21/2/2026 Snorkelling, caves and natural land bridges

This morning I greatly enjoyed another splendid breakfast, and today’s conversation was with a German missionary over there from Fiji to try and help Tongans that are still displaced following the tsunami.  He's a really interesting man and very knowledgeable on a lot of the remote islands in the pacific. He spends a lot of time in Papua New Guinea with his job and as it’s one of the places on our list I was asking him about it.  It’s now very much off  our list unless I can find an organised tour to take me. He said he wouldn’t take his wife and daughter there as it’s too dangerous and he wouldn’t advise it.  He did say it’s absolutely beautiful but natives aren't so friendly and it’s just not a safe place to go.  So it’s good to talk right. I’m getting so much better talking to strangers, cheers Si for that, it really helps staying in a small resort that serves breakfast at a set time. Everyone is sitting at the table and the conversation rolls, even Maria's daughter has to sit at the table to eat. I like it.

Me’me had very kindly done a load of washing for me so I retrieved it all from the line and changed into my swimmers ready for my snorkelling adventure. I’d been a bit underwhelmed in Samoa with what I saw there coral and fish wise,  so I was interested to see how today went. Hamala picked me up at 0915 and we went to the harbour area which really surprised me, and also lowered my expectations massively.  Before we settled on the spot we eventually decided to snorkel at, we went down the road about a mile or so and he showed me one of his favourite spots. Then he said that the coral drops right off and you can’t see the bottom.  I’m glad he told me that because for me, as you know, it’s a hell no. If I can’t see the bottom I ain’t getting in.  It was also quite a long swim out from the shore to get to the reef, so that again wasn’t ideal for me.  I probably could have made it but I also had to get back to the shore which could have been problematic.. So I took the cowards option and went for the easy access snorkelling that was closer to shore and I could definitely see the bottom. 

We parked the car up in the carpark and got changed. I’d only taken the phone in the case and my mask anyway so I wasn’t too worried about losing anything.  I left my sticks in the car which made the walk to the end of the jetty a slow and arduous one.  All along the length of the jetty you can see evidence of the tsunami, displaced rocks and a huge slab of concrete which was perfectly placed to aid me getting into the water. 

For the first time I used fins to snorkel, Oh my God what an absolute game changer they were and why have I never used them before?.  So much more simple and significantly less exhausting.  The water was warm and just crystal clear and, even off the jetty the sheer number of fish swimming around was just phenomenal , all varieties shapes, sizes and colours.

Hamala hid our clothes and shoes in the rocks as he said that our shoes were highly nickable and although they were only my cheap barefoot shoes they are really handy and I do need them because they're that bloody comfortable. So it was a good idea to hide them after all !! With them safely hidden away, Hamala got in the water and I was off like Nemo!. As I say, the fins made such a difference,  and the swim was actually a pleasure and so easy.  The water being so clear and there not being a ripple on the ocean made it all a whole lot  for sure.  5 metres off the jetty a wall of coral loomed and the colours were crazy bright. 

Just so much coral and marine life. I was surprised at the quantity and also the quality of both because I wasn’t expecting great things. As we swum along my ghast was flabbered and the coral and fish grew in numbers and colour.  It was like a cottage garden and just so colourful. I played around with positioning myself and the camera in the water to see if that made any difference to the quality of the photos. I'm still getting a lot of orange in the photos and I think it must be from the direction the sun is in when I’m taking the pics. I really need to google it. I ended up staying in the water for nearly 3 hours and rather sensibly I feel, by my standards, made it back to where we’d got in before I got too tired.  Legs were more than a bit wobbly but all in all I was feeling pretty pleased and just so impressed with what I’d seen. Who knew that little  underrated Tongatatu had this much beauty hiding beneath the waves. I know some of the other Islands have beautiful snorkelling and diving spots, but I wasn't expecting it here.  It's a true hidden gem but hidden in plain sight.  I slowly hauled myself out of the water and Hamala bought over my dress which I’ve been using as a coverup but was now doubling as a towel and my shoes.  Sliding them on we were stopped by an Aussie guy who was out for a run and  asked us if we were members of a swimming club as he was interested in joining.  Hamala was able to give him the details of the swim club and he carried on his run. I feel I should point out it was 34* and chronically high humidity and this numpty was running in it. He clearly has a rocks in his head.

Back at the car I sat on a plastic bag for the short trip back to the hotel for me to get changed. I threw my wet stuff into the bath, threw on shorts and a T-shirt and went back downstairs.  Our next destination was the  cave, it's just a bit further on from where we were last night for the buffet and cultural evening and on the way we passed the police station where the road block was .

The cave is on private land and is the only thing on the island that you need to pay for at  20TOP.

There is a set of man made concrete steps with a rope handrail down to the cave. The steps were ok, easy enough to navigate slowly but a bit of killer on the hips, back and pelvis.  However I’m no quitter and I finally got to the bottom. There is a concrete block building with a hand written sign directing us to the cave and in we went. 

