Neiafu, Tonga

1-31 AUGUST 2011

A VISIT WITH DR. MEL

On August 2 Jim and I decided we weren't just going to get well on our own and so went into town to see the Australian doctor whose office is downtown at Vava'u Pharmacy. Dr. Mel, whose name is in some dispute (Jim thought the pharmacist had called her Melody or Melanie; Emily at Sunset Grill thought it was either Melinda or Melissa; hence, Dr. Mel, which Emily said is the name the good doctor goes by). Anyway, Dr. Mel seems to be a caring, competent physician, and she spent a fair amount of time talking with both of us together and listening to us breathe, after which she diagnosed that I had a serious case of bronchitis while Jim might have a light case of pneumonia. She prescribed antibiotics for us, and that got us over the hump though it took several more weeks before we could stop coughing.

Meanwhile, prior to seeing the doctor, we had bought some pseudephedrine over the counter for our stopped-up heads so that we could breathe well enough to sleep at night. What relief! (This is the drug that has virtually disappeared from OTC meds in America because it is one of the ingredients for making meth.) They also sell a low-level codeine tablet over the counter here for pain. And none of these drugs, including the antibiotics, is very expensive. Nice.

THE RESTAURANT SCENE

We've already mentioned two of our favorite restaurants for hanging out - AQUARIUM CAFÉ and SUNSET GRILL - but we branched out a bit more in August.

You have to remember that it is winter here, so August is equivalent to February in the States. (Okay, I used the word "equivalent" loosely; obviously the weather here is much warmer in winter than, say, in Philadelphia, but nonetheless it does get a bit chilly for our old bones on occasion.) And so on August 8 we were feeling that chill when we heard Trish announce on the morning Cruisers' Net on the VHF that THE BALCONY was making curry in honor of the lower temperature. Well, that was enough to lure us up the hill from the Aquarium to The Balcony for dinner. We chose the beef curry (the other option being "butter chicken" curry), and found it to be pretty good but, alas, served without condiments. (WHAT??? NO CHUTNEY???) However, we did enjoy talking with Trish, who hails from Australia and has had The Balcony for about three years now, and hearing stories about her pig. We had a nice red wine with the meal, too.

We were also intrigued by Lawrence, the proprietor of OVAVA, and his descriptions (non-descriptions?) of his restaurant on the Cruisers' Net, and so a couple of days later decided to walk over there (it's located about a half mile past the Aquarium headed away from town) and check it out. We arrived at about 3:00 p.m. to find Lawrence, an Englishman endowed with that legendary droll, British wit, sitting alone at the bar in his front room. He regaled and informed us for a couple of hours while we nursed our drinks, tantalizing us with visions of quirky wood-fired pizzas and imaginative desserts. In the end, we dismissed his far-from-the-Pizza-Hut-crowd pizza toppings and asked for plain ole thin-crust pizza with cheese and pepperoni (oh, we Americans of such plebeian tastes), and he graciously obliged. But I couldn't resist the chocolate-orange marmalade tart, and so we shared one of those for dessert. Mm-mm good! "Where do you get the orange marmalade?" asked Jim, who lists that concoction as one of life's more desirable delights, only to learn that you don't get it here: Lawrence makes his own.

Again, thanks to the Cruisers' Net, we were aware that CAFÉ TROPICANA sells Tongan coffee beans. Having never seen coffee beans for sale anywhere else on the island, when we ran out of coffee we stopped by the Tropicana to purchase some. (And that's when we met another new friend, Hannah, also from England.) We bought a small bag of "dark" beans, which turned out to be a medium brown color and, according to Jim, to make coffee that tastes like instant, for the knock-me-down-I'm-so-glad-I-drink-tea price of 18 pa'anga, which would amount to about $24 a pound U.S. But Café Tropicana is a cute (though tiny) place with luscious-looking sweet and savory pastries behind the glass counter, and, of course, Hannah, as well as wi-fi and a book swap, a reference library, and a cozy little outdoor deck. AND beer.


SHOPPING AMERICAN

One day while we were sitting in the Sunset Grill our American friend Joe (Kart Safaris) told us about the "American store." We had already shopped at the "Chinese store" and the "Indian store" and had not been able to find some grocery item we really wanted, and so Joe offered to take us to the American store in his van since my foot was still quite sore for walking and the store was a bit of a distance away. (Besides, Joe admitted, he had a hankering for some Pringles.)

And so Joe drove us the mile or so through a rural residential setting until we came to a burned- out looking building beside a big grassy area with roaming pigs. He parked in front of the building and informed us that we had arrived at the American store. Inside the store were shelves stocked with American items at Tongan prices. We bought a few things, including a pound of Longhorn-style Cheddar cheese for 18 pa'anga (about $12 US). But, unfortunately for Joe, they were out of Pringles.

However, next to the cashier's counter was a table heaped with used clothing. Lying on top was an adorable crib quilt of Noah's ark, with pairs of exotic animals - giraffes, lions, elephants - and a rainbow. We asked how much it cost and, upon learning the price was only 3 pa'anga (about $2 US), we decided to buy it and figure out whom to give it to later. When we discovered that Hannah (Café Tropicana) has an 18-month old daughter, we decided to give it to her. (See photos.) Later we met her daughter Samantha, who reportedly quite likes her new quilt, and so that transformed a mundane and slightly disappointing trip to the grocery store into a serendipitous event. Ah, the magic of the moment!


THE TONGAN ADVENTURE CONTINUES

Our visas only extended through August 20, so on August 17 we went back to Immigration and extended them for another month. This cost 69 pa'anga each (about $92 total US), but we were just now recovering from our illnesses and wanted to stay longer in these lovely islands.

And so the adventure continues.... STAY STUNNED!