Year Two
Date: 4/6/2009 12:00
Weather: Light showers but still 26 deg
Location: Nukula'lofa Harbour (21 08.28' S, 175 10.95' W)
Author: Peter.

Tied up to the Nukualofa Wharf

Many houses in Nukualofa look like this. Very few are in better condition

Corner stores, you only have to walk a few hundred metres to find these. The bars across the windows are because they are open 24hours (god knows why) and the propietor often falls asleep on the job.




Pack Mule Pete!


The Kings Palace

Its a public holiday here in Tonga. Emancipation Day, however not much is going on, on this day they were set free. We thought it might be like Australia Day. Nope.

The formalities here are so lax, we cant believe it. We have a visa for one month but need to extend it to two so that we can see everything we wish to see. Yesterday we went to Immigration to do this just after lunch, but we were sent away and asked if we could come back tomorrow- they were only working half a day! This also happens on Friday and I think when ever they feel like having the afternoon off. We knew it was a public holiday the following day so we asked are you open, to which the reply was "yes come back tomorrow at 9". Ha, we knew they would not be open, now we have to waste some time on Friday when we have hired a car to go and do it so we can clear out on Saturday. We hear stories like this constantly from other boats. Who would have thought it would be so hard to pay them some money. So today is laundry day. We have such a large sack full it is about time we did some.

Last Sunday we went to the local, very large Catholic Church (yes Mum and Dad, I went). It was Kylie's 1st experience of church going so she was a little excited. The church itself is massive with high ceilings and the biggest stage I have ever seen. We estimate it would seat well over 1000 people. There are churches on every second corner, the Tongans' being very religious. The bells ring to say mass is 15 minutes away and they all come dressed up. Some wear suits but most wear a combination of traditional clothing (woven mats worn about the waist (ta'ovala')) and their Sunday best. Although the service was conducted in Tongan it still followed the same progression as other catholic services I grew up with so I knew where we were up to and what should have been happening, we just could not understand any of the days particular messages. The majority of the mass is sung, and there appeared to be at least 3 choir groups in the front rows of the church. The sounds they produced were just amazing to listen to (this would have to be the best mass I have ever been too) but could also get a little distracting because at times I felt it more like battle of the choirs. Their voices however were stunning, their harmony magic, and the overall sound better than anything I have ever heard including that choir show on Australian tv.

Sunday is truly a day of rest in Tonga (we have never heard it so quiet at day or night). We have actually heard it is illegal to work on a Sunday here.

Over the last few days we have spent half a day doing some preventative maintenance. Each day some new yacht arrives, each one looking more battered than the next (there are now 4 Australian boats here!). We have seen quite a few shredded headsail's so I thought it prudent to check all stitching and then spent 3 hours hand sewing just to make sure we don't end up looking like these other boats. We also pulled apart one halyard winch and gave it a well needed service and I checked the rigging which needed a replacement split pin in the forestay.

On the other days we have been exploring on our bikes, each day discovering new things to see. We have also done a little extra provisioning whilst here and will tomorrow visit the local markets to pick our final fresh produce as the local Asian community has some excellent fresh produce from their market gardens. Yesterday we bought Bok Choy that was better than anything you buy in the supermarket back home in Aus.






Every pile is $3


The decorative Tongan cemeteries.

Our French guest Florian has moved on to explore some other islands. His itchy feet looked a little bored here in town as we waited for our new friend Steve to fly back in from Australia with a replacement stereo/dvd player unit for us.

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