Life in Tonga

In the morning, after a short devotion, we headed into town for some supplies. This was great! Several of us got some money out, and then went and bought bits and pieces, and popped into Friends Café for a drink. 
Jonty, Ben and I then walked to an Information Centre and on to the market where we got picked up. 
We drove home for lunch (where I finally had a shave, after having bought a razor), and then Abbey and Ariana joined some of the young women from Manuka and went to the swimming caves. 
The rest of us drove west to the beautiful Ha'atafu Beach after popping up to the northernmost point of Abel Tasman Landing. 
There we enjoyed swimming and snorkelling above the coral, and following small colourful fish as they darted quickly into the crevices in the coral. Just floating on the water and letting the current drift me around was so relaxing and awe-inspiring. I was in my own little world, free from all cares.
After a little sun-bathing, I went for a walk along the beach and saw the complete destruction of the resort by the 2022 Hunga Ha'apai tsunami. This was particularly devastating because this was the strengthened rebuild after a cyclone in 2020 had destroyed the earlier building. All the foundations had quickly been undermined and smashed. Speaking afterwards to Viliami, he said that it is now unlikely that anyone will build there now. 

Soon after getting back home, the youth showed up to play volleyball. That was a lot of fun. Even after if got dark and the bats came out, the games continued; changing eventually from volleyball to touch rugby. 
I had a great chat with Viliami about his job at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, and the challenges of living on a tropical island. Like everywhere, the government departments, but also the NGOs, don't talk to each other, and opportunities for shared funding are missed. Projects should have cross-department support; however, this rarely happens. 

There was a brief devotion by Rodney with the youth and then we all ate. Gillian had prepared a delicious chicken curry and rice meal, and it was quickly consumed. 
Before we knew it, the laughter and joking disappeared and everyone had gone home - full and excited about the Manuka beach clean-up planned for the next night. 

Comments

  1. Jane GrantSeptember 25, 2023 at 12:45 PM

    You guys are having such a cool time (and Jonty has a palm tree growing out of his head). The sunshine looks delightful!

    ReplyDelete

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