2explore.net We are Niels and Amy van Dongen and this is our journey. Our home site is http://www.2explore.net. On February 16, 2007 we will leave behind the comforts of our home in Seattle to travel through the South Pacific. On this site you can follow along with us, read about our experiences and view some of the photos we have taken en route. Our insatiable urge to explore, sparked the idea for this adventure. In October of 2005, we had a taste of the South Pacific on a 3-week trip to the Cook Islands and have ever since wanted to go back to immerse ourselves in the South Pacific way of life and record our experiences. With many ecosystems at risk from pollution, global warming and climate change, this is now especially critical. We aim to capture the true character of the idyllic South Pacific through photographs and words in a way that makes any observer of our work feel a connection to this special place and in turn, join us in making simple choices in everyday life that can have positive, lasting effects on the world around us. For a year we will be living as modern nomads – traveling only with what we can carry in our packs, living amongst the locals on the islands we visit, spending time sharing stories and experiences and taking in the captivating underwater world on the occasional dive. We hope to help others along the way and keep a vivid record of this adventure to share with you, and keep at the forefront of our memory. Follow along with us and learn about far away places of natural beauty and rich cultures. Experience with us the big world we call home.

Last Thursday we touched down in the Kingdom of Tonga. Through a string of good fortune, things fell into place: a much needed, long awaited package was actually waiting for us at the post office in Tongatapu and at the airport we were able to walk up, buy a ticket, and fly out to the islands of Vava'u, North of Tongatapu, the same day! After arriving in Neiafu (Tonga's second largest city with a population of 5650) our good fortune continued as we stumbled upon accommodation that is basically a self contained apartment attached to a house. We are so happy to have a bit of space again, cooking facilities, and the luxury of a warm, indoor shower. The extremely friendly and helpful Austrian owner that moved here some 25 years ago (and married a local) is at our beck and call making sure we are taken care of and he is always at the ready to help arrange things for us.

In contrast to our last destination, the people are very friendly and approachable. We plan to spend a fair amount of time in the islands of Vava'u - hopefully some of it within the traditional villages.

As we write this we are still exhilarated from an afternoon of diving. We finally are able to allow ourselves to spend the money and fully take in the underwater world that we have been missing out on. We dove yesterday and today and it was fantastic. The coral is healthy and abundant and the sea life is thriving. Today we saw loads of sharks. We decended into a cavern while the dive master used a torch to highlight 5 white-tip reef sharks circling with a school of fish. We hung out quite close for a few minutes and then swam out of the cavern through a tunnel. Shortly thereafter - when we were swimming along a wall - 4 sizeable (approx. 6 foot in length) gray reef sharks appeared out of the deep blue below us. It was amazing. We have seen things here that we have not seen elsewhere - the most fascinating was the Electric Fire clam, a rather large, orange shell with bright orange tentacles and a fluorescent blue, lightning like light shimmering around its mouth. Needless to say, we will be splurging on a few more dives :).