Sept 17 - Niuatoputapu ("Very Sacred Coconut")

We've lost a day! Here in Tonga it's one day later than the USA. Yesterday, we were cleared in by two officials; cost was $25 for Customs, $15 for Quarantine, and $100 for Health...all in pa'anga dollars (conversion was .6436/USD yesterday). About 170 boats a year visit here; 70 yachts clear in from Apia or other ports, and 100 yachts come up from Vava'u. We had started walking to the 'bank' to obtain Tongan currency when a new pick-up stopped to give us a ride; turns out he was one of the senior Customs officials, so knew we were going to the bank and his office was adjacent next door. There was a tsunamai here two years ago. Nine people died and a tremendous amount of destruction occurred. There's a new temporary 'bank' (one room area for exchanging money; cash only, no ATM's; $10 pa'anga fee for any currency exchange), Customs office (another one room area), and high school, as well as an entire new village being built nearby for residents evacuated to higher ground. This is a very poor economy; small one room temporary houses abound; land is fenced off by cut off trees and a length of barbed wire and corrugated roofing; there are no bars or restaurants (that we know of) and one small store with limited items for the locals; the supply ship is supposed to arrive today. There are many horses, pigs, dogs and chickens running around,and since it's Spring here, they've all just had their babies...too cute! And of course, many smiling, waving children as well. We took a walk to the end of a small village nearby; according to the local Nurse Practitioner, there are less than 900 people on the island. During our walk we were met by Fehia, a local woman who has a very good command of English, and a picnic lunch had been arranged for the yachties. There are (including us), six boats here in the anchorage, all of them German except ourselves. Twelve of us were picked up by diesel flat bed truck and taken out to the airport (grass landing strip) located just by the beach on the NE side of the island. Fehia's family had prepared a feast: three kinds of fish dishes (fried, sweet and sour and poisson cru), potatoes, taro, cooked papaya, pig, fruits, and mango juice. (Cost was $10 pa'anga/person.) After lunch we toured the island a bit, and suffice it to say this is a small island offering quite a contrast to our last port of call, Apia. The main commercial activity here is preparing pandanus for weaving, and we didn't see any commercial stores at all. Our plan is to depart for Vava'u tomorrow, as winds look favorable for the 175 nm run down there (direction is about 185T).