The well

Today RJ cleaned out the old well on the property, it was stinky and full of rotting coconuts and god knows what else. Tomorrow we'll see if the water has cleared and maybe do a taste test to see how salty it is. First photo is before, second is after cleaning showing sand at the bottom.

Maria's hut

We're staying in Maria's hut for two weeks, during which time we hope our container will clear customs and quarantine, then we'll get our boat and start moving supplies to the island.

Onwards to Tapana

Out to Tapana Island today, had to make two trips to get all the gear + dog across because the big boat is being repaired. Photo is of Spy watching RJ and Victor go across on first trip, he was a bit worried about being left behind. Evil Panda dog has to be on a chain while we are staying at the cabana because apparently he will try to kill Spy. Walked over to house site, had some trouble relocating our track. Spy loved being off lead and sniffing everything, he tried to catch a crab with his paw, it latched on, so he flung it off and it went flying past my ear.

Container arrival

Good news everybody - our container is on the dock! Trudged up the hill to Matsons Shipping, getting lost on the way, and $340 TOP later got our container release documents. Back to see Linda who is doing our customs clearance, she reckons we will know by Wednesday whether there are any issues - fingers crossed. Called into the immigration office to see if they could tell us about our visa status, but he said to try the office at Nukualofa (which we already had - they told us to try Vava'u office).  Visas take "a very long time" to process so we will just have to wait and renew our tourist visas in the meantime.

Welcome to Vava'u

We arrived in Vava'u on Friday and are staying at the Port of Refuge Villas for a few days until we head out to Tapana Is.

We had to hire a truck to get Spy's crate to the airport. Lots of people pointed and laughed at Spy riding on the back of the truck. It's unclear what the standard mode of dog transport is in Tonga but clearly not by truck.

Our container ship came into port last night although we haven't spotted our container on the ship yet.