Nuku'alofa, Tonga |
 |
Nuku'alofa, Tonga |
|
 The
only air conditioned room they had available was the top floor suite. We
asked to see the room and were very relieved when it looked acceptable.
We immediately settled in with a shower! Ahhh - to be clean again. Seth
then took a long nap while Tara sorted and cleaned all the shells she'd
collected so far from Fiji and Tonga. We were in a huge open-plan apartment
and relished the space, the concrete walls, the screens in the windows
and the wraparound balcony. We were so glad to be off Fafa! |
 Shell
sorting was quite a task actually. The shells that Tara had collected and
boxed up quickly in Fiji couldn't be sent home from Fiji since the postoffice
in the airport was not open at 7am when we flew from Fiji to Tonga. Since
Tara had collected so many more shells while on Fafa Island, she decided
to lay them all out on the kitchen counter, sort through them and hopefully
reduce the number by 50%. Her efforts were sucessful. She also separted
them into three different batches so that we could mail shells to her Mom,
Dad and Seth's parents. This separation would ensure that hopefully one
set got through the mail intact. It was a good project for Tara to work
on while Seth slept and slept and slept.
 |
It wasn't until dinner time when we ventured out of the hotel room.
We had an enjoyable night with Brian and Jan in their "Room 105 Bar" before
leaving for a yummy Italian meal together. We met Trevor, a Kiwi, from
the International Dateline, Grace, an Italian, from the ?Waterfront? and
another Kiwi woman who ran a beverage company. It was neat getting an inside
view at the expats in Tonga. At the Italian restaurant we met Marco, an
Italian, and his Tongan wife Ana. Again, neat to get a look into who chose
to move to Tonga.
 We
got home late, but even so, Tara had to try out the whirlpool bath. Good
thing she did too - since in the morning we found out the room was not
free for a 2nd night and we rushed to pack up since we had agreed to an
island tour at 9:30am. |
We
were late for our island tour, but Stan - our guide, didn't seem to mind.
Stan, a Tonga who'd lived in Utah & then Hawaii for 30 years, brought
with him a friend, Ron, from San Francisco, to continue our tour while
Stan went to court for a speeding ticket. We enjoyed the island tour: Captain
Cook's landing place, views of the Royal Palace, Royal Residences, Royal
'London taxi', resting stone, pristine beach, powerful blowholes, flying
fox bats and coconut tree field after coconut tree field. We concluded
a tour by stopping by two hotels on the Western tip of the island. We decided
to move the next day to the first one we visited that offered a luxury
suite apartment instead of the one that offered a USD10/night coconut leaf
bungalow on the beach.
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That night we enjoyed the International Dateline's Tongan buffet, traditional
dancing by men and women plus yukelele playing. Seth had never seen greased
women having paper money stuck to their bodies as they danced! The yukelele
show was actually great.
  We
sat at a table with another couple who were traveling. They were from Germany
and it was neat hearing that they also were carrying a Vaio and keeping
up a web site. |
We
thought staying at the International Dateline hotel was kool - if only
for the name. The staff were very friendly and the common facilities good.
Tara went for two swims in the pool and we FINALLY found suntan lotion
on Tonga - in the Dateline's sundry store. However, the room itself needed
remodeling - especially the bathroom. The Halloween welcome mat, though,
was a fun - if bizarre - touch.
The
next day, we did not rush off to the Western coast. We enjoyed a leisurely
12 noon check-out and then set out to explore the town. We started at the
Little Italy restaurant (where supposedly Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone
had dined). Then, we walked into town past the Palace. We saw royal chickens
and roosters, but not the royal pigs. Everyone else kept pigs - why not
the royal family we supposed. After mailing off a package, we enjoying
looking at the commemorate Tongan postage stamps. Then, we just wandered
through town. It was a very enjoyable town with a little cafe, numerous
T-shirt shops, a bookstore and one internet computer. We got to the market
just before it closed. Thankfully Tara was still able to buy a watermelon
- for all of T$2!
Tara's
standard hair style for tropical areas actually gave her a new short-hair-look,
but in actuality, most of her hair is braided down the back of her head
-it's only the part that used to be shaved that is sticking out and looking
short.
| Category | Rating | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Experience | ||
| Ease of Journey | ||
| Accommodation | 7
5 |
Harbour View - the top floor suite was EXACTLY what we needed after
FaFa
International Dateline hotel - good dinner show, nice pool, but past its prime |
| Activities | ||
| Coolness | 8 |
Harbour view Motel's top floor suite T$170 per night
International Dateline standard room T$72 per night
Buffet dinner with entertainment T$20 per person + drinks
Incoming Flight:
17 March: Nadi to Tonga on Air Pacific 211 at 7am - economy seats 36A
and 36B.
Outbound Flight:
24 March: Tonga to Nadi on Air Pacific 210 at 9pm - economy seats 29E
nd 29F.
American Airlines reward ticket. Paid USD 95 total in processing fees
for a return tickets since we did not book 21 days in
advance.
