First Couple Days

Day 1 and 2 (Wed & Thur)
Traveling and buying some essentials (see previous post)

Day 3 (Friday)
I planned on writing everyday, but I am behind and I have to rely on my memory now. We go to bed and get up with the sun from 9:00p to 6:00a. Friday the three of us got ready, started the day off by walking into town to buy more food and orient ourselves better. As we were about into town, Bruce, our neighbor, picked us up and dropped us off to pick up some sun hats. With the exception of some craft items (which we have yet to purchase) prices are pretty well fixed here and you don’t haggle over prices like you would in other countries.

After a couple hours exploring the main street and a couple short side streets, Caleb was too fussy to haul around anymore and we headed for home. I wanted to walk out to the LDS school to discuss volunteer work, but that was just going to have to wait until Monday.

About half way home and away from all the taxis, Caleb fell asleep in my arms and I began to get concerned over his body temperature. Near home, a local Tongan picked us up and we cooled off in a cold shower when we got in. That will be the last walk into town with Caleb.

After unpacking our clothes and cleaning up, I took Caleb out exploring around the house. We are two houses away from a cemetery so we started there first. It is a small cemetery and some of the graves have big piles of sand over them and they are decorated with flowers, lights, and banners, while others have a concrete slab over them. I came to find out on a later day from a lady visiting her deceased husband that all the buried are relatives and they use the sand, short block walls, and concrete slabs to keep the pigs from digging up the deceased.

By the cemetery there is a short path that leads down to the ocean. Half way down it starts to get steep and a Tongan emerges out of a hole in the side of the trail all wet. I see that it is a cave and as I take a closer look into the dark pit, I a pool of water and ground water dripping from the ceiling. The Tongan said it is a fresh water pool and is very cold. We bypass the cave and make it to the ocean. It is a small beach next to 50-ft cliffs, the water is very calm with virtually no surf. We spot lots of sea creatures and are able to finally enjoy an air temperature that does not cause me to perspire from head to toe.

On the short walk back, I talked to Bruce a little more and then ask him to check out what Rachel and I thought was a propane leak. Bruce used to live in our house before we moved into it. We checked the propane tank under the kitchen sink and it was almost empty with a little condensation around it. Certain a valve was not tight, I called the property manager and they came out and replaced the tank, but not my headache.

Day 4 (Saturday)
Expats and tourists live in the four nicest homes in the village, the homes are next to each other overlooking the ocean. I went over and introduced myself to our other neighbors, Sarah and Nigel. Sarah is from San Diego and runs a T-shirt shop on main street (which has no name). Nigel is from England and came here several years ago to write a book that has yet to be published. The couple was headed into town and Rachel hitched a ride with them, Rachel wanted to look for a baby stroller at the weekly flea market. Just below our house there is a section of road that gets steep and rocky and their vehicle got a flat tire. Nigel pulled over and a few minutes later a Tongan offered to drive them all into town. The vehicles are all small and poorly kept.

Rachel does not find a stroller so she picks up some more food and catches a taxi back. We have lunch and assess our money… all cash we started out with has been spent, mostly on the two month house rent and the round-trip inter-island airfare.

I went into town in the afternoon and found that all the shops were mostly closed and neither of the two ATM’s were recognizing my Wells Fargo card. Tongans work their gardens and clean their houses on Saturdays.

I check my email and head toward the harbor in search of a sailing mentor. The first dock I walked down I found Captain Ron filing his water tank. He invited me on deck and offered me an egg sandwich. Captain Ron sailed away from Los Angeles in 1969 at the age of 27. He took his wife and two daughters, 6 and 8 years old. After a year he got a divorce and he went on sailing and picking up odd jobs around the pacific. He has a girlfriend from Fuji half his age that sails with him now. After an hour of talking about sailing, I asked him if I could get some sailing lessons from him… he offered $115 a day, I declined… I didn’t care for him anyways.

I walked back home, took a cold shower, grabbed the family, and headed to the beach. We walked to a small secluded beach on the other side of the peninsula we are on and enjoyed a cool swim. After dinner, we went to the beach below our house and did some snorkeling. The reef is about 120-ft and extends up to the shoreline. During high tide, the reef has a couple feet of water over it; during low tide, it is completely exposed. The reef is made up of mostly rock and some coral. To begin my snorkel, I walked across the reef to the edge in about 1 foot of water, put my mask on, and lowered myself off the reef. At the edge of the reef it drops about 20-ft to the sandy floor. I could see fish everywhere on the reef, most are small and only a few are colorful. I also spotted ray below me.

More to come...