Off the grid in Ofu
Trip Start
Oct 13, 2010
1
70
71
Trip End
Oct 12, 2011
Where I stayed
Ofu Backpackers
Pangai, Vava`u, Tonga
Saturday, August 13, 2011
We spent five nights in total on the island, spending our days sunbathing, swimming, snorkelling and kayaking to the other small islands. Ofu really did deliver on the tropical paradise we'd been hoping for.
On the Sunday we accompanied Ana to church to hear for ourselves the amazing singing and we spent an afternoon on a tiny island with a single house, and perfect beach (Fetoko) rescuing starfish who had been "played with" by some kids the previous day. We’d kayaked over to the island, and met one of the palangi owners, a couple of hours later. He was an American guy, living the dream, sharing a private island with his sister and brother in law. They’d been gifted the island by a local friend. Life is sooo hard for some people.
A couple of days later, feeling super energetic, we kayaked around the whole island. We did have to pull over at one point when a mini storm hit but as is the way in the tropics, after a decent downpour for ten minutes, the sun shone once again. It took us a good 3 hours and it took about a week for my shoulders to recover but it was great to see the whole island from our little boats and to get some much needed exercise.
As we said goodbye on our last day, our host Ana handed us a giant tapa (a traditional handpainted wall hanging) as a thank you for staying and plied us with about 20 fresh limes from her garden. It’s not called The Friendly Islands for nothing!
