Tonga, Tonga, Tonga

It's Wed. 27th and our last night in Tonga. We are still trying to absorb all that we have seen and experienced, so I will try my best to give a discription of this magical group of islands n the South Pacific.
First the details of he trip:
Nov 10th: Depart Auckland, NZ-Arrival in Nuk'ulofa, Tongatapu-3 hour flight N-NE from NZ.
We arrived on a Sat. evening, late. Sunday in Tonga is a day for church, family, feast, and sleep for all Tongans. Nothing happens in the streets or town. Almost no exceptions. Getting our feet wet in country, Sun. seemed like a good day to ride bikes throughout the island. We found an isolated beach surrounded by rock and a coral reef, and chilled.
While in Tongatapu, we stayed at the Heilala Holiday Lodge, referencing Heilala, the celebration of the King's birthday. We chose a traditional Tongan 'fale', a small hut built South Pacific style. Very basic- bed, cold shower, breakfast. We stayed in Tongatapu for a total of five days, we took a 6 hour tour of the island (the local highlights), enjoyed a traditional Tongan feast and kava ceremony, romed the streets of Nuku'lofa and attemped to make plans for visiting Vava'u and Ha'apai, the island groups north of Tongatapu.

Our feast took place at the local cultural center. We were presented first with a kava ceremony, the means by which all social activities in Tonga begins. Kava is a root that is ground into powder in a wooden bowl. Water is then added, and the mixture is continuously stirred and strained through branches from cocoanut trees, before eventually being served to the chief, and passed around the group (traditionally men) by a young woman. Men and women were invited to join our ceremony. The taste greatly resembles what my imagination tells me sweaty socks would taste like with a dash of black pepper. Lips and tongue turning instantly numb, it is hard not to be very immersed in the ritual chants and songs of the ceremony. Kava ceremonies begin before most functions, including church services, weddings, funerals, and affairs of state. Often they last many hours-sometimes all night. A little light-headed, we joined the line for our feast-enjoying spit-roast pig (with crisp, crackeling skin), tuna cured with citrus, sweet potato, seaweed salad, and a sticky-sweet breaded banana dish.
After the meal, we settled in for the story/dance portion. It was a fantastic show, the legends of the first Tongan rulers being told with song and dance. We enjoyed the evening very much, thanked our hosts and headed home.

Next day we joined Tony, our ex-pat UK tour guide for a trip around the island. Living here 18 years, he gave a wealth of info, many insights into Tongan agriculture (sweet potato is the main crop and export), life and religion. Tongans are Christians, following the missionary work of the 1800's. Never colonized, they have remained an independent Kingdom free from white reign. Methodist, New Wesylian(sp), Seventh Day Adventist, and a small number of Catholic churches comprise most denominations on the island. The largest following is the Morman church, direct from Salt Lake. The Morman churchs are clean, well-built, gated and locked. Schools occupy each church, and with the biggest budget of any school in the country, they are packed with children looking for a good education. We passed 37 of the 49 Morman churches on small Tongatapu during our tour. Several had signs posted 'Speak only English please' on their properties.
Highlights of our day included seeing the blowholes on the north coast (water crashes against the reef, spray exploding through eroded sections), visiting with children after school had let out (they love foreigners, or palangi, carrying cameras), and visiting a stone arch built forever ago (think small-scale Stonehenge).

Well, more on Tonga coming soon, it is late, I'm rambling a bit, and we fly early in the morning back to Auckland, followed by a flight on the 30th to Bangkok.

Love to all,
michael

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello all and Happy Thanksgiving. We have been on the tropical isalnd of Vava'u in Tonga and will spend Thanksgiving day flying to another group of islands called Ha'apai. Even though we are far from home for the holidays, being here has reinforced some things we are grateful for and feel are worth sharing. First, we are both extremely grateful for the love of our family and friends, and for our good health. We are grateful for the opportunities we have had this year. This is a beautiful country with the most friendly people we've encountered so far, and they have very little. It has been a reminder to us both of the difference between a true need and a want. Family is the most important aspect of Tongan culture, and we miss all our friends and family very much. There are lots of sick and uncared for dogs here, and we are thankful that we were able to provide a good home for our dog. We wish we could take all the dogs in need in Tonga home to care for them. And of course, we are thankful we have had safe travels, wonderful experiences, and each other.

