Friendly Islands
Kayak Company
Tonga Office
(Local Enquiries)
Private Bag 10
Neiafu, Vava'u
KINGDOM OF TONGA
South Pacific
Ph/Fax: 676 70 173
New Zealand Office
(International Enquiries)
PO Box 142
Waitati, Otago 9069
NEW ZEALAND
Ph/Fax: 64 3 482 1202
tours@fikco.com
© 1998-2004 FIKCO
Last updated 04/11/2003.
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Back to main article listingNewsletter |
| New Beginnings | by Doug & Sharon Spence, Directors |
| Whale Watching Licence Approved! | |
| Decisions! Decisions! | Vava'u or Ha'apai or both? |
| Whale Watching versus Whaling | by Kerry Quin, Guide |
| Turtle Watching in Ha'apai | |
| Helpful Hints | Planning your trip |
| Islanders Say No to Development! | by 'Epeli Lavaki, Director |
| Down Time in Tonga | by Charlie Van Straubenzee, Guide |
| Bush Pantry | by Kerry Quin, Guide |
| Newsbriefs | Mail-out Lists and Contact Details |
| Millennium Trips | Kayak Tonga into the Millenium |
| Lucy Halliday's Holiday | by guest Lucy Halliday (Queensland) |
| Trip Diary | by guest John Williams (Seattle, Washington USA) |
| Quotes | from our guestbook |
by Doug & Sharon Spence, Directors
Kayaking in the Friendly Isles is the perfect place to reflect and set some positive thoughts in motion. The guides of Friendly Islands Kayak Company believe that adventure travel paves paths for a happy fulfilling life. With our positive energy, we always look forward to setting the stage for our guests to contemplate new directions.
Many of our guests visiting Tonga are reportedly seeking inspiration through new surroundings,inspiration for reflection and for contemplating their new phase, direction or circle in life. In an individual's life span these circles are large; that is, they take several years, sometimes a decade or more, to complete.
On our kayak tours we experience circles on a much smaller scale. Circles such as circumnavigating the islands on foot or by kayak; walking around villages; snorkelling the perimeters of beautiful reefs; or bonding with a new group of travelling companions. Sometimes these small circles are as important in life as the larger ones, especially in times of transition.
Travelling for most folk is another example of a small life circle that sets one in motion to begin a new larger circle, a new direction if you will, whether it be entering a new relationship or job, retiring, or adapting after the children have left home. Only once the travelling circle is completed are we best prepared to make logical calculated choices regarding the direction for starting anew.
Join us in the Friendly Isles on a kayaking holiday that will refreshen your life and set you on a new path.
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At the close of our 1999 season the Tongan Visitors Bureau and the Government of Tonga gave us the great news that Friendly Islands Kayak Company had been awarded the last of six whale watching licences for Vava'u. Endorsed by the South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) and Whales Alive our application was chosen amongst several other applicants.
Now we are officially permitted to whale watch by kayak as well as by a whale watch vessel. We will be purchasing such a vessel in preparation for our 2000/01 season and offering whale watching and snorkelling excursions in the Vava'u Islands-yet more activities our guests can add to their itinerary should they choose to visit us in Tonga.
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Many who enquire about our trips ask how the two tropical island groups of Vava'u and Ha'apai in the Kingdom of Tonga differ. Following are a few comparisons and contrasts between the two archipelagos to whet your appetite and help with your decision-making.
In general, the beaches are more expansive, the coral reefs more intact, and the reef fish more abundant in the Ha'apai Group than in the Vava'u Group. The Ha'apai Islands are a summer (November to February) nesting grounds for the Green Turtle (see Turtle Watching in Ha'apai). In fact, both island groups are a mating and breeding habitat for the Green Turtle and Humpback Whale. However, you are more likely to see turtles nesting in Ha'apai's more remote islands and to sight Humpback Whales (June to October) in Vava'u's relatively tightly clustered island group.
