Finally the day has come. Daryl is filling the water tanks and getting ready to fuel up with duty free fuel. Cool Bananas is setting sail for NZ. The forecast has stayed stable for a few days and is looking very promising for a great passage. We should be in Tauranga in about a week.



See you soon from the Team on Cool Bananas.

Tonga -November 2006

Greetings once more from the Cool Bananas Team

We are still relaxing in Tonga and really enjoying the fact that we don't need to move on in the near future.

Selby and Judy managed to get some sea and sun in the time they had with us and have now departed.

We have Debs, who previously crewed for Archangel, now on board with us.

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She will crew with us back to NZ. In a few weeks we also have a friend of Katie's', Ed, join us. This will complete the crew for the journey home.

We have adopted the Tongan pace and lifestyle quite quickly here – lots of eating and socializing, relaxing and time in the water. Daryl has been diving most days and the snorkeling has been great. Most days we can recall seeing something new or different.

Tourism in Tonga is minimal, so we have been luck enough to be able to interact with the, fairly unspoiled, local way of life.

Last week Katie and Daryl were out in our dinghy and went to the aid of a local who had got into difficulty in his outrigger canoe. They helped him back to shore and, despite the language barrier, they understood that we were invited to church and lunch the following Sunday. These people have so little and yet so hospitable. On arriving we realized that no-one there spoke English. We were first invited to join the kava ceremony. Once seated, we followed suit and hoped we weren't doing anything wrong or offensive. Then on to church- the singing in the church was magnificent – the volume incredible. People were so welcoming, even without language. The children stared, as if indeed we were a rare sight. The sermon was of the fire and brimstone variety- much shouting and gesturing.

In accordance with their culture the lunch was all spread on the table, but the table set only for the four of us. We ate while they looked on. Only once we had moved away did the family eat. A marvelous experience and one made possible (or more likely) through our cruising lifestyle.

We have decided we have a passion for caves-some of us to a greater degree than others. We dinghied to Swallows Cave, parked the dinghy in the first chamber, swam to the shore, climbed up through a tunnel to a second chamber where the old Tongan Kings used to have their feasts and then the more adventurous tramped on into the dark and beyond. Katie got some great photos.

Cruising is proving to be quite social and we are finding it interesting meeting people from all different parts of the world. There is a radio net in the mornings which boats check into, so we can keep track of where everyone is.

Daryl and I are coming home in early November for Amanda's 21^st. I have decided to stay on in NZ and miss the final leg of the journey. This last passage can be rough so I will leave it in the capable hands of our experienced skipper and crew. The boat should be back by the end of November.

Hope Spring is being kind to you all.

Cheers from Cool Bananas _/)