Tag Archives: hike

Mana Island: a Refuge

After a crazy, fun filled week of activities, games, racing, and partying during the Musket Cove Regatta we seek out a refuge.  There is a weather system coming so we decide to head to Mana Island in the Mamanuca’s. But, first we stop at the outer reef in search of some crystal clear turqoise waters.

This was such a pretty spot, no other boats and gorgeous waters.  However, the winds started shifting making it pretty uncomfortable and rolly, so after one night we were off to Mana Island

We had really, really light winds for this very short downwind run.  We decided to put up the parasail because we were in no big hurry.  It was lovely, the sun was out, the breeze was cool, and the sail was gentle until we lost all of the wind.

It sure was nice while it lasted.  We arrived mid-day and took the afternoon off relaxing.  The next morning we had a beautiful sunrise.

Mana Island

We stopped at this lovely little island a few times last season (read 2022 blog on Mana Island).   We found a little spot in between a few reefs to anchor.  We let out enough scope to avoid the reef and were not expecting any neighbors.  To our surprise one small monohull anchored near us, but then left the next day because the winds pushed them too close to us.  Then another catamaran anchored between us and the reef and we had to tell them, politely, to move.

We had strong winds at 33kts out of the North, but Sugar Shack weathered the storm.

Hike Around Mana Island. 

There is a really lovely beach right in front of us, just beyond the reef.  It almost disappears at high tide, but during mid and low tide you can enjoy long walks.  Our beautiful walk starts on the beach and then wraps around over some coral/rocks to another beach.

This beautiful bird was catching some lunch and pretending not to see us.

Then it is straight up the hill where we pass the heli pad for Tadrai Island resort and the resort itself.

There are some really gorgeous views.  Can you find Sugar Shack in the top photo?

A view from another hill/mountain.  One looking East over Sugar Shak and one looking West over the village and the famous Mana Island Resort.

We then walk the ridge line down to the village and back to the beach.  I love the colorful houses in the village.  It is still low tide (see lower left photo).  We stop at a backpackers resort to have a drink and witnessed Superman carrying 4 dive tanks!  What a site.  It is a lovely hike. 

Cicumnavigating Mana Island

The next day we actually walk aroudn the entire island, 4.6miles.  We did not realize we could walk in front of the Tadrai Island Resort so we were always cutting up the hill.  But this time, we walked the entire island.

We find a magnificent blow hole and a a little private pool that Matt decides to enjoy.

Not sure if you remember, but the TV series “Survivor” is shot on Mana Island (we mention it in our 2022 post).  When we do the complete around the island hike we find several Survivor sets (big open fields for challengs), the control room (where the director works), and the elimination stage.

Below is one of their cleared fields where they hold challenges.  We are not sure if these rafts are part of Survivor or just local island rafts.  But they were super cool and constructed of natural products: bamboo and vines.

A special preview just for you our trusty readers….the Honeymoon Survivor Australia was preparing to start filming as we were here.  We got a few snapshots of the sets before they even make it on film!

The top left is a special honeymoon suite, bottom left is their shower with lots of fresh water, bottom right is their very special toilet and top right is a pre-made raft.

So many walks and so many views…

And a good, hard walk wouldn’t be worth it without a reward…we have tasty drinks at the Mana Resort.

Super good hike requiring us to walk on beaches and over rocks, with a total trip of 4.7 miles.

Sandbank Day

There is a spit of land aptly called “The Sandbank” where day charter boats go for an afternoon picnic.  We have passed by it a number of times and this day we decide to take the dinghy over.  We packed some snacks and cold drinks and hit the road.

This sandbank disappears at high tide so you can only visit mid-to-low tide.  

Nothing but turquoise waters, a little sand, and some broken coral.  But truly beautiful to sit in the shallow water with a cold drink enjoying the peace.

I could get used to this little spot!  We snorkeled the reef and found some beautiful schools of fish and lots of hard coral.  Not much soft coral but that is to be expected.

We end up spending 2 weeks at Mana.  We walked around the island several times, enjoyed cocktails at both resorts and hung out with some friends.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  This blog occured in mid-September.  Don’t miss out on the Musket Cove Regatta Festivities posted in our last blog.

The Majestic Cliffs of Kenutu

Our last anchorage in Tonga was a spectacular one!  We picked this remote easterly island based on its location for the upcoming winds.  Plus, we wanted to hit one island on all four sides of Vava’u.  The winning island was Kenutu.  This is a long, pretty flat island with several white, sandy beaches and a thick forest inland.

It can be a bit of a challenge navigating to Kenutu because of all of the reefs.  We had to ensure we had good visibility and updated satellite charts to make it safely, which we did!

Kenutu, Tonga

Kenutu, Tonga

We arrived around 1500 which did not leave us much time to explore before dark descended upon us.  So, we jumped in Sweetie and worked our way through the reefs near shore.  A friend of ours told us that there is a 10-minute walk to the other side so we decided to investigate.

Exploring Kenutu

The path was easy to find as someone put a float in the tree with “trail” hand written on it.  Easy enough.  The first trail we found was truly a 10-minute walk to the other side.  But what we saw shocked us!  The colors were so vibrant!

The rocky cliffs shouted out with bright reds, browns, and greens while the water below had dozens of variation of blues and greens.  I loved watching the waves come up over the table creating a shallow pool.

Another beautiful hillside with more colors.  We found several trails on the east side of Kenutu.  We walked on all of them that we could find.  Each bay was just as beautiful as the last.  One of our walks led us down to sea level where we could witness the blow holes and surf up close and personal (lower photo).

