Tonga Island

Amy and I had a lazy Sunday morning. We slept in late, had a leisurely breakfast of porridge and kiwifruit on peanut buttered bread, hmmm-yummy! We even had a cup of hot cocoa. So it was late in the morning by the time we pushed our kayak out to sea, headed for Tonga Island to see some seals. Since I was sitting in the front, I had to get in first, while Amy held the kayak steady. I was sitting on the kayak, putting my feet in when a big wave came up unexpectedly. It knocked me completely off balance and I fell over the other side of the kayak. My pride was a bit wounded, but at least Amy found it funny. The wind had picked up considerably during the night, and the waves, once we got out of the bay, were quite a bit bigger than the day before. I wasn't too nervous, knowing Amy had seen worse, until she told me she was seasick! She also got sunscreen in her eye and was having a hard time seeing. We were half way between our home beach and Tonga Island, so we decided to keep going. Because of the strong headwind and the big waves, it took us a little over an hour to get there, but we finally managed it, seasickness and all! We couldn't get out of our kayaks, because Tonga Island is in a protected marine reserve, but at least we were sheltered from the wind and didn't have to keep paddling like madwomen to keep from going backwards! Amy told me the more nervous I got the faster I paddled. We did get to see some seals and even some wee baby ones that couldn't swim yet.

After some discussion, we decided our best course of action was to head for the nearest beach so Amy could recover from her seasickness. By this time she was feeling nauseated and I didn't know how much time I had before I had to throw her overboard to keep the vessel from sinking in the waves. So for the next 15 minutes we paddled furiously and finally made it to land. We collapsed in the sand and spent the rest of the day lounging in the sun. We took great care, though, to keep from getting sunburned. 55 SPF sunscreen every 2 hours, long sleeves, and legs covered. That's how we sunbathed!

We thought the wind might die down, but it seemed to pick up again the later the afternoon got. So finally, with Amy feeling back up to the task of navigating, we attempted to push off from the beach. The wind was so strong, though, that the kayak kept blowing sideways into the beach. I kept hearing the words of Rowey, our guide, saying the most difficult times to keep from capsizing are getting in and out of the kayak. We finally gave it our best shot and we did it! It was only by team effort that we got off that beach. The trip back went much faster due to our shore wind pushing us along. We were happy to see our beach and tent come into view. The wind kept up for a couple more hours and then just as we were getting ready for bed, it suddenly died and the sea was peaceful again. Amy and I slept really well that night, but the next morning I woke up to find that despite my best efforts, the inside of my left ear and my bottom lip were sunburned. My lip was swollen three times its normal size! It's a good thing there were no mirrors close by. But guessing by Amy's giggles, my fat lip did not look exactly sexy.