Ha'apai Group 'Friendly Islands'

Located 150 km north of Tongatapu, the Ha'apai Islands comprise nearly 40 islands which are de vided in to two categories: the western volcanic islands; and the flat eastern coral islands. Captain James Cook, who visited in 1773 and 1777 named the group 'Friendly Islands'. The mutiny on the Bounty occurred at Tofua in 1789.

Our biggest mahi mahi

The fishing on our crossing from Va'vau to the Ha'apai Islands was exciting. We caught the biggest mahi mahi to date and I got to cut it up into filets. There has been a lot of firsts for me and cutting up the mahi mahi was definitely one of them. We were happy to share the fish with other boaters when we arrived at the Pangai anchorage.

Making fillets
As in the rest of the Kingdom of Tonga islands there is an abundance of 'Peka"Tongan Flying foxes. The Peka hang in the trees during the day and at dusk they will emerge from its roosting colony to feed. The peka, a large fruit eating bat, is the only mammal native to Tonga, all the rest were introduced.

Flying Foxes

Beautiful sunrise

 Our stay in the Ha'apai group was very short, we anchored at two other small islands 'Ha'afeva and Nomuka Iki' unfortunately the weather was very unsettled and we did not get to shore on both of these anchorages. A beautiful sunrise bid us farewell as we left for the Tongatapu Island.

See the Photo Gallery for more photos.