The one that got away

At the bottom of the swell looking out the back of the boat

We've...actually I've had two days out on Andrew's boat. Terry wanted to have a picture with a big fish so Andrew decided to take us out Marlin fishing. With  lunch all packed by Karen we headed out toward the ocean. The further we got out the rougher it got, not to the point where I was fearing for my life, but it was reasonable swell. At one point I looked back to an fairly large island and the land disappeared as the swell rose up behind us.

Unfortunately after dragging four fishing lines around out there for a few hours, we got nothing...not even a nibble. The one highlight  was that we spotted a whale off in the distance and it was exciting to see it breach up out if the water. 




We headed back to Hunga Haven for lunch. It is a beautiful spot with stunningly clear and very calm water. 
There was an vacant fishing resort, a village and Barry's house. Barry is one of the the guys that hosts the daily information radio program that we've started to look forward to each morning. 

Boris's island that faces the stunning Blue Lagoon.

Before we came to Tonga we saw an episode of a series that Kevin Macleod (Grand Designs) hosts about people who live in extremely remote areas.  The couple on that episode actually live on an island that forms part of the Hunga Haven. The program suggested that there was no-one close by and if they were ever in trouble it would take hours for someone to assist. Not true Kevin! The nearest person is about a five minute boat ride. Yes, the island about an hours trip to the main island but it's certainly not as isolated as was suggested. I guess the old saying "Never let the truth get it the way of a good story" is true. Anyway, having said all that the island and the blue water that fronts it is stunning and you can see, with an idealistic view, why they decided to live there.

After lunch we set off again this time aiming for something a little smaller for us to catch. As luck would have it, we did hook a fish and it was Terry's turn to fight with a fish. Andrew was getting so excited and told Terry that it was a big one! Terry struggled with if for about 20 minutes then it broke the line and got away. Unfortunately while all this was going on the wind blew Andrew's phone off the bridge of the boat into the water and it was lost too. Now, according to Andrew the fish was probably another Dogtooth Tuna like the one I caught only this one was at least a 50kg fish. Not, sure how big it was and wondered if Andrew just said that to make Terry feel better about it getting away. Someone on the radio told us that Boris (the man that lives "far" from civilisation) caught a 68kg Dogtooth Tuna last week in the same area. Maybe what Terry missed was it's little brother. 

There was also a small hiccup with the boat which Andrew & Po'uli (the deck hand and guide) had fixed in no time. After all that excitement we decided it was time to head home. 

Didn't catch a fish but we did see a whale so they day had some success.