Neiafu Vava'u Kingdom of Tonga

We arrived outside the entrance to the Vava'u group at 04:00 yesterday morning so hove-to for an hour and a half to wait for some daylight. We had a good run the last day with 20 hours at 20 knots. We kept shortening sail to keep the speed down and averaged 5-6 knots. The seas were short period and got up over 3 meters but they were dead astern so they k=just rolled under us. The boat was rolling around pretty good though so sleeping was a tad challenging. We tied up at the fisheries dock and waited for customs and immigration to come down to the boat. Just after 09:00 they showed up and the clearance was done. They asked us to wait an hour for the health inspector to come and if they did not show we could go and anchor. We got a 31 day visa with the option to extend which is good as we will be here for 2 ½ months. It is is odd, but the people we know travelling on Canadian passports received a 4 month visa no problem. I guess they want to keep closer track on New Zealanders!! We decided against anchoring as we were really tired and the anchorage is pretty crowded so we arranged to pick up a mooring with one of the local cafes. They are $15.00 Tongan Pa'anga a night (about $9.00 Canadian). We really did not spend any time ashore yesterday; just enough to go and exchange some money and that was about it. Today is exploring day! The Kings Coronation ceremony is happening here Sunday though Wenesday next week so we will stick around for that.

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