Tonga

Good Morning!

Today we are going into the capital Nuku Alofa... because they have good banana cake! This is where the King's palace is (the only wooden royal palace in the world).

The buses here are awesome. Barely road worthy and yet fitted with a thumping bass system. People are very friendly and always offer their seats. The maximum road speed in Tonga is 40 km/hr. Nothing is rushed.

Yesterday we cycled for an hour and a half at mid day to the 'Blow Holes'. We had to go at that time to coincide with high tide when they are the most spectacular. Whilst these sound whale related they are actually natural holes in cliffs that run for at least 2 kms where the tide crashes against the waves and the water initially sprays up through the holes until it bursts over the cliffs. We took some spectacular pictures which I'll put up when I have a faster internet connection.

On Sunday our hosts Sven and Carolina held an Omu. This is when food is cooked in the ground on hot stones which are covered with palm leaves and left for about 4 hours. A similar method of cooking is used for special occasions, traditionally in Tonga on Sundays, throughout the Pacific, including by Maori's in New Zealand. We had chicken and snapper which was delicious. Afterwards Carolina's nieces came to perform traditiinal Pacific dances, including from Tahiti. I think I might have written previously that we had seen similar dances at another resort further along the beach. The evening at our own resort was special because it was more informal, with our hostess's own family