Ofu (Vava'u group, Tonga)

[Kyle]Having failed to relax at all at Tapana, we motored the short distance to the next island over, Ofu. We anchored on the north side between Ofu and the tiny little island of Fetoko.

Fetoko is home to a small eco resort, from which much industrious power tool noise was emanating. We rowed over to introduce ourselves and have a look. We were met by a man who appeared to be in his low thirties. He sawed off a couple of fingers and then came over to offer us a bloody stump to shake. Great! Now my hand is all slippery! How am I supposed to grip my beer now?

I’m kidding. He’s apparently better at power tool safety than I would be. It’s a good thing we only have the manual versions.

The new eco-style resort - opens in July 2019

He said they were doing some renovations and weren’t actually open, but we were free to have a look around if we liked.

Yes, please! Their website says their rooms start at $422 (Australian) per night with a three night minimum. That’s plus food, drinks and the boat ride to the airport if you need it. It was nice to wander around and check out the views from various balconies for free. We didn’t even get a chance to overpay for a drink at the restaurant, for which we were fully prepared.

We offered to pitch in with any work, but he took one look at me and decided the staff he had on hand would be sufficient (or at least more capable than we looked). He then gave us a little background.

Fetoko used to be a pot farm (apparently) that very much discouraged visitors. Then it was bought and turned into a resort that preferred that visitors not annoy their well-heeled guests. Ben and his partner just bought it and he insists that when they open, visiting sailors will be quite welcome. They were in the process of doing a major renovation, which they hoped to finish in only five weeks. Oh, and they just bought a 60’ Fountaine-Pajot catamaran in which to take guests sailing. This is to go next to the one they are rebuilding at the boatyard in Neiafu. Not only that, but they are also simultaneously building a charter base and hotel where The Refuge used to be. Ah…well, good luck with that, but it sounds like hard work!

Jeez, I rowed 1/8 mile to circumnavigate a 1/16 mile long island on foot and I’m already ready to call it a day. I don’t suppose he has time to tow us back to the boat? Aw, nevermind, I’ve got it.

Somehow, on the way home, I got distracted and rowed over to the much bigger (1 ¼ mile long) Ofu. Well, since we’re here…

Exploring Ofu Village

Ofu is very pretty. The village has maybe 150 people and the main road is a grass path between the houses and the beach. We walked every road and path we could find and found surprisingly few people. We had seen a couple dozen go by boat to Neiafu in the mornings. The people remaining all seemed to be either school children or their teachers. When we passed by, the kids always quickly alternated between wanting to practice their English on us, and becoming super shy when we responded. Tongans are generally very polite and friendly and everybody’s urge seems to be to ask how we are and if we are enjoying ourselves. Even the kids, who seem not to be sure what to make of us, will build back up their courage and come back to talk to us over and over again.

We couldn’t find a market or a café or anything to spend our money on in Ofu, so by the end of the day, we really were tired, dehydrated and hungry. We went back to Begonia to sort all of that out during a glorious sunset, which was accompanied by a soundtrack of birds, palm trees blowing in the wind and, of course, circular saws.

Our first snorkel in Tonga this year - the reef just off Ofu
Turned out to be more interesting than we expected