Seeking Shirley
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Fri 22 Nov 2013 23:37
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Seeking Reverend Doctor
Shirley Waldermar Baker
 After yesterdays excitement or lack
of it, we set the bar very low for today. This morning we had a call from the
Harbour Master, who asked us to pop in to fill in his ledger. We met Peter and
saw his colleague had had a long morning. Two minutes
later we were on the way to the bank.
 
 English man
in posh bank donated by the Australian Government.
Tongan man. Fifty per cent of the days targets
complete. Now to find Shirley.
 
 A brand new
flower outside the bank, the day is looking up in so many
ways.
  Along the main
road, north we passed the MAFF
office.
  The nursery
was a bit bald. Well it is winter after all.
 A very busy
office.
 Then, dah-dah-dah, Shirley.
   A very handsome
memorial.
Reverend Doctor
Shirley Waldemar Baker was by far the most influential European in the
Ha’apai group in the late 19th and early 20th century. Reverend Baker arrived in
Tonga as a Wesleyan missionary, but, ultimately became a political advisor to
King Taufa’ahau Tupou I. Shirley was appointed Premier in 1880 and held this
post throughout the following decade. He was the chief architect of the 1875
Tongan Constitution, the 1882 Hereditary Lands Act, and he was the principle
force in establishing the Free Church of Tonga in 1885. Baker lived the latter
years of his life in the village of Hihifo, South of Pangai, where he died on
the 16th of April 1903. His daughters commissioned the statue above in the
Pangai cemetery on the northern outskirts of town.
 
 Alongside Shirley were several graves
of German, Scottish and English
settlers.
 We crossed the road to look at the colourful, local graves and of course one that needed to be kept warm.
 Bear loved the style of this chap
surrounded by beer bottles.
 Lifuka is
located within the Haʻapai Group in the centre of the country, to northeast of
the national capital of Nukuʻalofa. It is the
administrative centre of the Haʻapai group with Pangai being the administrative
capital village.
History: Lifuka is
the place where Captain James Cook dubbed Tonga "The Friendly Islands". Tofua is
where the mutiny on the Bounty occurred in 1789; this active volcanic island
lies approximately forty nautical miles west of Lifuka. The Cpt. Bligh voyage
stands as the longest successful passage ever recorded in an open boat without
modern navigational aids. It was successfully recreated in 2009 by the Talisker
Bounty team.
Lifuka Island was the final anchorage
of the ill fated Port au Prince. In 1809 the vessel, a tall ship of French
origin, was attacked by the natives off the northwest coast and almost all of
the crew were slaughtered. One of the few survivors of the attack, William
Mariner, was befriended by the King and spent the next four years in the Kingdom
before being allowed to return to England. A chance meeting with the author John
Martin upon his return resulted in a collaboration that eventually documented
the experiences of Mariner in the book An account of the natives of the Tongan
Islands, a now highly respected anthropological study of early civilisation in
the kingdom of Tonga. The anchor of the Port au Prince was rediscovered in 2009
by a dive operator based on Lifuka. In August 2012, the wreck of the ship was
discovered off the coast of Foa Island.
 Demography: It has a
population of 2,968 and an area of just over four square miles.
  Bear with a
substantial bit of driftwood and me in another ‘borrowed’
shirt – sporting me soon to be on a long journey hair cut.
 Beez
sitting quietly.
 
 Tweeting took us across the road to
see chaps arguing and squabbling. Oh for the big
camera..........
 Its nesting
time for these marvelous creatures.
 One of the oddest
looking things, but cute.
 After our rash of success it was time
for a cold one at the Mariner’s café. We caught Magda
in a compromising position grating a coconut. Time for a silly pose and a piece
of her wonderful home-made brownie and ice cream. Our last visit here, we move
on the morrow to Ha’afeva, another couple of tiny islands and finally to the
capital – Nuku’alofa in the Tongatapu group. This is our ready about move for
the thousand mile jump to New Zealand.
  Magda asked me to follow her, camera
in hand. She took me to her next door neighbours and pointed out a ‘one careful owner’. I did say it was lacking in foliage
and rust “well it has a resident pig and is full of stuff.” Point
taken.
100% of our small plan today came
together, flushed with success - for now, time to enjoy our
brownies.........
ALL IN ALL VERY FRUITFUL CONSIDERING
A GENTLE BIMBLE FOR GENTLE PEOPLE
OOOOOOO
ERRRRRR |