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The Mermaid |
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View of the Mermaid from the fuel dock in Neiafu |
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Cruisers Gathering |
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Tom and Sue from "Nechtan" and Kian from "My Chance". |
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Mermaid concert |
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Tom from "Nechtan" in full regalia, entertained the cruisers with his bagpipes |
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The Mermaid |
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One of the carvings in The Mermaid cafe |
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The Mermaid |
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Interior walls covered with various "treasures" |
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Enjoying friends |
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From left, Kian and Aglim of "My Chance", Elyse, and in front Noel of "Mariah II" |
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Making new friends |
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Robert with a new found friend |
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Tonga dancers |
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Friday evening performance |
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Tonga dancers |
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Traditional dancing |
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Solo performance |
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The dancer's skin is oiled so the dollar bills given by the audience will stick |
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Fire dancer |
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The highlight of the evening was the dance with fire... |
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Fuel dock, Neiafu |
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Iron Mistress at the fuel dock in Neiafu |
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Whalesong |
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We took the "Whalesong" tour to get a chance to swim with the humpback whales that migrate to Tonga each year |
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Keeping a lookout |
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Everyone had to keep a close watch to spot the whales |
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Getting upclose |
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Once spotted, we snorkeled from the boat to the whales |
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Closer look |
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It was incredible how massive these mammals are when you are in their territory... |
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Diving |
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The whale ready to dive to deeper depths |
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Humpback |
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Checking out each other.... |
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Mother and baby humpbacks |
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The baby keeps close to it's mother |
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Playful youth |
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A baby humpback |
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Baby Humpback |
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The baby enjoyed swimming around the curious swimmers |
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South Pacific Sunset |
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The end of another beautiful day in Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga |
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Ano Beach |
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Tom of "Hapai", Robert and Elyse at the site of a "traditional" Tongan feast that we were going to attend..... |
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Dinner table |
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This is the tongan feast dinner table, although once the sun went down, we got attacked by mosquitos, and decided to skip the event.... |
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Vava'u, Tonga |
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Beautiful scenery around the Vava'u Group |
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Going for a swim |
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The crew of "Hapai" - Rick, Karen and Alberto - diving into the crystal clear blue waters... |
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