Today is Monday the 4th of August. It's amazing how fast time has flown by. The king's coronation ended this weekend
leaving the town quiet for the first time since we've arrived. Everyday and night there was always a special coronation
event taking place filling the streets with marching bands, consession stands, and hundreds of Tongans dressed in their
villages native tapa wear. We attended as many events as possible while in town including the coronation rugby match.
Tongans vs. THE WORLD. It was our first live witness of this rough and rather frenzy like game but we found while sitting
on the banks of the stadium with the rest of the average locals(the American's "rockpile" equivalent) that it was pretty
similar to America's football or baseball games. You have the couple of loud yelling spectators who the crowds laugh at
and then a half time show with marching band and dancers. However, Tongan style games and festivities replace giant beers with refreshing, cool drinking coconuts. It's
nice to see a crowd of people able to get together for fun events without having to consume alcohol.
In between the many town events, we also were able to explore the outskirts of the island via foot or a hitch with the
locals. We did take the bus once or twice to ensure we made it home back to civilization before dark, but we preferred
hitching with the locals not only because the bus system could be very inconsistant with missing bus drivers,
but we were able to meet alot of interesting and happy people. Or in some cases, it was
fun to ride in the back of trucks with little children down dirt roads while the dad in the front was searching the
bushes for bananas. Although we never had a set route or path we had to take, we saw majority of the islands land marks,
including the blow holes which scattered everywhere on the Southeast shores. With the crashing waves that pounded
with great force against the lime stone cliffs, enormous spouts flew 50ft or more high into the air. This was only
topped by finding a secret beach we named Moments beach, out on the South West shore. After following a dirt path
and hiking through some thick grass up to our heads, we found this little tiny oasis only accessible during low tide,
and only swim friendly right before high tide. We lucked out and hit the right time of the day, leaving this untouched
hidden beach with a limestone cliff overhead for protection against the days heat, all to ourselves. Since the harbor and
surrounding water off of Nukalofa(the city of Tongatapu) is very dirty and trashy, it was great relief to swim freely
in clear waters again.
Later in the week after we had our share of parades and exploring the main island, we went over to Paingamotu island just
a 20-30 minute motor trip away. We had run into Tom and Colleen(cruisers we met in Niue) while hitching around the main island
just a couple of days before, and were told of the weekends events on the motu enticing us to leave the city. A woman named Big
Mama runs a resort on the motu and there was going to be a big feast in exchange for helping her make Tongan Tiki torches for
the Kings actual coronation on Friday night. So not only were we going to get to learn how to make a Tongan tiki torch, but they
were going to feed us for free, Not a bad deal:-) We were able to get a preview of the feast to come when Tom and Colleens local
friend who was acting as a tour guide, invited us to join them for the rest of the day after our unexpected encounter. He was related
in some way to a man who owned an incredible resort on the South end of the island so we visited there. THe resort was built into the
limestone cliffs,and it sat right on a white sandy beach. Being kin the owner treated us all to plates and plates of
different sea foods, meats, curries, salads, and all you could eat sweet bananas hanging from above us. The plates were part of the
banana tree, looking like giant pieces of celery and the place mats were huge leaves making clean up after our smorgisborg pretty
simple! We couldn't wait for Big Mama's feast!
In a rush after the rugby match to make it to Paingamotu island before dark and before the tiki torch lessons began that night,
we left the Nukalofa harbor and made it to the motu just at dusk. After barely setting our anchor outside the shore of the motu,
Steve another cruiser, was at Mai Miti with his dinghy insisting to take us ashore to the resort. A bit to our dissapointment we were told that
because of the rain, the tiki torch prep would be postponed till tomorrow, but Big mama still fed us chicken soup and bread fruit:-)
We were also treated with a visit from the captain and officers off of the American navy's destroying vessel, the John. S. McCain.This 560ft
war machine sat outside Nukalofa with flags and lights displayed to show respect for the soon to be Tongan King. The fun and relaxed crew
explained to us that they were basically down here from Japan to "Show face" for the Americans. Their presence couldn't have been better
for us because they invited us over for their big party on the destroyer the following night. After spending the next day swimming in the
clean waters, hiking around the sandy beaches, and making tiki torches with big mama, us cruisers all put on our nicest formal wear, and
caught an island ferry over to the ship that night. Having to climb up a wobbly ladder on the stern of the 25ft high battle ship, we were greeted
by the American, Australian, and
even french navy men and woman all in their uniforms. It was a very classy party with all you can eat gourmet food and drink, ice sculptures
and all. We were even given a short tour through the ship. Around 10:30pm after stuffing ourselves to the brim, we were escorted back to the
motu on one of the navy's own ribs. Unlike the lack of rules and regulations in these south pacific countries, the US made sure we all
had our own life vests and personal lighting gear for the short ride back to the boats. What a night!
leaving the town quiet for the first time since we've arrived. Everyday and night there was always a special coronation
event taking place filling the streets with marching bands, consession stands, and hundreds of Tongans dressed in their
villages native tapa wear. We attended as many events as possible while in town including the coronation rugby match.