However I heard lots of very loud squeaking. It was a rodent type of squeaking and quite frankly I didn’t like it one little bit, oh no not at all.  It was also very dark, water dripped from the ceiling and down my back, and the man made steps were slippery as all hell. Not remotely ideal. The crutches slipped several times and I thought I was going to face plant into the rocks below but, taking it slowly, I finally got down to a concrete path that was a little bit dryer.  I had to duck under a low rock and then the cave opened up. 

They have thoughtfully put lights up and Hamala warned me not to touch the overhead cables. 240 vaults is enough to make anyone’s hair curl.   The cave was impressive but all I could hear was the squeaks and scurrying feet and I wanted to get the hell out of there. A bit further on inside is a huge swimming hole that is very deep which there was absolutely no bloody way I was going to get into so I said I’d seen enough and let’s go. I’m paying after all. Also my thought process was consumed with rodents and the thought of swimming in the same pool as them filled me with absolute horror, I may not have seen one, but just the thought was enough!  Going back up was significantly more difficult than coming down but slowly I made it out . Half way up there is a natural hole that lets in a chunk of daylight and that used to be the original way into the cave before they put in the steps. Quick photo of that bad boy and I was in practical sprint mode for the daylight and open air. 

Such a relief to leave that behind me.  Ticked that off the list though so hurrah. For me and my big girl pants!

Opposite the cave entrance is an area that is starting to be cleared, it used to be a burial ground but the tsunami washed it all out.  The path down through it was just a narrow walkway and not the easiest but infinitely more pleasant than the steps into the stupid cave with its vile squeaky things. Breaking through the undergrowth I was greeted with the sight of ocean, white sands and carved cliff faces.

Best of all up in the sky was a little heart shaped cloud. Love you Si, thank you babe. 

That gave me far more joy than the cave ever did for sure.  The channel in front of us was the one the whales swim in and it’s directly opposite eua.

I had contemplated a trip over there but Hamal advised against it as its terrain is difficult to navigate for able bodied people. We’ll forget about that then. I’m having enough problems as it is. The view calmed me somewhat after the cave trauma and after a few minutes my heart rate returned to normal. Always good when that happens. We turned around and retraced our steps through the overgrown burial ground towards the cave entrance, stopping to pick up some tiny volcanic rocks that were thrown out by the volcano and to take a photo of the pandanas tree.

Once we got there I had a rest because quite frankly my dear I was more than a little bit knackered. Hamal showed me the fruit of the pandanas tree, which is what I used to paint the Tapa cloth with in Samoa. They still use it as paintbrushes and also as jewellery. Because there is no tribal system  here, anyone can wear the jewellery. 

The steps up were a tad intimidating but slowly I trudged my way up them.  I was so pleased to get to the top and  back in the car, and felt I’d achieved something again today.  

We got back into the ‘’main road '’ (I use that term lightly) and drove towards our next stop on the Island,  The Natural Land Bridge.  Like the track to tsunami rock this left a lot to be desired.   It was a thousand times worse. The sides of the track are all over grown with tall grasses and bow over into the road, the grass growing in the middle of the road up at bonnet height.  The drivable track bit on either side of the centre grass was ropey at best.

We made our way slowly, in the little Nissan, the underneath of it getting a good clean off in the grass. I wouldn’t like to say the last time anyone came down here, definitely some time ago I’m guessing.  I was starting to question the decision but figured he’s the local who knows the island.  After driving through a rather deep man made gulley full of water and scraping the bumper on the other side I was certain he was off his head for attempting to get me down there. 

Eventually the sides of the road cleared and the track became a little bit  better and we brought the car to a stop. 

I was looking around for the bridge and failed to see it.  Down over an overgrown path was the most unlikely place to see what I did. Waves crashing over rocks in through an archway that has been worn away over time. Ok it was more than worth the effort to get here and I was grateful to have seen it.  Hamala then said he was going to do a complete no no and drive over the land bridge so I could see the cliffs on the other side.! 

We stopped just opposite where we’d stopped originally and I got photos of the land bridge Ravine from the other side.  It was quite a drop and I saw my first butterfly since arriving here.  I did keep back from the edge, as there were remains of a taped off area so I avoided that.  In the photo below you can see the land bridge in all its glory and it’s spectacular. We were stuck just between the trees on the right and the clump of three trees. As you can see, no fencing anywhere but I imagine it would be much safer when the grass is cut. I asked Hamala who was responsible for keeping it maintained and he said that Tonga gets $5million NZ a year for tourism, but the bridge and tsunami rock haven’t been maintained for a few years certainly the grass hasn’t been cut or the roads cleared. Is such a shame because it’s really beautiful

