Monday 1st of
December
I woke up knowing that my children would arrive
to Auckland this morning. I did some work waiting for the time to move. They
arrived at 9:50 and I could see after that the phones were switched on. I
exchange few message with my niece, Nia who was waiting for them at the
airport. She informed me when they came out and I called Nia’s phone and talked
to all of them.
I stopped by at the office and got the songs
from Mona and Leni, was very happy about it. I went to the bank to get a new
account in case I still went through that madness and fix my parents’ house in
Eua. After that I went to Tau’olunga Komipiuta to get the Tongan notation
software from the owner. He was a very nice Dutch man. He gave me the programme
for free and I appreciated it very much. I asked when he shall visit home? “I
am home”, he said.
I called NZ and talked to Ipu and Mafua. Mafua
was sleeping and Fifi and Tahine were out with Silia and the girls. Mafu said
that they went for ice cream. He sounded tired and Ipu thought that he could be
home sick…
Tuesday 2nd
of December
I woke up early and went to town. I had few
things to be done before the kids arrived. I went to the bank to open an
account. I had to go home and get my Tongan driving license. I needed 2 Tongan
identity cards in order to open an account at WesPec bank. I had my Finnish
passport and driving license with me but they were not qualified. From the
market, I went to the market to get some leis for the kids tomorrow. I stopped
by at QSC office to get my magazines. Toni and I left home at 12:30, the flight
from Auckland arrived after 1:00 pm.
I got in to a closer space in which I could see
them coming out of the plane. I had my camera hanging on my neck and the guy
with security vest just waved me in. I am not sure whether he did it because I
looked harmless or he mistook me for an official photographer… I saw Mafu, Fifi
and Tahine came out off the plane. I took some pictures and they saw me
straight away and I was so happy to see them.
We waited for a while before they came out. We
went straight for sightseeing. We stopped at one of the food sellers and got
some fresh coconuts. We went to the Ha’amonga and from there we drove through
villages around the sea front. One of the beaches we stopped and the kids went
for a swim. They were very surprised to find out how salty the sea water in
Tonga. It was sad to see the amount to rubbish dumbed on the beaches. There
were plastics, bottles, irons and so on. We used to through rubbish
We got to QSC and soon after Vika and the rest
of the gang showed up to welcome Mafua, Fiona and Tahine to Tonga. As in any
function in Tonga, food is always part of it. We had another feast. The kids
seemed to enjoy the evening. The children often called out “palangi, palangi”… I
was so happy to have them after 3 months.
Wednesday 3rd
of December
We woke up, had breakfast and got ready to our
trip to Eua. Toni came to take us to the habour. We stopped by at the market
and the shops to buy few things for the trip. At the habour, we bought our
tickets and waited for the departure at 11:00. It was a bit overcast and it was
windy a bit but still not bed. The kids seemed not to worry about the weather. There
was a women basketball team from Ma’ufanga going to Eua also and there were
laughing, children crying and noises all over the place. At Eua, Neta came to
pick us up from the habour. Neta introduced me to some of the travelers who
came at the same boat, were relatives.
We drove to Petani and took a short rest and
waited to Saia to come with the van. We headed to ‘Ohonua for a swim. Saia
drove past the habour then to Ufilei, a lovely dandy beach just past the Faua
habour. Mafu, Fiona and Tahine were surprised that the sea water was so salty.
In Finland the sea water is so sweet compared to water from some of the wells
in Tonga. I also went in for a swim and it felt so good. The water was so warm
and you can swim for hours without a touch of the cold. We decided to go to
“Hafu” for a swim. Eua has the only surface running water in Tonga and perhaps
the best water resource in the whole of Tonga. Hafu is part of the stream and
it has a small pool of water with few meters deep. It is in the forest and it
is quite cool and refreshing.
In the evening, Ti Lavemaau and his wife, Anna
came to visit and to meet Mafu, Fifi and Tahine. It was really nice to see Ti
after he won the parliament election. We talked for a while then they left. He
invited Mafua for a kava party, but Mafua was tired and decided to stay put.
We prepared to cerebrate Whitney’s 12th
birthday with a cake her sister, Melekoula sent from Tongatapu. A pastor and
two of his sheeps showed up for a chat and Manase asked them to give Whitney a
blessing. It was supposed to be non-formal occasion just us sharing the cake
but it turned out a semi-formal event with Whitney dressed up. She looked very
beautiful. The pastor delivered a sermon and the blessing was a bit long but
the cake was good. We sang the Happy Birthday both in English and in Finnish.
The evening was great.
Thursday 4th of December
Today was a sightseeing day. After breakfast,
we drove to Houma to see one of the lookout places in Eua. In ‘Ohonua, Manase
drove through Eua High School. Eua High had the graduation ceremony in the
school hall. It was full and there were people outside also. We beeped in from
the back door and Ti was the guest of honour with all the leis and flowers on
him. I told Fiona, look at Ti sitting at the front. “Who is Ti”? The parliamentarian
who came last night to see you guys…, wave to him”. I said. “Of course not”,
she answered. We laughed and I took few pictures then we left.
Through the village of Houma, Manase explained
that the church was built when my parents were working there. We drove to end
of Eua. The lookout was a small platform in which you could stand and watch the
see from a cliff of few hundred meters height. The note on the board said that
you could watch the sun rise and moon rise from here. It is 40 km away from the
Tongan trench which is the second deepest part of the ocean in the world,
second only to the Marian Deep. It is very beautiful to look out from that
height into the see but at the same quite scary…
On our way back, I saw a papaya with a ripe papaya.
We stopped and I called Tahine to go and fetch the pawpaw while I took pictures.
Tahine walked up to the tree then she suddenly stopped, screamed, turned and
ran back to the van. The others were laughing… One of the pawpaw was on the
ground partly opened, you could see the black seeds and few fruit flies on it…
She did not want to go back even after I tried to convince her it was nothing…J.
Manase droved back in another road. We went through
XXX. We got to Petani around noon and the sun was hot. We stopped for lunch and
for a short break then we continued in the afternoon. We went to the other end
of Eua, to Lakufa’anga which was at the Southern end of Eua. It was the similar
lookout as in Houma. There was the "Rock Garden" and Manase has wild horses there on the ground running free.
We visited the “Huolanga ‘o Maui” also before we headed to Ha’aluma beach for
the kids to swim.
Friday 5th of
December
Moala
-
Flight
to Tonga
-
Oholei
-
Saturday 6th of December
-
We
went to the market, tshirts
-
We
went to the fair
-
Vika,
Ahi and family came around
-
Flight
to NZ
Sunday 7th of
December
-
Lotu
kids vala fk tonga
-
Eva
-
