As we have settled into life here in Tonga it's funny how things always seem to pop up that come before the blog and then the thought of writing becomes too daunting and invariably I shuffle it to the bottom of the list. So it is now or never that I write.
The last couple of months have presented some new developments.
The really big news is that my mom is here with us!! This has been fantastic. I have enjoyed sharing our nomadic life and all of its trials and tribulations with her. She spent several weeks visiting us last year in the San Blas Islands of Panama and enjoyed it very much. So we decided to give her another dose. Especially island living, which brings me to the next bit of news.

We are currently babysitting an island in the Tongan Vava'u island chain. It is the one our friends Brandi and Kevin were watching. Brandi and Kevin have moved to Neiafu and then went back to the States for a few months, so we agreed to hold down the fort until July when it opens for whale watching season. Whale watching here is one of the "must do's" as you are actually allowed to swim them! The humpbacks come here from July-October to calve and mate and are seen swimming amongst the islands. This island is famous actually. It is called Eueiki or Treasure Island. It is supposedly where Mutiny on the Bounty, Treasure Island and Australian Celebrity Survivor were filmed. You can visit the website at www.tongaislandresort.com

To say I am an eco resort kind of gal would be a blasphemous lie. I am certainly not. The phrase "At one with nature" has never crossed my lips. I believe in zapping all bugs with poison until they turn to dust in front of my eyes. However, after a shaky start where I retreated back to Indy, which is moored out front, I have come to terms with mosquitoes, spiders and roaches. Don't get me wrong, the place is not infested it is just the normal stuff you would expect to find on an uninhabited island in the Pacific. The island is 25 acres by 7 acres and stunningly beautiful with one f the best reefs in the entire group and a whitesand beach that wraps around 50 percent f the island. I do feel fortunate to be able to experience it. It is a magical place.

The other upside is that the kids are absolutely in heaven. They bound out of bed in the early morning eager to start their next adventure whether it be spearfishing, swimming, building forts, snorkeling or just scouring the beach for treasures and bonfire wood. They love this life. It is a magical place for the kids and I hope they remember the time we have spent here. Other than a big shell necklace he made himself, Sammy has not worn a stitch of clothes since setting foot on Euiki! He is truly an island boy! Ben has been honing his spear fishing skills with his Dad. They go out pretty regularly and have often retuned with fruits of their labors. Sammy just rides on the kayak that Otis is towing looking into the water with a ask and snorkel. His official job is to "tend the fish" when O brings up the freshly speared fish and loads them into the basket attached to the kayak. He feels very important in this role,

Our friends on Uliad and Gallivanter have arrived in Tonga which was a fantastic reunion. We have not seen them since 6 months ago in Moorea, so we have a nice group of kids and adults kicking around the islands. It is amazing to see how much the kids have grown and changed togther.

Not sure what the latest plan is, but we are happy here. There is a part of me that misses being on the go but for now Tonga is good for us. We have a wonderful group of friends here that we have grown close with and there is just enough crazy thrown in to make it interesting.
Mom has promised to write a blog so keep an eye out for it!
That's all for now.

Comments [1] | | More

The last time I wrote we were gearing up for my fortieth birthday bash. I guess it is wrong to say "we" since O really handled the entire thing. In the past he has been known to slip a little in the birthday department so he was determined to prove himself this time. (No beer coolies for me this year!).
O organized a pig roast on a beautiful shaded beach which was loads of fun. The day before the party we went to the anchorage with some friends and all the guys cleared a spot on the beach, raked up the usual beach debris and burned it. There was chainsaw and fire involved so it was an extra special treat for the guys! Anyway, they hung sails for extra shade and gathered loads of wood for the fire. We had several Tongan friends with us too, one of which is the nephew of the "chief" of the island, so he knew which trees were OK to cull and which woods would burn the longest and make good coals. Tristan even made a table from bamboo to set the salads on! Meanwhile, the kids were running amok kayaking, swimming, spear fishing and building forts. The set up part was pretty fun as well!
The actual day of my birthday (we are a day ahead of US time zone); it rained all day, so O had to call everyone and postpone until the following day. We decided that hanging on the beach in the pouring rain is not all that much fun. So, we hung out on the boat, watched movies and read books. Otis told me this was the ultimate birthday gift because I would actually get to enjoy 366 days as a 39 year old instead of only 365, because in the US it would still only be March 20th!
I was feeling a little maudlin that day to be honest. I missed my family and friends. Also, recently an older gentleman in the harbor asked me how old I was. I told him I was 39.5 he laughed and asked me "how long are you going to hold onto that one?" Well, I laughed but almost fell off my chair. Thankfully, I was able to take heart in the fact that I am pretty sure he has glaucoma, or at least O was trying to convince me of that, which I very readily accepted.

