Intern.Dateline Nuku'alofa

... how to deal with tourists. We were taken first to the Cultural Centre where we were shown how they plait coconut leaves which they put on the roof of their house (these last up to a year) and raffia to make mats. They also use the bark of the banana tree to make traditional cloth and mangos to dye it. We were given refreshments in a hall and shown some of the national dances - these were done by ...

... dinner. We heard that the plane to Tongatapu had broken down and our return may be in jeopardy. Muppet voiced Jim and his loud mouthed family could not return home but had to move out as some new guests arrived on the Ferry. Vonda and Ross, kiwi's, were visiting Vonda's uncle's grave, as the only casualty of WWII on Tonga. the grave is on the highest point of the island. (There's a famous, by Tongan standards, story surrounding his death ...

... me to meet their guys at a little resort island just off the coast, where their whole boat had poured into the bar and were throwing themselves off the wreck in the shallows, mooning etc. I stayed out with them until I remembered my poor taxi driver, but not before had organised a hot date... to visit the orphanage on the island today with a bunch of them. Sadly that didn't happen, though I rocked up at the boat this morning and waited for ...

... was thrilled saying that they don't get many pictures. I could see why since there were no Kodak shops or Walgreens anywhere it sight. That afternoon we went on an "unguided" hike with Tim, Bruce and Susan. That means that they drove us a long way's and left us with a map to get to a snorkeling spot that they were going to pick us up at in the evening. On the way our driver pointed out the short cut to the snorkeling spot. We saw a beautiful arch where ...

... surfaces. We sat in the bow where we could keep a good eye on the horizon. We'd heard that the ocean could be rough, expecially going over the Tongan Channel. Angie passed out seasickness pills just in case. We had beautiful scenery passing many un- (or at least barely) inhabited the islands along the way. We even passed a sea snake and had several flying fish pass us. Then we got to the channel. Jody, Tim and I managed ok ...

... offered us a massage as he used to work in Australia's Bondi Beach as a masseuse (we got a good tan with baby oil slathered all over our shoulders!). We played with Koufou's new puppies Lion and Tiger in the sun for a while and then decided it was time so head back to Sela's. On the way home we stopped off to take some photos of some flying foxes that were hanging upside down in a tree. Lenny dropped of at Talamahu Market where we wandered around for the ...

... Maul beobachten kann, wie d** stattliche Reiseteilnehm** I in d** Tanzstube des Ortes von einem noch deutlich stattlich**en lokalen Weib (nur dies** Ausdruck trifft zu) mit einem satten Klaps und einem Schubs** auf die Tanzflaeche katapulti**t wird. Unt** Tongan**innen und Tongan**n nehmen sich uns**e Ko**p**lein naemlich aus wie ein Gruepplein Pygmaeen in einem texanischen McDonald's Restaurant. - wenn das ...

... mistä, lepäilyä· Tuli kyllä hyvään paikkaan ja tarpeeseen tälläinen viikon lepotauko, sillä aika hurjalla tahdilla vedettiin edelliset kolme viikkoa Uudessa-Seelannissa. Illalla Sandy Beachille saapui pariksi päiväksi oikein mukava Englantilainen vanhempi pariskunta (Kevin ja Mandy Lontoosta) ja samanlainen ilme heillä oli saapuessa, kuin meillä :-) Unbelievable ...

... played much before and I opened the bowling and on my first bowl it was a bit of a bouncer and it caught the opening batsman right in the face and broke his nose, a good start to the game by me! Blood was everywhere all over the wicket and we did not have any helmets to protect their face. We ended up losing by quite a margin and I found the whole event a bit dull especially sitting out in the field waiting the ball to come to me, again give ...