Tonga...Goodbye!

Learning to strum the Ukulele...

COUNTING down the days and looking forward to going home... we've been traveling for almost two years...that’s 611 days to be exact by the time we land back in the USA in Los Angeles on May 10th.   I am anxious to see my home and see how it's changed.. I know we have changed.  I’m nervous to slide back into the lives of family and friends...is there room for us again? We "dropped out" to travel and our places in those lives may have changed or maybe, not.

This has me reminiscing about our travels across the South Pacific by sailboat...

If you have followed our blog, Off to Sea the Wizard then you know our route.  We left home in September 2012, sailed down the California coast to Baja, then to mainland Mexico, Puerto Vallarta, for three months, then west across the Pacific Ocean to the Marquesas, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Huahine and Tahaa, then westing again to Cooks Islands, Niue, Tonga, Fiji, New Caledonia and finally…land fall in Brisbane, Australia, where we decided to sell our boat Wizard.

 In one season, we visited eight countries.. that's a fast track! Over 10,000 nautical miles! Most cruisers take a few years to stop and visit the South Pacific Islands but we had limited time and money.  We also made plans to go back to Tonga to experience island living for three months.  We've had a great time and met a lot of really cool people( and characters) sailing the South Pacific!

Now, back to us living in Tonga...and too much of a good thing…yeah, I know, poor us..

Hibiscus is ever blooming in Tonga

…We've been living in Tonga for the last three months as most readers know, care-taking a resort while the owners went a vacation.  And while it’s been a real adventure living on an island, I am starting to get bored.  Three months is a longtime to be idle...

Idyllic Reef Resort on Kapa Island, Vava'u

You've heard the expression, "Be careful what you wish for it may come true"?  That's us...we were thrilled early on, but now we're tired of snorkeling the clearest, most beautiful waters ever, tired of the same old beautiful skies, the pristine beaches and the warm tropical weather.  Can you believe it?!

Love snorkeling!

Another beautiful day in Tonga at the Reef Resort

 Don't get me wrong, Tonga is a nice place to visit .. but, its just time to go home...family awaits...

Paisley is our happy new grand-daughter!

  I have a new grand daughter I haven't met. (Has it really been almost two years since we sailed away?)  A lot of life happens when you go away.  Traveling has made me appreciate my home and family more.  It doesn’t take long living in a third world country to make one appreciate what one has in the good ol' USA (read: abundance).  It's time to go home...

Thunder-cloud over Vava'u, Tonga

 Malo! 

Thank you, Tonga for the memories!  Who knows...we may be back next year!

May 8,  2014