Dom and Hannah's Farewell Part 2

For the Walton-France's final day in Tonga we all headed over to Pangi for the day! You couldn't have asked for a better day! Lyndon even brought Blah Blah over to prove to Dom that she still has it. Fun in the sun was the main order of the day with the kids doing the usual fishing, ski paddling, snorkelling, jumping off the wreek, exploring the island, ski tubing and who knows how many other crazy things that we'll never know about!

Dyl wetting a line off Big Mumma's wharf.

Em has found a new way to use our surf ski. Paddle boards seem to all the rage, yep we have even seen two in Tonga.

Blah Blah moored up on the beach. No more swimming out a mile to pick up the big boat. See Jodie the glass is half full not half empty.

Mckee's, Walton-France's, Quirke's, Fineanganofo's and Bannon's

G rated you two! Can't do that in Windy Wellington!

Hannah and her babies - Evie and Pia (her house ladies daughter).

See I told you there are a couple of paddle boards in Tonga! This is Rochelle showing us how easy it is. Not that anyone else got straight up.

Lola had a go on the ski tube after all the kids had a bash (including a few locals) but Lola had the best stack of the day, arms and legs everywhere. She still came up smiling though.

Our Island Princesses! Hannah, Dee, Jodie, Rochelle, Jen and Lola

Oh what a feeling!! Who said white women couldn't jump? Even after wine.

The boys - Dom, Lyndon, Rugby John and Sal. Yep no need to jump we have beer.

The last WTF family Pangi shot.

Group hug. We miss you guys already but we'll see you next April.

What better way to leave Tonga than in 'NZ7" (AKA Bongo van, party bus or WTF Limo)
Goodbye guys thanks for the memories!

Dom and Hannah's Farewell Part 1

It's been a magical two years sharing time and laughter with the Walton-France's but it has finally come time to say good bye to WTF friends! Dom and Hannah put on a BBQ and spread around the NZ pool and the kids trashed the place as usual. As a farewell gesture Jodie wore a little something special for Dom.

It's now tradition to have marsh mellows when ever we have a BBQ luckily the guards are good at impromptu fire building.

The Marsh Mellow crew!

D&D (Dom and Dee) We'll surely miss this cheeky grin.

Not D&D but just simply put Double Trouble.

All the girls together for one last shot.

Look at this bunch of misfits, how lucky are their wives?

The kids put on a stage show that they had learnt at "On the Spot"

A great night topped of with live entertainment. Not just our own monkies but by a couple of Tongan boys playing guitar in the background all night.

Water monkies!

Hannah may need to find a set of these boots on return to NZ as we're not sure how long Dom will last with out them?

Malo' aupito for another great night!! Farewell our dear friends - see you in Windy Wellington for Easter 2012

The Quirke Boys gather in Cairns for a few beers.

During my stay in Cairns I had the chance to catch up with a few of the locals, thanks again everyone for your hospitality and reminding me why we are so looking forward to returning to Cairns. I managed to squeeze in a little house maintenance with Chris, such a nice landlord hey Chris? The place had changed so much and thanks to the time difference and my body clock waking me up at 0430 every morning I got to see a lot of the Esplanade as I was staying at Northern Heritage (Navy accom) close to the inlet.

Some things never change and that ain't a bad thing when it comes to a beer and BBQ in the shed with the Street and Wedge clans!

The moons also aligned and all the brothers and Dad came up to Cairns for a couple of nights! What a catch up - Chris put on a big BBQ the first night and we sat around chatting on the deck until the early hours. Bodies strewn everywhere inside the house poor Cory (Chris's dog) had no idea when he woke in the morning.

The next morning the boys wanted to see the esplanade. Well we made one lap then it was into town for an early lunch (OK, beer) but this is where Helen joined us.

We stopped on our way home and picked up my Tongan brother who joined us for a seafood lunch at home.

Poor Semisi got caught up in it all and lunch turned into dinner and beers at the Pier Tavern. It was a great night, I'm sure no one else in the pub had a clue with such a strange mix of blokes together (and Hel's for a while).

Being responsible fathers what else do you do on the way home? Stop for some O&X's of course before hitting the Casino for our last night together. The boys all flew out the next morning with Semisi and I returning to work.

Thanks Mrs Quirke's for letting all us boys play together, what a great idea.

Can't wait till the next meeting!

VOEA NEIAFU's Australian Slipping

After many months of planning and preparation VOEA NEIAFU finally made it to her Biennial slipping conducted at Tropical Reef Shipyard in Cairns. How happy was I to be back in the old stomping grounds? Sam did the first half of the slipping and I finished it off. The guys and the shipyard worked well together and as a result there were minimal delays. She came out looking great and we (TRS/DMS) also managed to complete the hull modifications (strengthening).

As usual the boys managed to clear out CashConverters and the Salvo's of second hand TV's, BBQ's, bikes and clothes. Also we gave the lollie shops a touch up too! They are very expensive back in Tonga and with Xmas around the corner what else would you need for the stockings? I also managed to squeeze in a few social calls with friends and family during my 3 weeks.

