thursday airport, sunday island

My year in Tonga started well. Checking-in at Melbourne Airport on Thursday, I managed to have my 70kg of luggage accepted without any charge. This must be some kind of record.

Things were okay at Sydney Airport until I said goodbye to mum and Annabel who were kind enough to visit and have lunch with me for two hours of what was meant to be a four hour stopover. The four hours quickly became five, and then we were told it would be after another three hours before our flight would take off.

Eight hours at an airport is never fun and I am very glad that the other AYADs departing for Tonga were also with me to provide entertainment. The "food vouchers" provided by polynesian blue (used at the bar of course) also helped.

In the end we were lucky to get out after 11 hours, as the Sydney Airport curfew would have come into affect as we were taking off. As we taxied out, I thought that I might get to farewell Jess a second time if I had been forced to spend the night in Sydney and fly out the next day.

Finally, at 5:30 am local time we touched down on Tongatapu. The sun was rising and our passage through customs and immigration was quick and painless. This coupled with a promise from polynesian blue of a free fare were good ways to make up for the delay.

After little to no sleep, Friday was a bit of a right-off. Lunch at the High Commissioner's house and dinner at the nearest restaurant to our hotel was all that we managed. I was glad for any instructions that were provided, thinking wasn't working with that little sleep.


On Saturday we visited the market to buy food that was cooked that night at a bbq-on-the-beach that some of the soon-to-depart AYADs invited us to on the western tip of the island.
I cooked steamed snapper with chilli, lime, garlic and ginger and others roasted vegetables and chicken which were very nice thank you and proof that you can get good food in Tonga. I will be eating a lot of fish this year, it is all that cheap - even tuna (A$4/kg).

The bbq was preceded by a few ikales (the local beer) drunk whilst swimming around the reef watching the sunset.

We spent Sunday at Pangaimotu Island where none of the usual religious restrictions are in place and for this reason is referred to as Sunday Island. We spent our time snorkelling and enjoying the sun and sand. where we went snorkelling.

Generally. It is very hot here, but I am already using my bike a fair bit to get around. Tongatapu is very flat and it isn't too far to anywhere we need to go. Nuku'alofa is very underdeveloped. More so than I expected, but that is quickly forgotten. You forget very quickly and despite the heat everything is very easy to do. The ocean is almost always in view and the water is gorgeous. The people are very friendly, as you would expect. This year is certainly going to be a once in a lifetime experience.

Today we started language lessons and I bought my first tupenu (skirt). The tupenu is brown polyster, but that was the only one in my size. I will need it for Thursday when I go to work for the first time. Photos of me in my tupenu and more will follow as soon as a I find a computer that I can connect my camera or iPod with to upload them.