I quickly bounced out of my mood, when my kids came bounding into my room with cards and birthday hugs! However, later in the day Sammy did take a big bite out of the card Ben made for me when I wouldn't let him have more cake! Yet, I was still not to be deterred. He takes food very seriously.

The next day was fantastic. It was a little overcast in the morning, but cleared up by the afternoon. O had two pigs on ice for the festivities. Initially the first one we bought was not going to be big enough, so he bought another HUGE pig. Since we had to postpone until Monday we lost a few people who had to work, so really we only needed the one big pig. (We still have the small one frozen solid in our freezer!) However, it must be said that our friends Claudia, Brent, Luca(Ben's school mate), Bianca(Sam's off again bf) and Andrea their 11 year old took their boat after work and joined us!

The day was a huge success. We had live music (Sione played his guitar..ok at the end of the night I jammed Redemption Song 100 times and then when I randomly strummed pretending I was Clapton...well..yeah), volleyball, an unlimited supply of ice cold beer and rum, snorkeling, spear fishing, animated conversations and lots of laughter along with a great big pig and, most importantly, our friends. I must be getting older because I only offended one person the entire day (just kidding......it was really two).
I have to laugh because toward the end of the evening the guys started wrestling. Basically, Otis and Nolo, who is fourteen years younger than Otis and 100lbs heavier, started wrestling. Otis was reminiscing about his high school wrestling days (which I think O took a great many creative liberties with...junior Olympic team from Maine?? hmmm...after eighteen years together that one was even new to me....and I am sure all of his family..Stevo, are you aware of this?? he said you drove him to the finals??), BUT what the hell, as O and I like to say "never let the truth get in the way of a good story!"
Anyway, he and Nolo decided to show each other wrestling moves or something and started beach wrestling. Then Nolo and Kevin got into it as a finale...I think O was in traction by then. I was talking to someone when Nolo ran up behind me, put me on his shoulder and ran me into the water. Melee ensued and everyone was in the water. As I was trying to sneak out of the water, Nolo swung his arm back hard and fast to fend off Otis and Kevin who were shamelessly trying to bring him down and I got hit by his elbow in my jaw...wow. I didn't want to make a big deal about it but it hurt. Brandie kindly offered to reset my jaw, but with age comes much needed and a long time coming, wisdom. I decided I would wait until the light of day and the effects of the festivities to wear off before I took advantage of her kind offer!
The following morning I felt much older than my years. I had a swollen ankle and could not use or align my jaw. Otis hurt his shoulder, had coral cuts all over his legs and could not walk on his ankle. Kevin could not move his head. Nolo, on the other hand, felt fine and was bounding around. Otis and Kevin explained that it was all part of the 'master plan' to beat their bodies up in order to build them up again. Yeah, not sure I am buying into it but a truly wonderful time was had by all.

The kids had a BLAST! They were again, kayaking all over the harbor, spear fishing (they ate everything they speared cooked over an open fire), and playing in their forts. Sam took on the host role and was handing out beers..obviously did not get that on tape. Our friends Kevin, Brandi and the kids then slept onboard which our kids LOVE.
It truly was a fabulous birthday! FYI for those that know me well, I only made ONE toast/speech..but O said it was still too long!

We brought the kids back to school on Wed. only to find it was a half day Thursday and no school on Friday...still no idea why school was out but I am just the parent, so apparently it's not important for me to know!! Last weekend we visited another Island we had not visited before. (There are 30 or so). It was nice to be away from all the other boats and just have only the family again. We snorkeled; beach combed, built a sunset bonfire with the kids and hung out. I Love it when it's like that!!!!

This weekend we are going out to Eiwiki, where our friends Brandi and Kevin live with their 2 children AJ(11) and Kennedy(6), they are the family we visit often who are taking care of an eco resort on a beautiful, otherwise deserted island. We are going to roast the other pig for Easter and have an egg hunt planned on the island. I look forward to it. I also look forward to getting that pig out of my freezer! He has been taking up a lot of room for over a week now and every time I open the freezer his snout is poking up through the frosty contents at me! We have become pretty well versed at roasting pigs lately and find them to be a great excuse to have a beach gathering and enjoy time with friends. It is very similar to a backyard BBQ you might say. Some other friends will be joining in on the Easter festivities as well. It's like a family because we have been here long enough that our group of friends has grown, both in size and closeness.

After Easter the thought is that Brandi, Kevin and the kids will come cruising on Indy for a few days to some of the more remote islands. Ben has all week off from school next week, so we will pull Sam out too. The kids as well as the adults, love to hang out so we are all looking forward to the upcoming week..and, of course, if Indy is there..there will be stories!

Otis is eagerly awaiting the arrival of our Genoa, which should be here today......this means we will be lucky to see it by Tuesday, but at least we have confirmation it has arrived in Nuku'alofa a 50 minute plane ride away.

