Its been a While!

Just when you all thought that Legend IV had sailed into a black hole, I return to blog once more
and hope that anyone out there still cares!

 My only excuse for the silence is that we have been having a good time and sometimes its better to live the moments rather than to take time out to write about them.

Taking up from where I left off in Bora Bora..

New Cockpit Cushions -Handmade Gift from Helen-Thank You

From here we were headed for Tonga. We left early in  the morning after the Oyster Party at Bloody Mary's. The Oyster parties get wilder and wilder as we go further west and the fleet lets its hair further and further down.

Rumour has it that an average of 2 bottles of wine was consumed by each person at this particular  party. I probably skewed the average as usual but hopefully no one remember this. I certainly don't.

Oyster fleet quietly at anchor in Bora Bora...calm before the storm.

After this fracas, we sailed soberly across the Pacific for 7 days, in a  hurry to get to our next port. The reason for the haste was the fact that Ryan and Nicole were due to meet us in Tonga.

We had miscalculated how long it would take us to get there...foolishly forgetting that we were going to sail across the   International date line at 173 degrees west. This line of latitude has now stolen 2 days from our lives. The first one in 1988 was not  sorely missed but considering that we are now on the   downhill side of middle age we are now reluctant to surrender even one minute of our golden years.

Full Moon setting as we cross the International Date Line

We needn't have hurried  though, Nic and Ryan arrived almost 3 days late. Their flight from Johannesburg to Sydney was delayed by 24 hours and all their complicated connections fell to pieces leaving their impatient parents champing (or is it chomping?) at the bit to see them after 5 months.

Coming into Tonga 25years ago..who is this young lady?

Tried to get the old lady to pose in exactly the same spot on our way in this time.

Ryan had just finished his final exams at Edinburgh so he was ready for some sun. Nic is on a short gap before she starts at the Pratt Institute of Design in New York in August.. Looks like we have instilled a wanderlust in both of them!

Proud Dad welcoming pale Chicks back into the nest

Tonga was marvellous and it was wonderful to have Ryan and Nic back on board.

We tried out the outdoor adventures on offer...go karting....

Power kayaking...

Cave diving....

Some activities were more successful than others!

There were Tongan feasts to enjoy....pigs on spits...

And pigs in restaurants..

Fish to catch...

Beautiful sailing..

Sundowners to share...

Friendly locals and good markets if you like yams...

And of course the obligatory enthusiastic Polynesian dancers.