Tongans vs. THE WORLD. It was our first live witness of this rough and rather frenzy like game but we found while sitting
on the banks of the stadium with the rest of the average locals(the American's "rockpile" equivalent) that it was pretty
similar to America's football or baseball games. You have the couple of loud yelling spectators who the crowds laugh at
and then a half time show with marching band and dancers. However, Tongan style games and festivities replace giant beers with refreshing, cool drinking coconuts. It's
nice to see a crowd of people able to get together for fun events without having to consume alcohol.
In between the many town events, we also were able to explore the outskirts of the island via foot or a hitch with the
locals. We did take the bus once or twice to ensure we made it home back to civilization before dark, but we preferred
hitching with the locals not only because the bus system could be very inconsistant with missing bus drivers,
but we were able to meet alot of interesting and happy people. Or in some cases, it was
fun to ride in the back of trucks with little children down dirt roads while the dad in the front was searching the
bushes for bananas. Although we never had a set route or path we had to take, we saw majority of the islands land marks,
including the blow holes which scattered everywhere on the Southeast shores. With the crashing waves that pounded
with great force against the lime stone cliffs, enormous spouts flew 50ft or more high into the air. This was only
topped by finding a secret beach we named Moments beach, out on the South West shore. After following a dirt path
and hiking through some thick grass up to our heads, we found this little tiny oasis only accessible during low tide,
and only swim friendly right before high tide. We lucked out and hit the right time of the day, leaving this untouched
hidden beach with a limestone cliff overhead for protection against the days heat, all to ourselves. Since the harbor and
surrounding water off of Nukalofa(the city of Tongatapu) is very dirty and trashy, it was great relief to swim freely
in clear waters again.
Later in the week after we had our share of parades and exploring the main island, we went over to Paingamotu island just
a 20-30 minute motor trip away. We had run into Tom and Colleen(cruisers we met in Niue) while hitching around the main island
just a couple of days before, and were told of the weekends events on the motu enticing us to leave the city. A woman named Big
Mama runs a resort on the motu and there was going to be a big feast in exchange for helping her make Tongan Tiki torches for
the Kings actual coronation on Friday night. So not only were we going to get to learn how to make a Tongan tiki torch, but they
were going to feed us for free, Not a bad deal:-) We were able to get a preview of the feast to come when Tom and Colleens local
friend who was acting as a tour guide, invited us to join them for the rest of the day after our unexpected encounter. He was related
in some way to a man who owned an incredible resort on the South end of the island so we visited there. THe resort was built into the
limestone cliffs,and it sat right on a white sandy beach. Being kin the owner treated us all to plates and plates of
different sea foods, meats, curries, salads, and all you could eat sweet bananas hanging from above us. The plates were part of the
banana tree, looking like giant pieces of celery and the place mats were huge leaves making clean up after our smorgisborg pretty
simple! We couldn't wait for Big Mama's feast!
In a rush after the rugby match to make it to Paingamotu island before dark and before the tiki torch lessons began that night,
we left the Nukalofa harbor and made it to the motu just at dusk. After barely setting our anchor outside the shore of the motu,
Steve another cruiser, was at Mai Miti with his dinghy insisting to take us ashore to the resort. A bit to our dissapointment we were told that
because of the rain, the tiki torch prep would be postponed till tomorrow, but Big mama still fed us chicken soup and bread fruit:-)
We were also treated with a visit from the captain and officers off of the American navy's destroying vessel, the John. S. McCain.This 560ft
war machine sat outside Nukalofa with flags and lights displayed to show respect for the soon to be Tongan King. The fun and relaxed crew
explained to us that they were basically down here from Japan to "Show face" for the Americans. Their presence couldn't have been better
for us because they invited us over for their big party on the destroyer the following night. After spending the next day swimming in the
clean waters, hiking around the sandy beaches, and making tiki torches with big mama, us cruisers all put on our nicest formal wear, and
caught an island ferry over to the ship that night. Having to climb up a wobbly ladder on the stern of the 25ft high battle ship, we were greeted
by the American, Australian, and
even french navy men and woman all in their uniforms. It was a very classy party with all you can eat gourmet food and drink, ice sculptures
and all. We were even given a short tour through the ship. Around 10:30pm after stuffing ourselves to the brim, we were escorted back to the
motu on one of the navy's own ribs. Unlike the lack of rules and regulations in these south pacific countries, the US made sure we all
had our own life vests and personal lighting gear for the short ride back to the boats. What a night!
1 comment:
"Moments" beach, good name....
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