaching
Whale watching boats can be seen dotted amongst the islands and out to sea, with keen folk joining a guide to swim with these magnificent mammals – but only in groups of 4. So imagine me being particularly brave and tossing myself off the back of the boat into the ocean with the bottom no where to be seen. The world is so different looking through a mask whilst trying to steady the breathing and maintain some semblance of calm (LOL). Then I saw it … a hump back whale swimming directly below me. I held my breath.
He refused to come out …
Hubby who is a natural in the water was in and out like a yoyo (yes I am envious). He was the taker of photos and videos and while a novice with the new GoPro I have been promised images … hmmm
My sort of boat
Goodnight
So, we had a lovely break, met some wonderful people, enjoyed laughs and many stories from people who travel great distances to swim with these spectacular gentle giants of the sea.
Shell vase
Puppy magic
Thank you so much to Tapa, Otto, Uli, Jess, Mata and the girls ..
Even in paradise, there are mishaps
Watch out for my next post .. my garden is growing!