Hunga Island

So I am in this tiny little plywood boat with a 15 horse Yamaha in the middle of the ocean and no life jacket. If it were not fit the fact that Omani is sleeping on the roof and the driver looks extremely bored I think I might be panicking.  The waters are not exactly smooth and the ocean is HUGE!

The property at Cocomo Village is one hell of a view. Clear out some of the bush and we can even get a good breeze. The land slopes about 20 degrees from the cliff to the road but nothing we cannot handle.  The issue right now is getting the road built so that vehicles can move around.  And they desperately need a stump grinder. Onani said that it will only take about 2 weeks to finish the road but I imagine that is 2 weeks after to next round of taxes come in. And now we r watching a baby shark swim around. I am not sure what kind of shark but I have been told that there are no killer sharks in the area.


Apparently there r no fruit trees on the property but u can find them across the road. They also grow vanilla and tapioca here as well. I have asked Onani to clear the brush and bramble off the properties but leave the trees. He will also let me know when the road is ready as I am not making that climb again. I AM POOPED!

Sorry we have a couple of bread fruit trees. I think that once the road is built and the brush is cleared we should be able to build without much difficulty.  Let's just see how long that will take

I just drank from my first coconut and I am sure it will not be the last. Unfortunately as I am the token white woman on this hike the 3 Tongan men laughed at me when I spilt half of it down my top. We r currently waiting for the truck to come back and get us as I do not want to walk back to town.

Well that was interesting.  Same of the lovely sun dappled "roads" look to be little more then dry river beds but the driver on Hunga Island expertly navigated the way through. We r now taking the boat to see the sea breeze side as I huddle under the canopy to nurse my sunburn.  Note to self... make sure to wear sunblock next time

The Hilltop Hotel

So here I am at the Hilltop Hotel.  The view is magnificent and if you want to cool down on a hot day the breeze on the terece is second to none

And after a week of being here the mosquitos have finally found me. Tiny little stealth bomber things that come in for a taste and take off again before you even know that they are there. So small and so fast that I have about 2 dozen bites before I even knew I was under attack!  Now my skin is on fire as I have harsh reactions to mosquito bites and no Reacton to be found.

Oh well.

I went to see the Governor yesterday and Lord Fulivai (pronounced fully-vie) is a very jolly man. Younger then I expected but concerned and caring while maintaining a good sense of humour.  I enjoyed our meeting and he set up a visit to the properties on Hunga Island for today so that I can see first hand what challenges I will be facing in building there.

I will include pictures in my next post.

Char

Tongatapu

After arriving in Tongatapu I got into a cab at the airport and asked the driver if he knew a decent hotel that was not to expensive but had hot water, a private bath and wifi. After driving around for almost an hour and going to 5 different places I finally decided on a little B&B on the water with a beautiful open balcony and a very clean bed and bathroom. Utu One is about 1 block away from the Billfish pub and eatery and half a block from Naughty Rubies night club. It is also just a $6 TOP cab ride from the city center or you can walk the 15 or so min to get there.

The staff are excellent and friendly,  the continental breakfast makes you feel like you are visiting relatives that actually like you and the food is fresh and the coffee is hot. Please remember that this is not a five star hotel all crisp and modern but a beautiful example of Tongan hospitality.  Yes there are cracks in the tile in the bath but it is clean and fresh. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a comfortable night and friendly service that is not institutional.

Next I asked the same cab driver to escort me around to determine the price of building materials.  I was a little shocked at the prices of some things. For example.  A stainless steel double door fridge with bottom drawer freezer in $4,800 TOP. A 60 inch plazma 3D TV flat screen is $5,600 TOP. And an interior hollow core door is $220 TOP.  As a matter of fact the 5 year old Acer laptop that I left at home can be bought for $1,200 TOP at the computer repair shop. So it looks like I will be shipping in the overpriced items that I will need as the prices are so much lower in Canada and we have to fill a 20 foot sea can anyway. This will help keep the cost of building down a bit.  I did find out today that most building materials are exempt from duty and taxes when then are shipped in as the resources here are limited and the Government wants to promote building by foreigners.  This helps their economy to grow.

Tomorrow I will get on my flight to Vava'u and start to network there and hopefully find a temporary place to live until the house is built.

Until tomorrow

Char

On my way

So here it is at 3:30 am CST on Sunday November 9th 2014 and I am on my way to the airport with my husband and oldest daughter Chelsea. I am having a very hard time keeping it together as I have not been away from my husband for more then 2 weeks in the past 17 years. I hope I can start getting excited about this trip sometime soon but I suspect that won't happen until I actually get there.

It is now 9 pm PST and I have just gotten on the plane to Fiji.   I have never been on a plane this big before and it is packed!  Just 11.5 hours of sitting in this tiny seat but they give everyone a free pillow, blanket, headphones and toothbrush and toothpaste. That is pretty neat.

So my next post will be a while as I will now need to wait until I get to Tonga and switch my phone.

Sleep tight!

Hello from the future! I got on a plane last night at 7 CST and got off the plane today after 10.5 hours fight and it was 5:30 am on Tuesday!  Of course the first thing I do with my 11 hour stop is go to the pub and pay $12 for a beer! Fiji dollars but still $7 CAD.  At the duty free shop they are advertising a 40 of Jack Daniels for $143 but that is still $85 CAD.

Getting off the plane was interesting as you get off in the open air instead that long tube straight into a building. I will try to add pictures when I have a better Internet connection. And there were the people singing tropical music as we get off the plane too. Even at 5:30 am.

Needless to say I have not gotten a lot of sleep for the last couple of days and am pretty tired but I can't get any rest until I actually arrive in tonga in about 15 hours from now. It is going to be a very long day.

Char

Char

Good ideas

Today I spoke to Barry and Cindy Beer from Hunga Haven Resort in Vava'u. Barry is a fellow Manitoba and both of them are seasoned Travelers with many good ideas including helping me with my one way ticket problem. I really enjoyed talking to them tonight and am looking forward to meeting them both in the next 2 weeks.