What Else Can Happen?

I am having some sort of mental block when it comes to writing the blog lately.  I have reread some of my earlier posts and go, “where have I gone?”  Have I lost the ability to write?  This has me somewhat worried, but then again, there hasn’t been much to write about except something boring or some disaster.  So I am at it again, a new day and a second attempt to write the way I want to write.  So here we go:

Oh captain?!  Why are we late to Tonga?  Did we miss it?  Did it move?  Why are we going so fast?  Can we catch it?  Official word was that the pilot was late.  Hum…. So much for conspiracy theories although there has been enough bad ju ju to warrant this reaction.   We finally did arrive, albeit a bit late, and our captain is a fine man indeed!

Since today was a port day, I was able to lounge around this morning and take my time getting ready for the day, which means put on clothes that I don’t mind getting sweaty in; no makeup because that is the first to go when one sweats.  Notice, I do not say perspire, which is lady-like.  I sweat.  Thank goodness the weather was quite a bit cooler and less humid today than it was two years ago when we were here. 

After breakfast, I spent some time with Jennifer and made sure she knew how to get on FaceTime to talk to her kids.  She is a remarkable woman and is glad for all the support she has received from both the crew and passengers during this period of time when all she can do it wait – wait to arrive in Fiji and to see her daughter who is flying in from England. 

Upon disembarking, we were greeted with a brass band, who sat under the shade of a canopy on the dock.  There was a make-shift flea market where you could buy wood carved souvenirs, baskets and shell jewelry.  The plan today was to hire a car and driver with Hanita and Morry and tour the island.  Michael negotiated with the driver and made sure to ask if the car had air conditioning.  Terms were agreed upon and it had A/C; just to make sure, we walked over to the car and asked to see the A/C working.  It worked so we go in and off we went.  Well, the A/C turned out to be wholly inadequate and we were better off with four windows rolled down.  Fortunately, at this point in the day, it was breezy and not yet too hot and humid.

So off we go on a 2 ½ tour of an island that is covered in all sorts of lush tropical vegetation, and a few million palm trees ripe with coconuts.  Do these people have coconut ball fights instead of snowball fights?  The downtown area is rundown looking, but there seemed to be more commerce here than on some of the other islands.  We visited all the usual sites such as the Royal Palace (which you can only look at through the fence), the Royal cemetery (which you can only look at through the fence), and the Tongan National Center museum (which I wished I only looked at through the fence).  It was hot and humid inside, and basically open to the elements).  I don’t know how anything made of paper, like photos, can survive in this climate. 

Houses were ramshackle with vegetation growing uncontrollably in the yards.  Tin roofs were rusted.  Once out of the downtown area, the roads became dirt and had great big potholes.  I image that when it rains, you can swim in them.  It seems like life hasn’t changed much in the past 100 years.  There is no industry, few jobs and lots of churches; I wonder how people survive here.  Tourism isn’t that big, with only five cruise ships scheduled annually.  I did not see any nice areas or resorts.  They do grow agricultural crops such as taro, bananas, assorted fruit, and they fish.  Much of the fruit is exported to New Zealand. 

Demonstrating the emu (roasting meat in underground oven)

We did see peka, or the flying foxes aka BATS.  There they were, hanging upside down on trees folded like leathery umbrellas.  These are BIG fruit BATS, with a wingspan of three feet.  Our driver got cute and threw a rock up in the tree to make them fly.  Yes, they flew around and then hooked back up to the tree.  Just remember not to stand under the trees.  I hear that bat guano is pretty potent!

Flying Foxes

"Bat Dog"

We drove out to the western part of the island to see the blow holes.  This entire area of the coastline is covered with numerous geysers spouting up to 60 feet through erosion-carved holes in the coralline rocks.  The sea color was sapphire, with areas of turquoise and aqua. There was a nice breeze blowing that helped to cool us down (which the non-existent A/C in the car didn’t).  It was quite beautiful.

Western coast of Tonga where the blowholes are

It's my blog, so I get to put in my picture

Tonga was a British protectorate from 1900 to 1970 and the architecture reflects this influence.  It is the only remaining Polynesian kingdom and is ruled by Tupou VI.  We even saw the king; well, sorta.  We pulled over for his motorcade, which by United States standards, was wimpy.  But, hey, a king sighting is cool.

The highlight of our tour was the local market.  You could buy anything here.  Michael bought mouthwash.  There were vegetables, fruits, clothes, handicrafts, shoes….. but it was HOT.  There were beautiful tapa cloth items.  The cloth is made from the bark of the mulberry tree, soaked and pounded until paper thin.  Block printed and painted with natural dyes, the cloth is used as wall decorations and coverings.  Hanita purchased a small one. I would have enjoyed strolling around the market for a longer time, but by this time, the sweat was rolling down all of us and the thought of A/C was topmost on our minds. 

Baskets of Taro root

Market on Tonga

So back to the ship we went.  Had lunch and then got ready to go to the pool for a nice cool dip.  Before that could happen, we had to go see the security officer and sign papers with our statement about what happened to Jack.  It is still rather raw inside me. 

The security officer mentioned in passing that there was a tsunami headed our way.  So we shared the information with everyone in the pool and of course, knowing Michael likes to tell jokes that sound real at the beginning, everyone thought he was joking.  This was no joke.  The ships horns deafened us as it blasted several times, calling all passengers and crew back to the ship.  It seems as though there was just enough time to leave the dock and head for open water before the tsunami arrived.  People were running down the dock to get back on the ship.  Those that didn’t make it back were going to have to wait it out on shore until it passed.  I guess they could go to high ground, but the island is a raised flat coral atoll, so the only high ground would be a palm tree, including the three-headed palm.  Well wasn’t that just grand.  Another unwelcome intrusion for the Quest.  Are we cursed?  Many of us decided to leave the pool and get showered before we started rocking and rolling. 

Three headed palm tree

Wouldn’t you know it, the captain came over the intercom and informed us – NEVER MIND!  The tsunami was called off.  False alarm.  We look forward to a boring day at sea tomorrow.