wet laundry

Gray skies and showers have tainted our first few days in Tonga. As always, chores take up a bit of time upon arrival. Check in's must be done with 4 different gov. offices, money needed to be exchanged and laundry and groceries figured out. Laundry seems like is such a simple chore at home. However, out here, it never ceases to be a challenge. We took the two huge bags into the laundry mat this time and paid to have them washed. It's half the price to not dry. Usually drying is no problem. In the heat and the breeze, things dry in a couple of hours on the line. This time, our frugality was a mistake. When we got back to the boat with the wet clothes, a number of interruptions happened, so they didn't get hung out right away. Of course it started to rain just as we got them out. So in they come again. Then out again when the sun reappeared. I think in a 24 hour period we have moved them in and out 5 times. The third time they were all but dry and we left them out while we went exploring in the dinghy. The sun shone for about an hour, and then the black clouds rolled in and before we could even get back to the dinghy, we were soaked. The mile ride home with no rain gear did nothing to improve our impression of Tonga, although we're all a bit cleaner. We had to bail out the dinghy 3 times on the way back. You can imagine how wet our dry clothes had gotten again. So back inside, then back outside as the showers came and went. We finally strung up a huge tarp and hung it underneath. Of course now it's not raining, but the sky is still dark, so hopefully they'll dry no matter the weather. It's still quite warm and the breeze is constant. Never take your modern conveniences for granted!!

Hopefully we'll get our chores caught up, the skies will clear and we will get to enjoy Tonga as much as we expected. Pete has started in on boat projects in anticipation of selling. He's refinishing interior and exterior wood and maybe some painting as well. We're still deciding how much to do.

We are feeling the pressure of time as we run out of weeks before Christmas. It's still too early to head for NZ weather wise, but were getting anxious to find a marina, a broker, flights home and see some sights. There is only so much we can do online and then we need to be there in person to finish up details. We'll begin looking for a weather window in 2-3 weeks, which is still early, but doable.

Not much else to report. We're looking forward to catching up with everyone in person soon. Thanks for reading, Kellie