Whereas the Vava'u Islands are hilly and relatively populated (population 20,000), the Ha'apais are low-lying coral atolls with relatively few villages (population 10,000). Moreover, in Ha'apai, there is less evidence of western culture. However, Tongans in general are a friendly folk and you would encounter such friendliness in both island groups.
In the Lifuka Group of Ha'apai, we paddle on the lee side of the forty kilometre long archipelago, visit one or two villages and, weather permitting, paddle out to the smaller more remote offshore islands.
In contrast, the Vava'u Group is a cluster of fifty odd islands, most of which are protected from the ocean swells by a semi-circular fringing reef on the eastern side of the group. On this trip we visit a few villages and spend the rest of the time paddling around the archipelago, occasionally accessing the more exposed southern islands. So if you're an avid snorkeller, enjoy beachcombing, and are seeking a pristine destination with few tourists, our Ha'apai trip's the one for you! If you're more of a landlubber than a water baby, then you'll enjoy our guided bush walks and village visits in Vava'u. Similarly, if you get excited about seeing whales then Vava'u's the place! In our opinion, the two island groups are so uniquely different that they're both worth visiting (ask for details of our discounted Ha'apai/Vava'u combo trips).
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by Kerry Quin, Guide
Once again, Vava'u was fortunate to see the annual return of Whales Alive, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the preservation of whales and the education of marine operators and local communities. Last year Mel Rice and his team of educators were particularly well received.
Whilst the whale-watching industry in Vava'u is growing and the need for further education ever increasing, simultaneously there have been whispers of the resumption of subsistence whaling in Tonga. Whaling is an issue that greatly concerns business operators and environmentalists in Tonga. With this in mind, Whales Alive has taken an active role in empowering the community through developing a greater awareness and understanding of the whales and their marine environment. Whales Alive has held various seminars and private workshops co-teaching specially educated indigenous guides to share current issues with the Tongan people. Whales Alive also plays a very important role in facilitating discussions concerning the benefits of whale-watching versus whaling.
At Friendly Islands Kayak Company, we consider ourselves to be front-line educators with respect to the marine environment, and therefore greatly appreciate the on-going support and information that Whales Alive offers us each year. We look forward to working with Whales Alive in the new Millennium and to assisting this organisation wherever possible as it strives to protect these magnificent animals.
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On our November Ha'apai sea kayak trip this season we and our guests had the rare opportunity to witness a large Green Turtle (Chelonia Mydas) nesting. On Uanukuhahaki Island in the Lifuka Group, ten awe-struck paddlers waited in the dark while the adult turtle prepared her nest in the vegetative strand above the high tide line. After scraping away the loose sand with all four flippers she then excavated a two foot deep chamber using her hind flippers alternately.
Adult turtles are timid and easily disturbed during the nesting process, so lights and noise were kept at bay during the initial stage of nesting. Once the laying process started we quietly gathered around the rear of the turtle and counted as she dropped 80 white leathery eggs (each about the size of a ping-pong ball) one or two at a time into the nest. The whole process took approximately ninety minutes before the turtle returned to the sea to rest in the sheltered lagoon.
Each breeding season (five to seven year cycle for Green Turtles) the female comes ashore, several weeks after mating, to lay her first of several clutches at about two-weekly intervals. She returns to the same beach each breeding season, the very beach, it is believed, where she was born.
Following a seven to twelve week incubation period, during which there is no parental care, the hatchlings dig their way out of the nest and instinctively make their way to the sea. The mortality rate of the hatchlings is high, particularly in crossing the reef flats on their journey to the deeper waters and ocean currents where they will spend the first few years of their lives.
The Ha'apai Islands are a large marine habitat for the nesting and mating of the Green Turtles. Our sighting took place mid-November, but nesting can take place as late as late February (Tonga's summer season).