Happy with my pics I jumped back in the little car and we drove on. It was at this point I realised that we were potentially in a spot  trouble.  The tiny little car had got grounded and the two nearside wheels were off the ground. Add to the fact we were in a large amount of water which left us in a bit of a pickle and not going anywhere.  Hamala got out of the car and was up to mid calf in swampy muddy water. The other side of the car. Was thick deep grass as high as the car

I slid over into the driver's seat and while he pushed from behind I tried to drive us out. The wheels were just spinning and throwing up bucket loads of water.  We tried forward and backward.  Nothing. Not budging an inch.  Hamala then went in search of something to jam into the gap beneath the front wheel so we could try and get the wheel up on it. He came back with a small coconut branch and a bit of 2x4. I didn't think it would help but I admired his eternal optimism.  That didn’t work and we tried for a good 20 minutes to get it wedged under the wheel. I say we, he did,  I was sitting in the driver's seat sweating like a pedo in a playground in the highest humidity I’ve ever been in.   Off he went again looking for some other stuff to chock under the wheel and came back with a piece of scorched wood that was bigger than the last bit.  I suggested jacking up the car so we could slide the wood right underneath the wheel and then drive off it slowly. 

He  located the jack and two spare wheels in the boot and then started  jacking the car up. He managed to get  it up high enough off the ground to slide the wood under it and then we tried to drive the car forward over the wood but because it wasn't jammed in far enough it didn't work. We tried again and again and in the end the stupid bloody jack bent and that was the end of that.  In desperation he rang a friend to see if they could come and assist us, they said they were on their way and while we waited we tried over and over to get the car out, failing every time. Hamala's friend then rang and  all I could hear was a woman's voice yelling down the phone, turns out they'd got their van stuck in the deep stream we'd caught the bumper on and their front bumper was now hanging on by a thread. A divorce was in the offing if the irate tone of voice was anything to go by, he calmed her down and then ended the call. He explained she was angry at her husband for bashing the van up but they were almost here so he walked back to meet them. I was still sitting in the driver's seat, and in the wing mirror caught a glimpse of an enormous Tongan swinging a large machete. You would not believe the thoughts that raced through my brain the instant I clocked him!! Turns out he was swinging the machete to get through the grass, not here to murder me and gruesomely hack me to pieces before throwing me off the cliffs, but to rescue us. When he spoke he was the most softly spoken man, his voice completely at odds with his appearance. They both tried pushing the car backwards after I put in reverse to no avail. The giant then tried to lift the car with me still sitting in it and after failing decided that we'd have to be towed out. While they were discussing the best way to do it, I watched his wife in the nearside door mirror take the machete and go and cut me and her a fresh coconut and it was simply delicious.

Also greatly appreciated because I was starting to get a headache even though I topped up on 12 litres of water in the shop on the way to the cave. 

They reversed the van up to the back of the car, attached a rope and within seconds we were free and back on all four wheels. Hamala looked like he was ready to cry, I thought it was all very amusing and just about standard really for a day in my life. I don't think anything like that had happened to him before, but he wanted to show me the cliff face and didn't want me walking to it as it was uneven ground. We were nearly viewing the cliffs from the ocean when I saw how close we were to the edge . It would have been ok though because at least  I'd have been back with Si.  Paperwork would have been a nightmare for some poor fucker though. 

We turned in the clearing by the land bridge , and slowly made our way back down the rough track to the main road. Hamala asked if I had any pain killers as his knees were knackered from trying to push the car out, and I was a bit tired after all the excitement. The drive back to the hotel was in relative silence although he did oint out hte new blood transfusion centre, the first one the Island has had.  Not having the facilities to store extra blood has caused the loss of many lives so hopefully now that's a thing of the past. We also passed by twp really grand residences, one was built by a Noble, in the hope that when he asked for the king's daughter's hand in marriage the king would be impressed enough with the house that he would allow the marriage to go ahead. He refused, and the house is now standing empty. The other one was up on the hill, i say hill it was more of a bank and less of an incline on the field between us and Cath and Rob, but it was a hill. And it contained the Princesses house. My phone has died by this point so there are no pictures of these grand abodes sorry, I can always add some more snorkelling photos instead, I’ve got over 500 to choose from.

The royal family don't live in the palace but have five different properties around the Island. When the king's mother was alive she had a beautiful property, opposite where the princess lives now, with a private swimming hole in the grounds, but when she died the king raised the house to the ground. It's still all fenced off but it's abandoned and becoming overgrown.

Finally at 1900hours I was back at the hotel, i could barely drag myself up the steps  and all i could think of was how glad i was to not have booked anything in for tomorrow. I spoke to Maria briefly before  heading to the room to get out of my filthy dirty clothes. Somehow i got as much mud and dirt on me as if i had been pushing the car myself, obviously i wouldnt have done, i may have broken a nail. So there we are another day in the adventures of Mrs Leonard, at least it wasn't dull.

Much Love

Mrs Leonard

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