Day 157 Route planning

Mark and I went to the big open air market in Apia and bought fresh vegetables for the trip. We were talked into buying a pumpkin by a woman at one of the stands. We initially said we were not interested because we did not know how to cook it and by the time she rattled off half a dozen delicious sounding recipes we had a pumpkin of our own. Mark had decided he would cook a curry for the trip and we felt if we did not find another use for the pumpkin, at least it would taste good in the curry. The market is surrounded by small shops and Saturday morning is a chaotic flurry of people. I like that environment but many people do not and Mark is one of those so we got our supplies and headed back to the boat.
The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing the curry. One other boat called us on the radio to ask what we were cooking. They said that whatever it was, it smelled delicious.
In the late afternoon, Mark and I attended a meeting with Liahona on Gato Go to discuss routes and destinations. Our original plan was to go from Samoa to Fiji but the others want to visit Tonga and had several suggestions about possible routes. Tonga is a series of island (about 180) so there are many choices. The closest is the island of Niuatoputapu, which the yachties call "new potato" which is about a one-day sail away. It is small and seems like a nice destination if you plan to spend a week but our schedule does not allow for that so we finally decided to make a two to three day trip to Vava'u which is farther South and more in line with our intended Fiji destination. Vava'u is a Moorings location so there are numerous navigation aids and the good and safe anchorages are all marked on the Moorings charts. Although we are not a Moorings charter, we understand they are generous with their charts and we can obtain one when we arrive.
Vava'u also has the reputation for being a sailing destination like the British Virgin Islands with islands close together making it possible to move from place to place within a one day sail. At each anchorage there are other yachts and good facilities. I guess we will see when we get there.