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