So that is all for now...trying to be better about writing more frequently.


. FYI: Does anyone know how I can link this to facebook? It was also recommended that I do twitter.....someone help..when I left we had blackberries and Oprah was forever....

Comments [3] | | More

Not much to report. Sometimes I let so much time pass between blogs that I become overwhelmed which makes it harder to sit down and write.

The kids are still in school and enjoying it. Ben had a sports day the other day which was interesting. I should begin by saying that the communication between parents and the administration is essentially non existent. Information is relayed via the children which leaves a lot of room for error. I find it frustrating because I really NEVER know what is happening. For instance, sports day. Apparently sports day is something that the entire family attends which we did not know because we had only heard that it even existed the day before. When I dropped Ben off on the field, (which he argued with me about the location of ), I was surprised to see families with picnics sitting under one of the four tents set up in the field.. There were a few vendors there selling disgusting junk food (no water for sale even though it was about 105 degrees outside! The only refreshment for sale was Strawberry soda which just about made my teeth fall out). I called Otis, who had plannedto tay on Indy and varnish. I filled him in so he came to join me. We sat there for four hours not knowing WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON! Ben had no idea what he was racing in or even if he was racing. There was no schedule of any sort. Kids were running around the field but nobody had any idea who they were, what grade, how far they were running etc. Did I mention the heat??? Ben did finally run but he did not know what or how far he was running. Sports Day seemed to be a big event for the school yet, there was not one thing sent home about it. It might also have been helpful to post a little schedule of the events in the tent to give everyone an idea of what we were watching.
Another example is the Friday dismissal. The kids are let out early on Friday but nobody can ever tell me what time that will be! The other day the kids were let out at 11:00 to go cheer for the high school sports day (again no note or communication). It varies when they are let out which I find strange. I consider myself pretty laid back but the lack of communication is starting to make me crazy.

Sam loves his school. The other day he got a special award for listening. In contrast to Ben's school, the preschool communicates very well. Each Monday I get a piece of paper telling me what they will be working on that week. As a matter of fact, I got a note on Monday telling me of a field trip this Friday. Seems the theme of the week is missionary work (not sure how much Sam grasps that), but I applaud their effort. Anyway, in keeping with the theme, the preschool was going on a field trip to the prison. I have to admit I was slightly taken aback about a preschool trip to the local prison. We were asked to bring a care package for the prisoners of two bars of soap and some washing detergent. Not quite sure how I feel about the preschool/prison field trip. Apparently they are not hardened criminals but it is still slightly odd. I do appreciate and understand the message behind it but think maybe the local hospital would have been a better choice. I do know one thing; I sure as hell am not in NY anymore! I am pretty positive there are no preschool field trips to Sing Sing.

O and I have been plugging along revarnishing the interior. Have I mentioned how hot and windless it has been lately?? O says I have about 52 ways to convey my feelings about the heat without actually saying I am hot.
We have left the main harbor a few times on the weekends and anchored off of our friends Kevin and Brandies eco island resort. They are taking care of the island during the off season. They also have two kids who get along famously with ours. The kids are always begging us to go out there. One weekend we had a huge bonfire on Saturday and then the local guys had an UMU on Sunday An umu is when they wrap chicken/corned beef in taro leaves and then dig a pit in the sand, build a fire to heat stones, put the fire out and cook the taro packets on stones. It was great fun.
I am still very much enjoying myself here. We have made some wonderful friends and had some great times. There is a fun mix of people. A couple times a week O, the kids and I will go to the Aquarium which is a cool restaurant run by our friends Mike and Lori. The kids usually run around, play legos or watch a movie and have dinner while O and I have beers and chat. The restaurant is set up on a deck overlooking the harbor with wonderful shade and always a cool breeze. They do a fantastic job, the staff is wonderful and Mike and Lori always make everyone feel welcome and at ease. It has to be the best run business I have seen since cruising.

So that is pretty much it. The kids have been sick quite a bit of lately. I have done numerous trips to the hospital, which reminds me of some of the clinics we saw in Africa. In my opinion, the hospital is pretty much useless. I walk out without them really doing any type of examination on the kids, a script for penicillin and no answers. I have been there about four times with Ben and they still do not have a file for him (which I did recommend they start and which they still have not). Suggestions from Palangis are just that. Can't wait for our friends on Uliad to arrive!!! Thankfully Steve has been great answering all of my medical emails. Thanks Steve!

I will leave you with a funny quote from Ben:
The other day O was talking to the kids about getting a little piglet(which we are NOT) but he asked Sammy what he would name it. Sam said "Wilbur" Ben rolled his eyes and said, "Well, we'd have some real copyright issues with that one!" What seven year old says that!!! Hilarious.

Comments [4] | | More