My Tongan Holiday

So much to say! Basically, I got shouted a trip to the Friendly Islands of Tonga by Mum and Dad as an early commissioning present. Some of my old girld and friends from Hamilton were going back for their grandmother's 80th birthday and so I joined them for 8 days.

Lahti and Lu'isa had gone to Tonga before us, Lahti had then come home to NZ and left for Kenya where she is serving with Church Army on a 6 month mission (please continue to pray for her) and so it was just me, Natasha and Fina on the way over, my darling bro Matt taking us to Auckland Airport for an early flight, meaning we had to leave Hamilton at 3am. I was not impressed by this timing at all! But the adventure had begun.


MONDAY

Monday we pretty much catnapped all day, recovering from the early start and Tuesday we begin the exploration of the island, courtesy of the Siufanga Ma and Pa - Sila and Malia. The general impression I had of Tonga was that it was like South Auckland but spread out on an island setting - an impression I still held to the end of my visit. I loved all the coconut trees too - very tropical!


TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

Basically Tuesday and Wednesday we did the sights of Tonga. It is a gorgeous place with very friendly people.

Clockwise: Coconut Trees everywhere; The banana tree which fed me breakfast every morning, and a few other meals post-sickness (see below); The view from my seat in the Siufanga van as we traversed from one side of the island to the other.Clockwise: The views around Tonga. Top right is Sila at the spot where the first Christian missionaries arrived in Tonga. Sila called the fishermen there Peter, James and John. The beach on the bottom right is called Ha'atafu. Clockwise: We also visited the world famous Houma Blowholes; Me drinking from the coconut.
Clockwise: Natasha doing a mat (I helped a little too!); at Ha'amonga; me ballet dancing under Ha'amonga; Lu'isa scraping the coconut flesh off (I tried this too, and to a greater success than my brother I'm told!); Fina and Lu'isa have a late night ice cream.

THURSDAY

It started as a day of such promise but ended up gross. Natasha, Lu'isa and I went into Nuku'alofa to go shopping, and I spend most of my money on presents which I couldn't wait to get home to give out.

I asked if we could go to the 'Friends Cafe' which Janine had recommended, and as we stood outside there was a commotion coming down the street. Natasha told me the King of Tonga was coming. Prime opportunity for a photo, but I chose not to. Instead I waved with all my might and even got his attention (he turned to look at me). Natasha proceeded to yank my hand down and told me to run before the soldiers killed me, thus we took off running through the markets. Okay so she exaggerated a bit, but it turns out, you aren't even meant to acknowledge he is going by - Tash and Lu'isa broke the rules looking at him and me the palangi waving ... mortal sin! Haha.

Thursday night I won't go into in much detail other than I ate lobster which didn't agree with my stomach and there was mess to clean up on the bedroom floor, hallway and a whole lot of vomit in the toilet and bucket. Yuck.

Clockwise: Sila and the lobster; The Great Tongan Lobster battle of 2007; Lu'isa and I where I greeted the Tongan King; Tash laughing; Me.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

So Saturday we were off to Grandma's 80th Birthday Party. It started with a church service - all in Tongan but I sang my best anywho. My appetite still was yet to return by the time the feast was ready to begin and the entertainment was fab, with each of the families expected to have an item.

Sunday we were back at Helu's (Grandma's) for photos and family time. I was given a huge tapa from Helu which is a huge privilege (and an effort to fit into my suitcase!) I have it folded in half on my wall.

Clockwise Above: The crowds arriving; More food gets delivered; Coconut trees; Porky and his whanau were all over the tables. I didn't eat any myself but is a great feed for the others.

Clockwise Below: Natasha and Lu'isa; Some of the grandaughters dancing; Miriama; the Tongan officers "dancing unto the Lord"; Lisi.

Clockwise Above: Grandma Helu dances with some guy; Ngano; Teresa; Sila; Jo and Willy; Natasha and I.

I did crack up when some of the kiwi grandkids did the Waikato haka as an item (yay Moo Loo!) and Helu's brother yelled at them to get off the stage.

The dancing was incredible and I loved all the costumes. Brilliant.

Clockwise Below: Malia, Helu and Natasha; Natasha and Peta; Taiana and me (she told me I was very pretty - lifelong friends methinks!); Fina and Pepi; Taiana, Lou and Natasha.

Clockwise: Teresa, Tuialo, Keni and Inutoua; Girls galore; Sonasi learning the guitar.

Clockwise: Natasha and Taiana; Heading off to Fua'amotu; Leka, Natasha, Taiana; Sila feeding the pigs at the back of Helu's place.

It turns out that there is no 'r' in the Tongan language, so having a name like 'Corryn' proved a little difficult for some. The NZ and US raised grandkids got it righ 'Kirin', some of the extended family got 'Corrin', which is usual; With the 'r' and 'l' issue, I got a few 'Colin's, not to mention 'Colgate' and 'Chlorine'. But the overwhelming name had to have been 'palangi'.

We left Tonga at midnight their time last Monday, got through NZ customs to my dear old Dad about 3am NZ time, and back to Hamilton around 5am NZ time. Shattered. My dear Father was exhausted because he had also made the trip the night before, due to my mother getting the wrong date and time that we were arriving home, much to her amusement!

So at least now you are a little bit more up to date with my travels. I will write again about Tonga (probably) but have had enough for today! Ciao.