We hope all of you are able to be together with family and friends on Thanksgiving. Know we are thinking of you all and missing the good grub!

Love,
Chandler & Michael

P.S. Those of you not celebrating Thanksgiving (Aus, Eng) please disregard!

crayfish! yeah!

Kaikoura, NZ; our last week...

Greetings from the South Pacific!

Hello all, we are in the beautiful country of Tonga, in the Vava'u island group. We are staying at the Mala Island resort on the tiny island of Mala, leaving today for another resort closer to the main town. What a relaxing time we've had! Yesterday we took a boat out and snorkeled at a place called Coral Gardens. It was amazing! We will post pics ASAP. As an interesting side note, for anyone who is a fan of the band The Cure or Prince, the owner of the Mala Island Resort was in and produced for both groups. Needless to say, we've heard some wild stories! We will write again soon.
Love,
Chandler & Michael

tonga...

...more to come, i promise. so beautiful. not much chance for internet. we flew from tongatapu and are on mala island in the vava'u group. snorkelling with large fish. all's well...

m

NZ fun facts

Well, we packed up all of our cold weather gear, shipped it home, turned in our campervan, had a very nice dinner in Auckland and flew to Tonga. It's HOT!!! A beautiful place in the world-more later.
We wanted to wrap up NZ with some tidbits of info we gathered throughout our trip:
-driving on the left is wierd for the first day-C kept saying 'think left', as she made sure her seatbelt was secure.
-1 litre of petrol ranged from NZ$1.55 to NZ$1.98
-most cars are small and fuel effecient-no Hummers
-'cooked breakfast' consists of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato, mushrooms, and toast. Baked beans, lamb kidneys and spagetti also available.
-a 'flat white' is similar to a cappicino-'long black' an americano
-burgers come with beets and shreaded carrots
-4 million people-40 million sheep; 135 sheep per sq. kilometer
-trail lengths are given in appox. time, not distance
-sayings you will hear often: 'good on ya' mate'-'good as gold'-'no worries'
-a pint of beer is 6-9$NZ
-don't order cocktails-8-16$NZ and very weak
-i've hit 1 bird in my life (in the car) before our trip-3 in 5 weeks in NZ-they are kamikaze
-prepare for 4 seasons of weather everyday
-Stephanie asked about 'heli-skiing', which is taking a helicopter to the top of the mountain and skiing/snowboarding down. In addition, you can heli-hike, heli-mountainbike, heli-land on a glacier, and probably heli-shop, if you would like.
-the first bungy was in NZ. the tallest is 135meters-the permit is in place for 215meter jump. thats just silly.
-when tramping in the mountains, secure your boots at night or the kea (the only alpine parrot) will snag them.

When we think of more we'll update, NZ is awesome-we are looking forwaed to retuning!

Tonga bound!

Hey guys,
Thanks for all of the responses-we love it!
Busy week, we fly to Tonga today!
Updates later-look for a NZ fun observations page.

Love,
M&C

Aoraki/Mt. Cook

After the Milford trip C and I travelled around the southern coast of NZ, through the 'Catlains'.
After several nights in the huts and several weeks in our campervan we needed some luxury. We booked a great spot in Kaka Point, took baths, slept in a bed, washed all of our aromatic laundry and aired out our 'travelling bunkhouse'. It felt great.

On our way north we hit the coast we were lucky enough to see both yellow-eyed and blue penguins. We are in love with the NZ coastline.

After this wonderful downtime, we headed back inland for what will most likely be our last chance to see the 'Southern Alps'. After all of the rain we recieved in the earlier portion of our trip, we have been very lucky recently, as the pictures can prove. Another fantastic day as we hiked through Hooker Valley up to Aoraki/Mt. Cook and the glaciers.

Northbound, we head back to Picton and our ferry to the North island.