Made it to Tonga. Kind of a late night. By the time we arrived at the Dupincia it was after 3am. Our room was fine, not fancy and it had AC a rarity in Tonga.
Awoke to the buzz of weed wacking outside at 9:30am and realized we needed to get a move on. Showered, dressed and walked downstairs for our ride to the ferry.
When we got there we spotted Angie and Tim right away, waiting with the Tongan commuters on the way to the island of Eua. Tons of vegetables and other staples were being loaded right alongside all the luggage. They also managed to store 1 forklift and 2 cars down below.
Once all the goods were on board it was time to climb aboard. Several people were waving last minute tearful fairwells to their families. (Made us kind of wonder if sometimes people didn't come back!)
Many of the Tongans slept on the luggage, in the aisleways and any other available 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, but as we climbed up and down over 5 to 6' swells, Angie turned pale. She had definitely not gone to her happy place, but was at least in some sort of trance that was pulling her through. Thankfully we (and all the other Tongans who had consumed a lot of greasy food prior to getting on the ferry and has joined us on the bow) all made it to the island with breakfast intact. (Although I did hear that there was a questionable pool on the floor inside.)
When we arrived at Eua, we were met by Taki, the owner of the Hideaway. We also met Susan and Bruce, from Australia. Packing all of our stuff on the top of Taki's Isuzu Trooper and some in a nearby truck, we all hopped aboard and headed to his place.
The Hideaway is exactly as the name implies. Totally cut off from the outside world. Since there really didn't seem to be any restaurants on the island, they provided meals for an extra charge. One of the first items of business was to decide what we wanted for dinner. I choose mahi cooked with a coconut milk (I couldn't resist as the listing on the board announced that it the coconut milk was "not from a can" and I'd have to say there was no doubt of that.) Jody had the chicken stir fry. Susan was more adventurous going for the raw fish, cooked in traditional Tongan style.
It also turned out that the other two couples were more adventurous as well booking the two traditional fales. (Thatched roof, wood walls, nice and cool inside.) We had a room with a private bath with a nice view of the forest and the ocean beyond.
Once we were there we were totally drawn in and called the Dupincia to let them know we weren't going to spend our last night there as originally planned. This was taking a huge risk since ferries and planes are often cancelled there and when that happens there are really no options. We crossed our fingers.
That night we had dinner under the outdoor canopy and got to know everyone else at the lodge. Jody was amusing many of the ladies acting as the bartender and being his usual self. Our food was great as was the conversation. It's so good to get outside of our one corner of the world and to see things through other people's eyes.
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