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Thursday, 31 July (in USA)
Yesterday (Thursday), I had my closest encounter of the whale kind.
The day started with a beautiful rainbow - and I took that as an omen of good things to come. We went to a virgin dive site (which we christened Ball's Bommie in honor of the diver who spotted it). The plan was to look for pelagic fish [fish that spend most of their life swimming in the open sea with little contact with or dependency on the ocean bottom, such as tuna, billfish and, although not fish, sharks, rays & dolphins], but the reef was not really deep enough at 81'. So we had a nice dive on an untouched reef.
Spy-hopping
During our surface interval (mandatory one-hour break between dives), we spotted TWO WHALES frolicking quite nearby. They were so calm we attempted to swim with them twice. Each time they teased us by moving just out of visual range. So after two attempts we decided to just appreciate the gift they were offering which was to watch a courtship.
Fluke-Waving
There was Spy-Hopping, Fluke-Waving, Belly-Rolling, Tail-Thrashing & Breaching for OVER AN HOUR!!!. We finally had to leave to do our second dive and I swear they both spy-hopped as if to say "Hey - where's our audience going??" and as we drove away, the female rolled on her back and waved a fluke in our direction.
Whale close by
I have swum with white-tipped reef sharks, been in some underwater caverns that take your breath away. Have seen many clown anemone fish, queen angel fish, lion fish & clams.
Saturday is another day diving; Sunday is another attempt at swimming with the whales. Monday I MAY know if I can get tickets home on either the 15th or the 19th
All for today - try again on Monday.
[The country is pretty much shut down because of the Wednesday AND Friday coronations, and because any business that is not aimed at tourists is closed on Sundays. As the Tongan Beach Resort does not have WiFi, Neal has to utilize a cybercafé in town which, of course, is closed on Sunday.]
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From a link sent by Faith Hart:
Lavish robes to be used in Friday's coronation of Tonga's King George Tupou V have been revealed in new postage stamps designed by a Wellington illustrator. Tonga is spending T$5 million (NZ$3 million) on the coronation of the aging bachelor, including NZ$570,000 for tailored robes from Gieves & Hawkes at 1 Savile Row in London's Mayfair. |
CONTINUE SWIMMING WITH THE WHALES
IN PULE'ANGA 'O TONGA WITH NEAL HERE