One bay had several blow holes that showed off in a spectacular fashion.  I could have sat here and watched this fierce display of water all day!

It was getting dark and we wanted to explore by dinghy.  We went around the southeast side of the island and found a lovely pass.  But it was too rough and too shallow for us to go through by dinghy.

If we had more time we would have certainly stayed at this Kenutu anchorage longer.  What a beautiful surprise it was to see this island.

The next day we had to pull up the hook and go back to Neiafu to clear out of Tonga.  Super sad as we really did not do the Kingdom justice in 3 weeks.  I would love to come back here and really explore all three archipelagos.

This blog occured in mid-August 2023.  Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  In our last blog I share details of Vava’u.

Waitomo Glowworms

Waitomo is famous for its bountiful caves which are covered in beautiful glowworms.  I say “beautiful” loosely because the actual worm is not so hot looking, but its brilliantly bright tail is a spectacular thing to see when emersed inside a pitch black cave.

We arrive into Waitomo after a 2.5 hour drive from Auckland.  The journey was uneventful and kept us on a beautiful, proper 4 lane highway (that even had a shoulder)  for most of the trip.  We did get a lot of fog, but once it cleared it was stunning, rolling, green hills and farm lands.

Waitomo means “water” “cave” (wai=water) and (tomo=cave).  There are well over 300 caves that they know of – which means there are plenty more to be discovered.

Arriving in Waitomo

We make our first stop in Ortohanga, the neighboring town to Waitomo, to have lunch at the Thirsty Weta. We enjoyed some cold beer and pretty tasty food.  Then we headed to the Waitomo Caves Museum and Discovery Center.  Super informative, interactive, and informational museum where we learned all about the glowworm.

Fun Facts:

  • A glowworm is not actually a worm
  • It lives as a maggot or larvae for the first 6-9 months, then builds a cocoon where it then turns into a fly with no mouth!  
  • The fly only lives for 3 days and their primary goal is to mate.
  • The larvae, which is about as long as a match stick, will build a small hammock that can slide front to back.
  • They drop between 30-40 sticky, silk threads that are used to catch their prey.
  • Their tails light up attracting moths, mosquitos, and other insects which then get stuck in their silk threads.
  • Females lay about 200-300 eggs in 20-30 clusters (all within the 3 days she has to live as a fly, find a mate, mate, lay, and distribute the eggs).
  • The first larvae to hatch will eat its siblings to get strength to build its hammock and drop its threads (charming).
  • The glowworms tail will brighten and dim in 24hr cycles with the other glowworms in its cluster (they are in sync) and will provide an endless luminescence. 

The museum also had bones from a really large and rare bird, called the moa.

Waitomo Caves

Waitomo is famous for its caves which is their primary tourist attraction.  Unfortunately, they do not allow any photography inside the cave.  

We start our tour out by descending 13 meters into the cave.  We are surrounded by stunning stalactites and stalagmites that are thousands and thousands of years old.  They have a strict no touch policy so we keep our hands to ourselves.  Tons of curtains, candles, and mounds hanging from the ceiling and slowly reaching for its partner on the ground.

After a 20-25 minute walk along these beautiful structures, we quietly board a small boat in the dark.  This is the part we’ve all been waiting for – the glowworms.  We silently glide in the water as the guide uses a pull rope to maneuver the boat.  It is breathtaking to see these bright blue lights dotted all over the ceiling and cavern walls.  The top left photo was taken in slow-mo by someone else, but it gives you an idea of what it looked like.

They did have a fun green screen for photos –  we got suckered into the purchase since we couldn’t take any photos on the tour.

And us in the caves…Matt and Wayne with a lion, oh wait, that is me with crazy hair!

Ruakuri Bushwalk

After our leisurely stroll through the museum we decide to follow one of the trails that leads to another trail called Ruakuri Bushwalk.  We were not really prepared for this long walk as we did not have any water, but the path was pretty flat and well marked.

The first trail started at the Waitomo Caves, connected to Johnston Memorial trail then to Waitomo Walkway before it connected us with the Ruakuri loop.  But the long walk was worth it as the Ruakuri trail was fabulous!

We followed the river and discovered loads of caves!  The trail even took us through several caves or tunnels.

We crossed over a questionable bridge, trespassed on a few farms, and climbed over fences.

The river was at times gushing and other times tranquil.

Even if you skip the original walk that brought us to the Ruakuri Bush Walk, we highly recommend the Ruakiru Bush walk – it was absolutely fantastic.

The Woodlyn Park Lodge

We took the whimsical route when we decided to stay at the Woodlyn Park Lodge.  You have a choice of staying in a train, a freighter Bristol airplane, a hobbit cabin, or an old war ship (ML430).  

We opted to stay in the Oceanic “suite” in the stern of the ship (primarily because everything else was sold out!).  As it turned out, it was super fun with a large outdoor deck overlooking the river.

Upstairs is the living area, deck, and kitchen area.  Downstairs is the bathroom, master bed room (thru the small door) and an additional room with 3 single beds.

It certainly was fun and a novelty for us all.  Stay tuned tomorrow as we go 100 meters into the center of the earth on the Lost World tour.

  • Hotel: The Woodlyn Park Lodge
  • Kilometers:  185
  • Travel Time: 3hrs15min
  • Kilometers Walked: 9.8km on 22 Feb and 8.7km on 23 Feb

Events from this blog occurred in late February,  Our blog runs 10-12 weeks behind actual events.  Did you catch our last blog where we visit the City of Sails?