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Pacific islnads part 2
Entry 11 of 14 | show all | print this entry |
Here we go part two Tonga!
Arrived in Tonga late on Saturday 5th June so we didn't get up to much we were very much looking forward to our beds!
Sunday came and it's not a great day in Tonga as nothing opens as it's a religious day. We did however go for a walk with Jo who we met, she's from Australia to the bakery.
Monday 7th July
We got a ride into the main town today and booked a flight to get us off the mainland to a Island called Eua. We then had a walk around and had a look at the Royal Palace, we then visited the market and got some supplies. We caught the local bus back, that was an experience, it was packed full people sitting on other peoples laps and music booming out, such fun though! After dinner Jo invited us over to the yellow house at Toni's, we stayed in the green house and there was a blue house too! We had a few drinks with Jo and a good old chat before heading to bed! '
Tuesday 8th July Eua
Didn't get up to 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 it was wet and slipy, we had to hold on to ropes to help us down and back up, I felt like i was taking part on the Krypton Factor or something! I loved it!
Wednesday 9th July Eua
This morning Kerstin and I decided to have a walk into town, we walked for about 20mins before hitching a lift. The town was really small but we had a look in what shops there were and then had a walk around the wharf. That night we watched the film 300 before going to bed.
Thursday 10th July Eua
We both got up early this morning in the hope to see some whales. As it was Tonga time, a bit like Fiji time (nothing runs to time) we ended out on the boat about 11am. The water was quite rough so we started to the west of the Island and the boat just kept coming out of the water because of the waves and crashing back down, so we turned around and tried getting round thew island the other way, it was calm for about 20mins then It became rough. We then just rocked in calm water for a while and did some fishing. It was an unsuccessful day though as we saw no Whales and caught no fish!
Whilst on Eua we met a Guy, he was from the UK, so me and him decided to go for a walk to the rock gardens. We hitched a ride with four blokes in the car with about 4 dogs and a shot gun, i was a little nervous but glad Guy was there. They told us they were hunting wild pig! After 15 mins we jumped out and started walking, after about an hour of walking there was still no signs of the rock garden. Guy and I spotted some locals and asked for directions, we were told it was another 2 miles away. I thought that it didn't sound too bad it's just like walking twice round the block at Nan and Granddads. We carried on walking then, after about 2 mins the local man and his wife picked us up and drove us there, showed us around, then drove us back to where we were staying.
We had a take away for dinner but it was lamb curry with cassava, i didn't eat much of that though!
Friday 11th July
This morning we flew back to the mainland. We sorted out our washing and gave it to Toni's wife Leni.
Me, Kerstin, Guy and Johann's, heard a brass band playing so we decided to try and find it. After walking for about 10mins we came across a school playing field and a group of lads aged about 16 + practicing a routine with the instruments. They were preparing for the Kings coronation. They waved at us whilst we sat and watched them for a while, they were really good and after they finished we all clapped! We all then hitched a lift into town. We got chatting to the driver and found out he was a prison guard at present the jail has 62 prisoners, which is a huge amount to the Tongans. Usually they only have 10-12. Alot are in there from the riots of 2006 and serving 11 years for arson.
That evening a group of us from Toni's went to the Good Samaritan Inn for a dinner show.There was about 200 people there. They served a buffet of roast pork (the whole pig was on the table, i heaved), raw fish with rice, chicken curry, beef curry, yam, cassava, salad. After we all had eaten the entertainment began. Then they opened the dance floor open and Jo, Kerstin and I had a dance, it started to rain but no one cared and we all just carried on!
Saturday 12th July
both of us was undecided about what to do today so we looked at the lonely planet and decided to do the walk in there. We saw the British ambassadors house (was), the royal tombs, The Royal Palace, some impressive churches. At the Palace a Karva ceremony was taking place due to the Kings brothers birthday. The grounds were full of nobles and dead pigs! After walking around for a while we decided to sit on the grass outside the prime ministers house and have lunch. We saw a police escort so we knew the king was in town, he was riding around in a London Cab! \
Sunday 13th July
We both attended church this morning at the Basilica church, it had a circus tent roof.
We sat on the pews and then got asked to move as that was where the choir sat. The service was in Tongan but we just followed everyone else. The singing was amazing it almost lifted the roof, the choir had a brass band to accompany them whilst singing the hyms. After church we just chilled in the green house as again nothing else to do on a Sunday!
Tuesday 15th July
This morning both of us went on Toni's tour around the Island. He taught us alot about the produce they grow there, such as yams etc and showed us a double headed coconut tree! We saw blow holes and even got a glimpse of a Whale Calf breaching the water! Toni then took us to both Captain Cooks and Abel Tasmans landing sites. We also went to the beginning of time!
Back at Toni's we got our stuff together as were were flying out to Samoa.
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| 11. | Pacific islnads part 2 - Tonga, Tonga Jul 24, 2008 |
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