Talisker Bounty Boat 2010 Expedition

On April 28th 1789 William Bligh and 18 men were cast adrift during the Mutiny on HMS Bounty and then set sail from Tonga to Timor, a 4000 mile, 48 day voyage. This April 28, Don McIntyre and his crew of 3 will recreate this epic voyage, launching from Tofua(Ha'apai) on the same day at the same time and in the same place, 221 years after the original mutiny journey. This seven week expedition - in a 25ft long, 7ft wide, open wood vessel will see the crew facing the same deprivations as the original crew and using the same primitive equipment for survival. (i.e. no toilet paper or torches and only minimal food and water).

In charge of this re-creation is Don McIntyre. An amazing Australian adventurer who has sailed around the world in the 1990 BOC Challenge Solo around the world yacht race, lived with his wife at Sir Douglas Mawson's Hut in the Antarctic for 1 year and the first to fly around Australia in an open cockpit ultra-light Gyro-copter, 13000km in 20 days. He has put together a crew of 3 other crazy like minded men to accompany him and all the while will raise money for The Sheffield Institute Foundation for Motor Neurone Disease, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Flying into the Kingdom of Tonga on 12 April, Don and his crew hit the ground running with a press conference at the Tonga Visitors Bureau (Ministry of Tourism) and then 5 hectic days of getting his boat ready and gathering supplies. This expedition has had press coverage all around the world and has certainly brought Tonga into the public eye. Don and his crew reported at their official launch and farewell on April 19 that Tonga is definitely the friendly island and will now hold a special place in his heart for the warm welcome and all the assistance they have received since their arrival. At a special audience with the King of Tonga, George Tupou V, Don presented the King with a bound journal containing a copy of the original transcripts from William Bligh's logbook from his voyage.

Jodie, Emily and Dylan were lucky enough to be part of history in the making when they attended the official launch and farewell of the replica "Mutiny on the Bounty" Expedition. After an official welcome by the Prime Minister and a Blessing by the Chaplain for Seafarers Mission, the crew were entertained by traditional dancers and presented with authentic traditional Tongan fishing implements. The crew are making a documentary of their preparations starting in Tonga and of the voyage itself which will include the launch that we attended. We look forward to tracking their journey and pray they arrive in Timor safely, (especially after seeing first hand what they are sailing in) and will be able to do so by following their blog on www.bountyboat.com So, if you like a bit of history and adventure log on to see what all the fuss is about and make a contribution to a worthy cause whilst you are at it. Additional information and first hand reports by the crew can be found at www.tongaholiday.com which also contains pictures of Emily and Dylan at the launch.

L - R at official launch, front row-Prime Minister of Tonga Hon. Dr Feleti Sevele, HE Ms Christine Bogle, New Zealand High Commissioner, HE Dr Bruce Hunt, Australian High Commissioner

Crew of Talisker Bounty Boat, Don McIntyre second from Left.

Emily and Dylan onboard

Olden day equipment they will use on the voyage to get close to the hardships of the original voyage as possible

Inside the vessel, not very big for 4 men

The rudder

The crew rowing away from Touliki Naval Base with Chris filming the departure for the documentary

Still rowing, with a long way to go, out into the harbour back to Atata to complete their preparations for departure on 28 April

School Holidays in Tonga

The last two weeks have been school holidays for the kids and luckily enough, a school holiday program for 3 days per week, was organised by one of the mums to keep the kids occupied. Held at her home, the kids were supervised by 4 fantastic Tongan teenagers who had them doing everything from cooking, kite making, movie making and swimming/sport competitions. They were exhausted every night and had a ball. In between days, the kids had friends over to play and we also managed to go out for lunch a few days to treat ourselves. (Alas, no shopping centres here). We also participated in the World Health Organisation's "Ride for Life". The 7.5 km ride around the township (with approximately 40 other keen bike riders) took about 30 mins and apart from a stack for Emily and Dylan, we managed to get back in one piece, Jodie even managed not to come in last.

This is Ruhua after the kids got to her in the pool
Some of the kids and their carers Ebony (front in purple shirt) and Mercy (at back with fuzzy hair)

Dylan and his mate Zayne

Tyler, Georgia and Emily getting zombie costumes ready for the movie they were making

Snap shot of those who participated in the bike ride (Emily has the lime green bike in front and Dylan's is the orange bike in front)

Jodie and Emily before the ride

Easter Monday BBQ

Given that the weather had been so bad throughout the week, nobody had planned anything for the holiday except to stay indoors. Forever the optimist, I decided that the weather would be good and organised a BBQ in the fale for the compound residents and a few ring-ins. Off to a dodgy start with cloudy skies, the sun finally came out and we had a scorcher of a day. There were 6 families in all with plenty of kids to keep entertained. We had egg and spoon races, jumping castle, Easter egg hunt, swimming and of course cricket.

The cricket pitch

The kids
The adults

Easter Weekend at White Sands

With Lyndon away in Australia our usual Easter camping trip was just not going to happen so we did the next best thing: a weekend away back to White Sands Beach Resort. The weather in Tonga had been dreadful with plenty of rain threatening to spoil our weekend, we didn't mind though as it beat sitting at home. We were lucky enough that it only rained overnight on the Friday and for 2 hours on the Saturday at lunchtime, apparently back in town it just didn't stop. Again, we had the place to ourselves until the Sat arvo so we made the most of it exploring around the rock faces looking for crabs, having hermit crab races and ghost crab hunting. Dylan tried a spot of fishing but to no avail because at high tide, it was just to rough to do anything, we didn't even snorkel this weekend but had a great time relaxing anyway. The Easter bunny found out where the kids were early Sunday morning and even paid a visit, bless him.

The beach at high tide, a tad windy this particular day

The beach at low tide where you can walk out to the ocean front

Each afternoon at low tide we walked along the rock face on the shore line to either side of the resort until we got to the next beach with plenty of fish, coral, crabs, sea stars, sea cucumbers to be found. Emily was in charge of this days expedition.

Priscilla, the house girl, searches for kina at low tide which they eat raw, Dylan and Emily went along to help, this filled in 2 hours of an afternoon.


Dylan with some of his catch.

Some coral we found along the way.

A beautiful little swimming hole exposed at low tide.

Dylan in swimming hole.