As I still had some internet work to do my plan for the first part of the day was to go ashore by 7am, pick up some pies, cycle to the hotel again, get the work done and then get back to the boat at a decent time for the ride. Unfortunately I was initially delayed. On the radio we could hear port control trying to contact Dilan as the freighter with the island’s supplies had arrived and they wanted to send their barge out through the channel. Dilan wasn’t responding so I offered to go out and forward their request for them to move. When I got to Dilan we discovered they were having issues with their radio and could not hear anyone calling in. I relayed the information and soon Dilan was making ready to leave the channel and anchor outside where it was rolly. This all delayed me so even though I made it ashore before 7:30 the pies were gone.
I cycled for the third time the couple of miles to the Tamanu Beach Hotel and sorted out a few more things. Everything is now set to have our parts shipped to the Aquarium Cafe in Neiafu, Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga. Then it was back to the boat to pick up Helen and Ben for our island bike ride. We made (I made) a map reading error initially and had us cycling up a steepish hill and then back down the wrong way. Nevertheless we were on our way anti-clockwise away from the direction we’d gone every time before. We were on the lookout for a listed Marae – ancient ruins. We saw a sign to a rubbish dump and passed it by. On reflection we reckon that was the road to the Marae but we missed it. Having seen a few before we had no great desire to turn around and go back.
We passed through small pockets of homes, most of which giving evidence of the devastation wrought by the hurricane earlier this year. We eventually came to a shop selling food and household items with an attached cafe. We had a look around and found a few things we needed and a few we’d heard were sought after in Palmerston. It was late enough for brunch so we settled for (to make up for earlier) pie and ice cream although not of course together.
Our next stop was a lookout at one of the highest points of the island. It was not exactly high but it was a struggle getting up the dirt track on our bikes. Ben was the only one who didn’t get off and push at some point. From this point the map showed a dotted line that would take us back down to the road. We followed what we thought was the correct path which seemed to be a 4×4 track through some fields. We eventually came to a building plot and seemingly a dead end. Off to one side we saw a track heading down the hill very, very steeply down towards a road. We decided to make our way down here. This was quick tricky as we had to hold the brakes on the bikes and slide them down while trying not to slip off our feet. About 50ft from the road the track turned into brush which we had to forge a path through. We were eventually successful. We headed north on this road and soon ran into a new dead end and turned around. It did not take too long to reach the main road.
By now we were all feeling a little tired and saddle sore. We decided to complete the last 4 miles or so without and detours. Before long we had passed the Tamanu Beach Hotel and were on familiar ground. We dropped off the bikes and walked back to our dinghy. At the port they were still ferrying containers back and forth to the main ship. We’d learned earlier in the day that the produce may start showing in the stores on Saturday or Monday. In the main store I mentioned we were planning to head off for Palmerston on Monday. It looks like they may have some things for us to take with us.
As implied we’ve made the decision to stay here the weekend and get some rest. Today we may dinghy over to one of the islands on the surrounding atoll. Tomorrow (Sunday) we’ll respect the local custom of doing no work. We may visit the local church. While cycling round the island it appears the big local issue is many of the folks here are against Sunday flights into the airport. There were many signs protesting against this. We’ve also read that respecting the day of rest is very important to the locals here so we will honour their custom.
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