I guess I can start by reassuring you that I did not, in fact, travel alone to Tonga and was lucky enough to head to the Pacific island with a fellow southern scholar, Erinn King. Erinn has got to be one of the most fun-loving and easiest people to travel with and I don't think that I could have had more laughs in these particular circumstances with anyone else. Erinn is a scholar assigned to New Zealand and currently studies at Massey University's campus in Wellington. We booked our travel months ago and the excitement for our excursion in the Pacific had been mounting until the day of our Kiwi-departure. To start the trip out right, we decided to meet up with friends in Auckland on July 1 before our flight out on July 2. I traveled by air and made it to Auckland around noon and met up with some other Rotary stunners: Megan, Wes (+ his fiance Elise), and Rhea. We spent some really great time chatting over lunch and waiting for Andrew and Caresse (more Rotary scholars) to join up with us from Wellington and Hamilton. Needless to say, we had the makings of a good time and you don't have to threaten me with one of those (thanks, Caresse)! We all grabbed a few drinks over dinner while we waited for Erinn to get in, via an 11-hour bus ride, from Wellington. Upon Erinn's arrival, we set out on the town and without going into all the sordid details...we had a great night out. In an ever important debate, Erinn and I just decided to forgo any effort to sleep before our flight at 6:20am...we were semi-successful. We caught a bus to the airport from downtown Auckland around 3:00am and somehow managed not to fall asleep along the way. Perhaps it was because we had overly intoxicated Aucklanders banging on all sides of the bus in an effort to properly send off their mate who was obviously headed for some foreign country. Though our bus driver didn't take to kindly to the situation, Erinn and I were too tired to be bothered with any other emotion other than sheer confusion. Nonetheless, made it to the airport and eagerly awaited our departure.
The flight to Tonga went off without a hitch and while this may seem to be a pretty weak detail to include at this stage in the game...if you've been keeping up with my travels you may have some reason to believe that making it to Tonga on my original travel plans was nothing short of a miracle. We'd booked a week's stay at the Otuhaka beach resort and were able to arrange airport transfer to the resort with the owner of our temporary home. Let me tell y'all a little something about Dan...dude was one shady bloke. Aside from filling us in with WAY too many life details and inquiring about some pretty personal stuff, Dan was out for dollars and it was pretty clear from day one. Let's lay it out a little bit--I researched ahead of time and saw that people who had previously stayed at Otuhaka highly recommended the island tour that Dan operates. The best part is that the tour was supposed to only cost about $40 per person...dolla dolla bills in my pocket y'all! Erinn and I were pumped for the beach time in Tonga, but seeing as our first full day was filled with rainy skies...we opted to take the island tour in hopes that the rest of the week would bring sunshine and carbon-carbon bond destruction (a.k.a. gettin' our tan on). This was a great choice! Anyways, booked the tour, hopped in the van, and set off with Dan for our adventure. Being the absent-minded type that I am, I forgot to confirm the price before we set out and ended up asking about half-way in to our journey. Oops. In asking how much, you can imagine my disbelief when he told us that the tour was $100 per person. Scammersaywhat?! I honestly thought he was joking and was just about to crack a smile when he started mumbling something about feeding his kids and the high cost of petrol...dude was serious. Erinn and I exchanged a mental 'wtf' but paid the guy anyways...no sense in starting off the week fighting with the owner, especially when we had to pay upfront for our stay. The tour was gorgeous and we saw some great stuff, but I am not sure what was worse...the hole in my pocket or the hole in my masculine pride. Dan 1 Chase 0.
Our days in Tonga consisted largely of reading, beaching, walking, bussing, sleeping, eating, and frolicking. In other words, we had a fantastic time in Tonga and personally I really enjoyed how rustic the whole island came off. Tonga is pretty much like a throwback to Hawaii as it was 100 years ago. There were no major resorts or restaurants or things of that sort...it was very much a cultural and natural place to be. The people were outrageously happy and I can imagine why...Tonga is definitely a place where the term 'island time' applies. I'm not joking. We'd take the bus in to town around 11am most days and if you looked in the houses along the way you'd see large Tongan guys just laying around in the house and chillin' out like the bosses they were. Friends...this was on WEEKDAYS. I can't imagine what the daily schedule in Tonga is like on a Saturday.
Nevertheless, the people were happy and it really left me wondering whether less is truly more. We live in a world that values advancement and progress for the sake of progress and all the signs point to the fact that we just can't keep up the pace. With debt woes, childish politicians, and abundant inequalities...you have to ask if we should forsake the idea of growth for the sake of growth if we are ever truly going to realize our potential. Sometimes my outlook for the human race is quite bleak, but then I convince myself that we are inherently good in our hearts and that we have just lost sight of what is important as a result of our own development. It's quite sad really, to know that we have so much potential and yet we are nothing more than slaves to our own greed and petty judgments.
So, yea...I don't know where that came from...let's get back to the more light-hearted, less offensive items that happened in Tonga. As I was saying, Erinn and I did spend the majority of our time soaking up some sun...but we did manage to get some cultural flavorings as well! We were able to see a fantastic cultural presentation that included polynesian dancing and fire displays. In addition, we were also able to participate in a "traditional" kava ceremony. This drink has quite a lot of significance in Pacific culture and oddly enough looks like muddy water. To drink it, however, is another experience entirely. It literally numbs your mouth and is supposed to bring you to the point of quasi-hallucinations. While I am pretty sure I wasn't hallucinating, I was left wondering whether or not I had entered the Twilight Zone as the night progressed. At one point the guy who worked in the gardens at the resort was engaging us in a conversation that I can only describe as hellaciously awkward. Let's just say he wanted to know why it was inappropriate to use certain racial slurs and at one point was asking us if his mother qualified as someone he should use this particular word with. We responded with a resounding "NO" and tried to explain why certain things are just offensive and shouldn't be used. He didn't really catch on. To make the night even more
Some Tongan shots!
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| Blowholes! |
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| A pretty standard sunset in Tonga :) |
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| Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! |
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| I could wake up to this pretty easily if given the choice |
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| Though housing is modest in every sense of the word, Tongans are such a happy people! |
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| Oh yeah, we had a great time |
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