Hello from Vava'u, Tonga

We are now legally checked in to Tonga. It was pouring with rain when we went to the customs dock with several other boats. The Customs man dealt with one boat then said that it was much too wet for all the other officials to come to the boats, and we should go to them! This was actually a much more efficient system, as Customs, Immigration, Health, and Quarantine officials usually tromp all over the boat, often suggesting little 'gifts'. A usual 3-hour process took about 30 mins.
Still not much to report about Vava'u. We've been no further than the little town to get provisions. It's high season so busy with yachties and NZ/Oz backpackers. The waterside bars and small restaurants all doing a roaring trade. But it's a 3rd world sort of place. Pigs and piglets roam the street, and some of the houses are no more than a few concrete blocks with corrugated iron. The supermarkets are very basic, but some enterprising foreigners have started small food businesses to cater for western tastes. There's an Austrian baker who makes very tasty, heavy, multigrain and rye bread, an Italian who does home made pasta to order, and New Zealanders running internet cafe/mooring rental/general info and help/diving and whale watching businesses.
The Tongans are large people, friendly and helpful but more reserved than those in the Cook Islands or French Polynesia. Quite a lot of the men wear the traditional dress of a black sarong with a length of tapa (bark cloth) over it folded over a belt at the waist. The women are in skirts and dresses (the wearing of trousers isn't the custom for women), and well covered. The missionary influence still holds strong. Sunday is a real day of rest, no work of any sort, no taking boats out, no swimming for the children, and certainly no businesses or restaurants open (except the international resorts but none of those here in town). There's a nice little daily market that sells local produce (quite limited, no fertile volcanic soil here), and some high quality wood and bone carvings and basketwork.
The genoa furling machanism has been really stiff recently, and couldn't be turned at all manually, so Geoff took advantage of a beautiful calm dry sunny day yesterday to take the whole thing apart. Quite a job as you can imagine. Today he is reassembling it, having cleaned it all. Bearings OK thank goodness, and nothing broken, just a bit dirty. We thought we would be stuck here waiting for spare parts to be sent in from NZ. Hopefully that's the problem. If he can get it together by this afternoon we hope to go for a walk to a local look out point and nature reserve.