The boat took 18 days to get home but l missed the trip home this time as we had a recall conference in Canberra to attend.

VOEA NEIAFU sitting in the floating dock.

Semisi keeped a close eye on his boat.

Tamau (The charge) doing his best Titanic impersonation with Semisi while we moved the boat (still in the floating dock)

Semisi, Finau and Passi with a trolley load of choclates and other lollies. This was just their stash too.

With all the external hull repairs completed it was time to flood the dock and float NEIAFU off.

CO Semisi in his Captains chair! A few days after hitting the water it was time for sea trials. These were shortened due to poor weather and heavy rain.

18 days later including some unkind weather and a patrol NEIAFU finally returned to Tonga. Which also included our stash of goodies onboard.

Our first official outing in Blah Blah.

Well Satisfaction is truly done and dusted! So Lyndon in his boating wisdom has purchased half shares in a local boat "Blah Blah" yep the garden gnome from the NZ High Comm compound. A little 4.8m half cabin fibre glass boat. Jodie's faith was short lived as the trailer only made it 1km to the ramp for her first launch before snapping in half!!! because two Tongan boys jumped on it for a lift out of the water. Lyndon thought he may have gotten a few more trips before he had to build a new trailer - but obviously not!!!

Grand plans he says! Get it running and then enter it in as many fishing comps as possible! Build a strong reputation for when we need to sell our share. The Quirke's first sea trial was 6.5hrs out in the open ocean, actually it was for three separate 6.5hr days for the first Tongan International Game Fishing Association - Billfish classic. Well Lyndon forgot to mention he wouldn't be around for all three days so Jodie and Dyl had to hold up the fishing fort with our trusted skipper John standing in as Lyndon's stunt double for the last two days!

Not as roomy as Satisfaction has been Jodie's catch cry!

The Skipper and Mary Ann! (John knows the boat hence the life jacket!)


The worlds saddest weigh in board. It remained so for the first two days! Zippo from 7 boats and 20 odd fishermen.

Dyl is still the mad fisherman and kept going even back at the club house, with a well dressed bait lady I may add.

After the first days outing we had a calcutta draw for the boats and BBQ. Building team spirits and to see who would actually back themselves after the slowest of starts?

Blah Blah was snatched up by Karen for the bargain basement price of $130. Now that's good faith by the neighbours! Best she performs!

The weather was fine and the sunsets at the bar made for a relaxing afternoon to talk about next time out!

Day 3 saw little Dyl haul in two monsters this Tuna and a nice Wahoo that released it's self once it was on the side of the boat! Tears all round I heard!

Dyl's weigh board.

After three days of fishing and five days of meeting at the club house and Billfish bar for separate events it was award giving time!

Dylan won the juniors section with his Tuna and the hard luck story for his wahoo. Also Blah Blah came in third as two other fish were caught on other boats. Two years in a row Eva takes out the top prizes with her 22.5kg Mahi Mahi which meant Tony's boat won nearly everything else on the night. In all not a bad start for Blah Blah, no breakdowns and she produced fish, a first in many years we've been told! We look forward to Blogging about even more great adventures over the next 12 months!

The Arty Angels Christmas Craft Fair

Yet again Lola took charge of all the kids and organised the second Childrens Craft fair at a local cafe. For 6 weeks, every Friday afternoon all 10 of them piled into the back of Lola's patrol, went back to her place and worked their butts off for 2 hours creating wonderful Christmas decorations and yummy snacks to sell - all in the name of art and craft... and to line their pockets with a little bit of cash. A few stall holders from the handicraft markets also came along to sell some of their wares.

This year the kids also sold something that they had made on their own and were allowed to keep the money for themselves. Emily made "Tin Can Characters" out of recycled soft drink cans decorated with various bits of scrap metal and alfoil. She sold all 8 at $5 each and was very pleased with herself. They must have been alright because even Dylan parted with his own cash to buy one on the day. Overall the "Arty Angels" made $300 as all of their craft was sold and the kids made $30 each. There are alot of parents in Tonga with Christmas Trees looking similarily decorated but hey, you get that! Well done kids and thanks heaps to Lola.

Milla with the snowflakes and Eva, Georgia, Milla, Emily and Necie manning their stand.


Leilani - the proud owner of one of Emily's characters - this one in a race day outfit with matching hat and handbag.

The Christmas cards and "Santa stop Here" table was very popular. So too were the cupcakes and biscuits.

There was a big turn out with plenty of local handicrafts on offer so Jennifer checks out some necklaces.

Some more stall holders from the marketi.

Paula and Tim had a little refreshment pause, whilst Tomasi, Dylan, Ualala and Blaise just hung out.

Thank you Lola and the 10 Arty Angels

Jayden, Eva, Emily, Georgia, Milla, Necie, Naomi, Jessica, Piana and Jade