Mālo ē lēilei our friends and family! That’s “hello” in Tongan. Have you ever heard Tongan? It sounds like laughter and singing. We have had a truly spectacular week with my youngest brother, Tommy, my soon-to-be sister April, her best friend Hannah, and several of their other friends, Steph, Cassie and Jethro from Australia, Julie from Germany and Kate from Ireland – currently living in Aussie.
All gathered together here on the tiny northern tip of the Ha’apai island of Foa in the Kingdom of Tonga. Seriously, check out their website, <Matafonua.com> It’s remote and unbelievably gorgeous.
Hannah and April dreamed of this trip – to have the chance to swim with Humpback whales in their breeding and birthing waters – to celebrate their own 30 years on this earth, and the rest of us were beyond blessed to be included in this celebration / Epic Adventure!
Teaser video – Meet Steve, a 4 month old curious cheeky, graceful and gorgeous humpback – more below. We went out on a zodiak-type boat 3 days in a row. Day 1 was overcast, raining much of the time and cool. We saw a mom/baby/escort combo of blows, backs and tails, but they were not interested in us so we didn’t get in the water. That night there was an awe-inspiring storm with the most beautiful lightening I have ever seen over the palms and beaches.
The next day, the sun rose in a clear sky, the rainwater tanks were full and it felt like a fresh introduction again to the beauty of the reefs around us.
At 1200 on Tuesday We went out again on the boat for about 3 hours of rough seas, lots of splashing and getting wet without seeing even a blow. Then, to the south Sio, our boat captain, eagle-eye and whale whisperer saw a breech and another blow. As we got closer, our in-water whale guide, Lilly, got really excited as she knew this whale (she had named him Steve) and it’s momma and had been in the water with him before.
We got in quickly and he was so curious about us and came right up. His beautiful and imposingly-huge momma, Dorothy, was floating fairly deep below us, we could just barely see her white belly and spots as she watched her baby play with us.
He kept coming around and really close to us as we tried to maintain the 10 meter distance, but that is definitely a human rule, Steve does not know about that rule. :). This is a longer video of our 2nd time in the water with him. It was a little intimidating the first time he swam directly up to us, but not frightening. He never felt aggressive at all, but was just so curious and playful.
We got to swim with he and his mum 2 days in a row which was amazing that we found them and he wanted to spend some more time with us. The 2nd day we even finally left after being with him for about an hour and another boat with Tommy, April and the rest of our group got to swim with him as well. It was truly magical.
We snorkeled around the reefs a ton, enjoying the warm water and such colorful and abundant sea-life. The final day we found one of the young leopard sharks we had heard was out there and swam with it for a bit as well. It’s about 2 meters long. It wasn’t in a hurry, but you could tell it was super fast when it wanted to be.
We also walked to happy hour at the Sandy resort on the western side of the point and watched gorgeous sunsets.
We played with Mana, the 1.5 year old Anatolian Shepard who guarded and watched over the resort and stayed with us like we were his herd.
We ate incredible and gorgeous local and sustainable food. The only option for food was the kitchen at Matafonua and it was delicious!
I forgot to get photos of the desserts but wow! Delicious!
We watched the colony, or “camp” or “cauldron” of giant fruit bats fly overhead every evening from the deserted island just north of us to feed on the fruit trees near us.
Mason and Leif and I tried a bushwalk, aka hike through the dense jungle, to find a secret beach, but got turned away but the multitude of palm-sized Banana spiders and their dense webs. I’ll need a machete next time to do it properly.
We also all took a really adventurous paddle – April and I on inflatable SUP boards and everyone else in kayaks – on a very windy day with fast current across to the desert island and collected coconuts and stories.
Darren (owner of Matafonua) is a master Dronesman (Yes, I’m making that a term)
We played lots of Farkle and Spoons in the evenings and it got crazy! 🙂
We found joy in identifying so many fish, flora and fauna.
On Sunday we all walked through town at the advice of our hosts and just listened to the singing from the 7 different churches in the little town. Wow!! It was gorgeous!
The first night there was the last cultural night at the resorts for the season – it was a feast with a roasted pig and tons of food and a show from the local school that was beautifully done! This singing!!!
On the final day we flew back to Tongatapu island and had one night in a small cottage near the airport. The host there recommended we walk about 20 minutes down the road to a Tongan feast and cultural night and she made sure they had a table for all of us. They graciously put us up front near the band who was remarkably good.
There was even fire dancing at the end!
The next day we all flew back to Auckland and then to our various homes across the world. I would travel anywhere, anytime with this amazing group of people – especially with Mason, Leif and my little Bro and Sister. I loved April immediately upon meeting her, but to love her friends and know the incredible people she has chosen as her tribe is such a joy.
We may have set Leif’s expectations for travel in the future a little high with this one. I am in constant awe of his bravery and willingness to push into discomfort.
The Ostrom Family Adventures 
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