Commodore
October 3, 2023

Wednesday 4 October – exploring the island by car

I had managed to book a car at the Chinese hotel on the waterfront yesterday, as the Tourist information lady told me there were not many cars for hire and that taxis are hugely expensive. She tried a couple of places and they had no cars, so she sent us to the hotel. It was all very friendly at the hotel, but looked a bit of a building site, the whole place looks half built, a very cheap construction and is the main hotel on the island! It appeared there were only Chinese guests. They have one car and it was available, we offered to pay and she said just come back in the morning – all very casual.

This morning Rowan dropped me off to pick the car up as he returned to the Mango Cafe where we could leave JeldiJedli tied to their dinghy dock. The hotel was apparently getting ready for a wedding in the large room next to reception which was still full of builders dust and loads of building equipment, I hope the bride does not see it! I finally got the car, they said I couldn’t bring the car back full of fuel, as there is no fuel left on the island. With the bad weather the delivery boat has not made it in this week and will only get in next Wednesday. Apparently everyone panicked and filled all their vehicles and container so there is no fuel. However they have managed to give us a full tank which is very sweet of them. More than enough for our needs. It is Tongan people running the hotel, who were just so friendly and helpful.

We had an enormous breakfast at the Mango Cafe and then set off exploring the 10 sights listed on the Tourist Info map! It was a grey and wet day, but we managed to go around and see all the look out points. They seemed to be full of complicated stories of ancient royalty and it was hard to know if some of it was just myths. Between the showers we had some great views of the islands, but the state of the sea out beyond the calm of the islands looked pretty hectic. I’m so glad we are tucked up nicely in such a sheltered spot. Rowan has heard that two boats got de-masted on the way here from Suwarrow. One of the boats is here in the anchorage.

Our drive around the island put things in perspective a bit, this place seems to be pretty poor compared to Samoa, and because it is dry and dusty, not nearly as lush as French Polynesia. I think lush vegetation can disguise a lot. We so enjoyed seeing endless pigs with their piglets rummaging around, and rather sad to see so many skinny female dogs obviously feeding puppies. Of course when we decided to get rid of our excess breakfast, we couldn’t find a deserving mum (dog) and landed giving 3 sausages to a scrawny male – he could not believe his luck! Rowan tried to give some to a pig but it ran away squealing from him before he could get anywhere near. We actually saw some horses that looked ok, others have been very skinny. We are not sure what they do with the horses, as we have not seen a single person on horseback. Overwhelmingly though everyone is so friendly and helpful. We passed an open petrol station and there must have been 30 cars queuing to get petrol. Amazing to live so dependent on the boat deliveries for supplies, which is so reliant on weather. This is the first place in the Pacific where we have seen endless old vehicles on the road, saw one held together with cable ties!

We tried to visit the Botanical gardens, actually a private garden, but it was all locked up. We went back to the visitor centre to see if we could book a tour there and after a huge amount of effort the owner was reached, she said they had to be closed because they have no water. Rowan told her we didn’t need water or loos, so we have managed to book a tour around the garden tomorrow afternoon – fingers crossed. We managed to book the car for another day, T$ 100 (TOP -Tongan currency) which is £34.

On our travels we visited a fresh water pool in a cave right next to the sea which was quite extraordinary, sadly with a lot of graffiti on the walls. In this drizzly weather we were not tempted to swim! We also visited an old lava wall in a clearing in the bush, it was rather underwhelming, but we did see an enormous bat, they must be fruit bats, so that was rather exciting. We drove back via the old port, which still has a ferry going to some of the islands but not deep enough for the majority of boats, all a little unloved and now the wrong side of town.

Got back to PolePole and had a very welcome mug of tea. We also put the generator on, the batteries needed charging on a cloudy day like today. We put our hot water on for the first time in a very long time, we enjoyed deliciously hot showers.

We went and had dinner at the Basque restaurant which serves tapas, we thought it would be fun to eat something different. We were there by 6:15, which is maybe a little too early as we were the only customers. We went with fairly low expectations and we were pleasantly surprised, their croquettes were good, as was the Lomo. Strangely no Spanish wine just French, not even Kiwi wine. We felt very smug as we got home just before it began to pour with rain.

The beach near the botanical gardens

Sea looking so rough beyond the breakers

Views from the look out points

Gorgeous protected bays with inaccessible beaches

Rowan giving me the heebies as he climbs over the railing and gets very close to the edge to get a good photo, sadly they have let fir trees obscure the view!