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Planning your Trip
- Buy a waterproof note pad for recording your trip diary
- English books make great gifts for primary schools
- Paddle with cycling gloves to prevent blisters
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by 'Epeli Lavaki, Director
'Euakafa Island, situated in the centre of the Vava'u Group, is a special place of historical and environmental significance. Having grown up in the Tonga Islands I've certainly seen many islands, and as far as islands go 'Euakafa is a special island to me. High on its plateau is the tomb of a Tu'i Tonga's (royal title given to a Tongan ruler) wife that is hundreds of years old. I enjoy showing my guests the beautiful bush on the way up to the tomb and telling them its legend while we sit around the tomb.
Then Moala, the Acting Chief of Taunga Island, began a conversation in Tongan that I translated to English for the benefit of our guests. Moala's story (handed down through the coconut wireless) told of an Asian consortium that recently approached the Noble of Taunga Island, Honourable Akaola, (also the Minister of Fisheries) with a request to lease 'Euakafa Island. Its plan was to build a golf course on the plateau and a large five-star hotel near the beach where we normally camp. Akaola's response was that he would contact the non-resident Tongans who hold leases on the island and act as their spokesman. Akaola discovered that most of the Tongans living overseas, who represented a majority of the leaseholders, wanted to give up their lease for the almighty dollar. The minority of leaseholders living on adjacent Taunga Island all voted to retain their leases and continue using the land for subsistence agriculture. It was decided that, although the leaseholders whose lives would be affected by such a development were the minority, the consortium's proposal would be declined.
Resident Tongans, whose livelihood is fishing and agriculture, are generally against development of the islands. Pristine tropical islands throughout the world are continually at threat of development. In a recent study of the Vava'u Islands by Tourism Resource Consultants, the issue of development of Vava'u Islands is on the agenda for discussion sometime next year. In the best interest of the people of Tonga and of tourism in Vava'u the team at Friendly Islands Kayak Company hope to participate in this discussion and to ultimately discourage commercial development of the islands.
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by Charlie Van Straubenzee, Guide
When I left for the Kingdom of Tonga I was certain that this was the right thing to do. Kayak guiding was something that I already had experience with on Canada's West Coast, and family trips to the tropics had left me with a thirst to visit the South Pacific. "But won't you get bored on a tiny island, Charlie? I mean, what will you do there?" my Dad asked. I couldn't give him a clear picture of what I expected to do when I wasn't kayaking, but if you look for opportunities they usually crop up. Secretly, I think my father was hoping I'd decide that snorkelling with tropical fish was not as great a draw as something a little closer to home where there was¼a movie theatre, for instance.
Days off at Friendly Islands Kayak Company are always full of surprises. There are endless choices of things to do around Vava'u, whether it's a mountain bike ride or an afternoon in the garden, trying to coerce something admirable out of what began as a literal pig pen.
Then there's always the fun of hunting out deals at the Saturday morning flea market. Last Saturday, I found something that most Tongans wouldn't even recognize to be a kitchen appliance: an electric waffle iron, made in Sweden of all places. When I asked the price of this rare and exotic beast, the woman behind the counter offered it to me for the incredible price of only 10 pa'angaÑwell worth the money. Even if it were broken, a waffle iron in Tonga should be worth twice that just for the novelty of having it in your kitchen. After a quick visit to the fruit market down the street, I was off to a friend's house for a fantastic waffle and fruit salad breakfast with the Peace Corps volunteersÑan event guaranteed to become a legendary tradition!
The relationship between tour operators in Vava'u is quite friendly as well. So it's not incomprehensible to be invited on the occasional snorkelling trip or to be searching for Humpback Whales when you expected to spend your day washing laundry by hand.
There are dozens of opportunities for adventure in Tonga, not the least of which, of course, is kayaking with the gang here at Friendly Islands Kayak Company.
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by Kerry Quin, Guide
Every season there seems to be a dish that our guests just don't seem to be able to get enough of. This year is no exception!
Curried Potato and Kumara Salad
4 large potatoes
6 large kumara (sweet potato)
3 tablespoon oil
1 large onion
4 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds
1/2 tablespoon dill seeds
fresh dill
fresh parsley
Dice potatoes and kumara. Add potatoes, kumara and curry powder to boiling water. Cook until al dente. Do not overcook. Drain water. Fry onion, garlic, dill seeds and coriander seeds in oil. Mix ingredients together and leave to cool. Garnish with freshly chopped dill and parsley and serve cold. Serves 8.
