The tug kept us from being blown against the pier as we landed.
On Saturday the 29th of October we played mah jongg as if there were no tomorrow, because there wasn’t.
We crossed the international date line and lost Sunday. So they celebrated mass Saturday night, disenfranchising two tables of card players.
Lotsa coconuts
The only island on our itinerary that we did not call at was Rarotonga. A 28 knot crosswind made tendering too dangerous. We circumnavigated the island and continued on to Tonga. Like the islands of French Polynesia, it is a wild melange of volcanic peaks snugly wrapped in forest.
Tonga is totally different, small very flat islands treading water barely above sea level. No sign of volcanism. However I can see why Captain Cook hang up on a reef; the warning beacons hadn’t been put out yet.
No birds, but I saw my first ever flying fish! Shaped like pudgy silver cigars, they would pop out unexpectedly from a two-meter wave, sail close to the water, and disappear without a splash into a cobalt wind wave. Wow.
Parking is approached casually here.
No rocks on Tonga. The sea wall is built of coral chunks.