Where in the World is Pat?

While snorkeling in Matafonua Resort I was seeking out two creatures unique to this area. Both eluded me despite several attempts!

Who doesn't love a spectacular sunset?!? We were treated to many in this gorgeous retreat. Below is a sampling.

One of the main reasons we went on this getaway was to get our PADI open water certification. Shout out to our fantastic, super skilled and patient dive master Ellie Simons we succeeded!

The view below shows the channel to the north of Ha'apai Island and King's Island in the background. The protected lagoon is to the right and the sea and Fiji are way to the left. Here's our happy group at the beginning of the week in the lounge pit before dinner.

NUKU' ALOFA, is the capital of The Kingdom of Tonga , one of the last remaining Polynesian monarchies in the world. It is on the main island of Tongatapu. The Kingdom of Tonga is compromised of 170 islands, in the South Pacific and many are uninhabited. Most of the islands are protected by lagoons and some like Tongatapu are surrounded by limestone cliffs. This second port for us in Tonga , was the starting point of my latest adventure, off the Ship.

NEIAFU is the second largest town in Tonga . It lies in northern Tonga . The population is just over 3,900.From the 1880's to 1900, it was a German coaling station, until Briatian took over in 1900 as a protectorate. Again, we received another festive greeting of song and dance from the locals.

A bunch of things happening, despite not stepping on terra firm, the last 5 days! We crossed the international date line last night and lost the entire day of January 25th! So Weird! We are now 18 hours ahead of my friends and family on the east coast of USA.

I write this post with a heavy heart, tragedy has struck our happy Community. One of our much loved, founding residents had a heart attack and sadly didn't recover, as we sailed to Moorea.

I threw together an impromptu Bachelorette party for Angie tonight! Angie and Gian are getting married for a third time in Hawaii next week.They will be alone this time and it turns out she never had a Shower or Bachelorette to celebrate her first 2 marriages on the Ship, last May! Our girl deserved a fun night to celebrate her! So we took over a section the outdoor seating at Les 3 Brassuers, and their great band had us all up dancing! It's amazing what you can do with a bunch of WhatsApp messages to fellow ladies, some tulle, sparkles and always handy flower lei's ! One of the ladies even went and bought her some lingerie! I love our supportive community!