Tonga

Sept 10, 2014  Tonga

Vava’u reminds me a lot of La Cruz.  A bay full of boats at anchor with cruisers coming and going all the time.  A morning net to exchange goods and services and ask for help.  There is a small community of ex pats, that cater to cruisers  mostly Kiwis not Americans, with bars, restaurants, laundry service, wifi, music, dive trips and repair services.  The village itself is small and laid back.  People are friendly. and mostly speak English often with a New Zealand accent.  Unlike La Cruz, buildings are ramshackle.  There are a number of burnt out shells of buildings and there is a lot of trash and graffiti.  there are numerous dogs, a few cats and lots of pigs in the streets. There are not many flowers, at least not this time of year.  This should be the start of the rainy season but the rains are late and sparse and everything is very dry.  The bay is almost landlocked making for a very quiet anchorage.  There are dozens of small islands just a few miles apart, most of them deserted although a few have a house or two or a small village.  No big hotels or luxury resorts.  The land laws specify that only Tongans can own land.  Apparently they have tried a couple of times to bring in developers but it has not worked out.  Meanwhile, the government seems to be the main employer.  This is a very conservative and subdued country.  Although we see western jeans, tennis shoes and t shirts, most of the men wear wrap skirts, often wearing the traditional mat over it.  Women often replace the large mat with a fringed belt.  The legend is that these mats were originally the sails from the boats that brought them here.  Somehow it evolved into a mark of respect.  Everyone wears one to church on Sunday and all government employees including teachers and preachers are required to wear them.  If someone in the family has died, everyone wears black with a special mat for at least a week, longer depending on the closeness of the relationship.  Since the families are all interrelated it seems that most people end up wearing black most of the time.  Reminds me of Victorian England. 

Shopping is a production.  There is a small farmers market with vegetables and handicrafts,   occasional eggs and fish.  The vegetables are only so so, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage and lots of taro.  However the woven baskets,  placemats and floor mats are superb.  There are several small grocery stores, each one carrying different items.  We end up going to every one to get what we want.  Only one has decent bread and that is only because one of the restaurants taught them how to make it for  po’boy sandwiches.  WE need to get there early in the morning to get any.  Ground coffee is extremely hard to come by.  We finally found a few bags at the last store on the way out of town for $15/bag.  Eggs are also hard to find even though there are lots of chickens around.  There are freezers with New Zealand cheese, butter and meats at very high prices.  Everything is in very limited variety and quantity.  There is one local beer and it is reasonably priced so Alan is happy.  Since there are a number of restaurants with reasonably priced menus, happy hours and free wifi, we end up eating out more than we have any place else.

Our visa is good for 30 days but we only expect to stay for 2 weeks.  We will spend a couple of days here and then explore some of the other islands and come back here to check out.