Deep Resort 'Eua Island

... 8 passengers and the pilot, who gave the safety briefing from outside, stood on the runway, as he didn't have space to turn around in his seat. Once or twice he reached for something in the footwell and in leaning down the plane veered off course! We were met at the airport, despite the fact that they seemed to think we were arriving on the ferry !?! A short pot-holed journey to the guesthouse by 4WD. The roads had spider's webs ...

... drove around the main island in about 3 hours, so it's a fairly small place. On the downside, its economy is worse than Fiji, everything is imported so its extremely expensive and everything closes on Sundays. It is a very religious place, so on Sundays the 1 tv station and 3 radio stations go off the air, all shops are closed and they have now closed the beaches. It seems that they don't want you having fun on a Sunday ...

... much this morning just hung around the green house as waiting to go the airport. Once at the airport we were told it was a 8 minute flight to Eua. The plane was tiny, I sat at the back and Kerstin sat up front in the co-pilot seat!!! We stayed at Tania's place, it was beautiful. After we had checked in we went for a walk to have a look at this giant tree, it was like something off Harry Potter! We also visited a smoking cave, we had to walk through the forest and ...

... worried, when finally petrol station lights shone out of the gloom. By the time we got back to the resort, the promised feast was reduced to a smearing of salad and some lonely slices of watermelon. Within a few minutes, however, dishes of taro leaves, corned beef, raw fish and the inevitable grilled tuna appeared before us, and the Tongan dances started. We retired to bed very full and very sleepy after a rather adventurous day.

... to the church one of the first things we noticed is that most all the kids were outside, but they were dressed beautifully. There were almost no cars there. It seems that most everyone walks to church. When we went inside though it was full. The entire sermon was in Tongan, so we couldn't understand what was being said. It didn't matter though because the singing was worth everything. Jody and I had attended a mass recently where the priest admonished the ...

... s extended family. We told him we were staying at Sela's and he was only too happy to offer to pick us up from Sela's the next morning and agreed to take us around the west coast of the island and back again for just $20! After a fifteen minute boat ride across to the shores of Pangaimotu, we were blown away by just how beautiful the island was and the contrast between the dusty urban mainland. In the shalow waters by the main thatched fale is the half ...

... of marriage (in a roundabout way) from the young man who was helping me with my bags. :) He was very nice, and very helpful, but, regretably, I had to decline his kind invitation. I didn't know if I had a ticket for a flight to Vava'u, as my itinerary had changed to a later date from planned, but my paramour found out that there was a flight leaving in approximately thirty minutes to Vava'u and so I hopped in a ...

... auto toimii ja lopulta paikalle pöristelee joku vanha mummo ikivanhalla Mazdalla :-) Häneltä saatiin kyyti laiturille, jossa vaihdettiin mummon autosta toiseen romuun, pakuun, jonka takapenkit oli täysin irti ja mutkissa meinasi penkit aina lähteä kaatumaan. Uskomatonta meininkiä ja melkoinen kokemus tämä reissu! :-) Onneksi ehdittiin sillan yli Foa saaren puolelle ennen myrskyn alkua ja Sandy Beachillä oltiin juuri ennen kuin sade ja jyrinä alkoi todenteolla. Kysyin ...

... n paljon joka puolella, mikä on aina hyvä merkki! Paikalla on meidän lisäksi ainoastaan yksi Ranskalainen perhe, joka on lähdössä lauantaina pois, joten eipä ole tungosta :-) Aloitettiin tämä visiitti oikein hyvällä aamupalalla, jonka jälkeen Boris esitteli miten hommat täällä Sandy Beachillä oikein toimii. Tämä on kyllä huikean kallis mesta verrattuna puoli-ilmaisiin Tongalaisiin majataloihin, mutta asioita tasoittaa se, että täällä hintaan kuuluu pyörät ...

... Finally felt inspired to make a few new paintings and drawings Met the dumbest american on the planet Rode for my life on a bike while being chased by many ravenous barking dogs. Became addicted to snapper burgers Got sick of snapper burgers Let my frustration with women fade into the blissful state of "If you don't see it, you don't need it" Check out the pics Charles