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Mail-out Lists and Contact Details
Postal Mail-out List
If you wish a friend or relative to receive our literature or to have your name deleted from our mail-out list, please write and let us know. Please also let us know if your postal address has changed. This newsletter is also available on our web site.
E-mail Mail-out List
Alternatively, request that future newsletters be sent to your e-mail address instead and help us save a tree or two.
Contact Details
This year we experienced a few shutdowns with our Tonga server Kalianet and with Tonga Telecom. If you're unsuccessful in contacting us via our Tonga e-mail address kayaktonga@kalianet.to, please try our New Zealand e-mail address fikco@clear.net.nz. Similarly, if you're unsuccessful using our Tonga phone/fax number +676-70-173 please try our New Zealand phone/fax number +64-3-482-1202.
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Kayak Tonga into the Millenium
So when is the Millennium? There are so many differing opinions they leave us confused. Our Millennium trips in 1999/2000 were a great success, and we've received as much, if not more, interest for 2000/2001 such that we're advertising special departures again this New Year's. We'll let you decide when the true Millennium occurs. If you're as confused as us you may consider celebrating both Millennium dates. We are!
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by guest Lucy Halliday (Queensland)
My recent trip to Tonga, and more importantly the amazing six days of kayaking my family and I did around Vava'u, was just such an eye opener and the start of a new beginning for me.
Going into my second to last year of high school, I had never had the experience of going overseas. So when the opportunity arrived it was grabbed with both hands.
At first, entering a foreign country was quite daunting, not knowing the language or the customs. However returning from the six days kayaking, my confidence had grown. I had a much better understanding of the Tongan people and their way of life. Visiting the village in Taunga was a really good chance to see this.
I had the most wonderful time in Vava'u and learnt so much. Meeting new and interesting people, sampling different foods and tastes, experiencing another culture, another race and seeing spectacular places I'd never even heard of. It was really special and something I will never forget.
I think my attitudes have changed somewhat towards life and school. The petty little things in life that I used to worry about no longer seem important and nor does getting the best mark at the end of Year 12. I think there are so many opportunities and things to experience out in the world, where who you are is more important than what you are.
At the end of Year 12 I have decided to take a year off and go travelling, hopefully get some work overseas and then come back and study for my landscaping and horticulture degrees in Adelaide.
Thank you so much to Friendly Islands Kayak Company and especially Kerry and 'Epeli who were just fantastic on our trip.
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by guest John Williams (Seattle, Washington USA)
We were lured to Tonga by the Friendly Islands Kayak Company website which had pictures of kayakers on smooth turquoise water with white sand beaches in the background. The highlight was their nine-day (six on the water) kayaking trip in the Vava'u island group with guides Charlie and Ave, a native who really brought us a personal understanding of Tongan life. It exceeded our expectations: deserted islands, fabulous snorkelling, extraordinary beach walks on nearly untouched beaches, and tremendous food, topped off with great camaraderie with our fellow paddlers. Supposedly, pictures are as good as a thousand words, and we think we took some great pictures. But we still wax eloquently for hours about our trip. Even then, the words and pictures do not do it justice. It was a trip of a lifetime and only by going, can one understand how wonderful it was.
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from our guestbook
What a perfect trip, wonderful weather, delicious food, excellent guides, memorable visits with the people of the villages, great snorkelling and whale watching. Thank you 'Epeli and Charlie for an excellent time.
Jackie and Ian Grant, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
This was the trip of trips! Yes it was great to get back to the fresh water shower, but all sacrifice of conveniences was a small price to pay for the experiences of a lifetime. Dolphin, sea turtle laying 80 eggs in a nest, lots of sun and paddling and most of all the scenes that you only see in pictures. I will have to go a long way to find a better, more rewarding experience. Thanks so much.
John Miller, North Granby, Connecticut, USA.
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