Vegetables, Internet and Sundays in Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sat 20 Jun 2009 23:09
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18:39.515S 173:58.934W
It was another homecoming when we motored into
Neiafu from Port Maurelle on June 4th. We arrived in Neiafu with the World
ARC rally almost exactly one year ago (6/10/08). Back then we were freaked
out by the inaccuracy of our charts since they indicated we were sailing
over land as we made our way through the narrow channel leading into
the big, naturally well-protected harbor of Neiafu. This time it didn't
faze us as we motored through the now familiar passage with barely a glance
at the semi-useless charts.
It feels even more like home here after having
spent over three weeks in the Vava'u area. In that time, we've stayed
eleven nights on a mooring in Neiafu harbor, but not all at once. The
first time we came in we stayed four nights and used the time to stock up
on fruit and vegetables at the town market where it's possible to get
enough bananas to last a week for the equivalent of $3. In the
market were also a multitude of palm frond woven baskets full of every kind
of giant root vegetable known to Tongans (or French Polynesians, Fijians,
ni-Van or New Caledonians for that matter). These very large, dirt
covered, whiteish-tan-brown scary-looking things are the very same that when
boiled and eaten, sit like so many pounds of lead in your stomach. In all
the times we've been to vegetable markets in the islands, we've never seen a
boater buy a giant, scary-looking root. Only the natives seem to have what
it takes to love the stuff. We boaters stick to lettuce, cucumbers,
onions, peppers, tomatoes, bananas, papaya and pineapples. None of that
taro, cassava, giant yam or manioc stuff for us.
I know I've mentioned the competitive (or
non-competitive as we all claim to be) nature of boaters when it comes to
sailing, but have I mentioned competition among boaters concerning long
term food storage? Specifically, long term fruit and vegetable
storage? As in those that can keep a lemon alive and well for nearly two
months truly deserve the accolades they receive from other boaters for such a
feat? How about lettuce stored in the fridge without wilting or turning to
mush for nearly three weeks? Definitely something to be proud of.
Definitely something to write home about, which is exactly why I mention it
here. Long term food storage has to be right up there behind sailing in
terms of importance. For example, we left Pangaimotu Island near the
capital town of Nuku'alofa on May 22nd and didn't arrive in Neiafu until June
4th. That's one day shy of a full two weeks without stepping
foot in a market or food store (ok, we did get those lemons, papaya and
sugarcane from Peter on Ha'afeva Island, but other than that no food shopping
occurred). In that time, we ate well, never had to throw anything out
because it was rotting and didn't run out of fresh stuff to eat.
Impressive, huh? The secret is in the storage bags. They
are super-special green bags that 'breathe' in such a way that the fruit
and vegetables stay very happy inside. All the boaters in the know have
them. And those of us that do, wash, dry and re-use them
religiously. In retrospect, it's a bit sad that we've been reduced to
stressing over the storage and upkeep of vegetables, but the feeling
associated with pulling out a perfectly good eggplant after five weeks in the
fridge is close to pure joy.
Back to Neiafu and the
internet...
The first four days we stayed in the harbor were
spent stocking up on fresh food and catching up on all things internet
related. One of the cafes here has a wifi system that allows us to have
internet on board. This is a huge luxury and one we try to take full
advantage of. A huge luxury, but extreme patience must be
employed as internet speed here in the Pacific Islands is generally ten years
behind that of the rest of the world. One blog entry with ten pictures
took a good two minutes or more to send. The Parallels update for our Mac
took four hours to download. This is internet in slow motion. Or
maybe, more appropriately, this is internet on Island Time. Surprisingly,
dealing with the internet in the islands is not always a bad experience.
Like when we bought five hours of internet time for the equivalent of $25 and
initially struggled to get all our internet business done within the
allotted time. After a day or two we discovered we suddenly
had unlimited internet time due to some glitch in the wifi system. It's
possible we would have reported this glitch to the cafe providing the wifi,
but it was closed for the weekend. Too bad. The
following Monday the wifi system was fixed and our time limit
re-established. In typical island fashion there were positively no
punitive repercussions for the gobs of internet time we used while the wifi
system was malfunctioning over the weekend. Got to love the way business
is run on the islands.
Now Sundays...
Tongans are extremely religious. Which means
Sundays are truly a day of worship and rest. No shops are open (except for
the bakery for a few hours in the afternoon), everyone goes to church, no one
does the laundry, no one weeds the garden, nothing. It's illegal to sign a
contract on a Sunday. The national airline does not fly on Sundays.
Tongans go to church and then they eat and then they rest. After being
here for nearly six weeks, we've gotten used to the weekly rhythm of
Tonga. Monday through Friday run on Island Time, Friday night is
the big party night, Saturday morning is spent at the market buying food
for Sunday's feast, then church, eating and complete quiet on Sunday.
Quiet, except for one thing - singing. Tongans are known throughout the
Pacific for their singing - usually done with no musical accompaniment
and in perfect harmony.
John, Sue and I went to the Catholic church in
Neiafu the first Sunday we were there. We were the only boaters in the
church. The only foreigners, actually. The only foreigners in a sea
of cocoa brown faces with black, flashing eyes, impossibly long wavy hair and
dresses all kinds of blues and pinks and whites mixed in with traditional mats
wrapped around waists. And there we sat at the end of one pew toward the
back of the church with our blue and green eyes, pale freckled faces, and
dressed in our stodgy boater version of church clothes. No wonder the
little kids in the pews around us couldn't stop staring. This church
service had more life and color and emotion in it than the Wesleyan service
we attended in the capital of Nuku'alofa with the Queen Mother. The priest
must have noticed us in the congregation (no surprise, we stuck out like lumps
of cauliflower in a sea of hibiscus flowers) and welcomed us in
English. And then the singing started. The air felt thick with
sound. Heavy, but soaring. I could almost feel and see the
voices swirling around me and on up to the vaulted ceiling as the hair
on the back of my neck stood up. Unbelievable. 'Stunning' as
Sue described it.
Picture 1 - The crowd exits the
church.
Picture 2 - Sue and John in their church clothes
(Sue's outfit complete with official Tongan tapa cloth fan).
Picture 3 - When we returned to Neiafu a second
time after spending five days anchored in the Hunga Island lagoon (subject of a
future blog entry), Sue and I spent a few hours on a Sunday afternoon wandering
around the almost completely deserted town streets. As we approached the
waterfront, we heard what we thought was an entire church choir singing.
The day was hot and humid with no wind so the voices carried perfectly on the
heavy air. We walked closer to the source of the sound and realized it was
not an entire choir, but just a few girls lolling on one of the piers at the
waterfront, swimming and singing.
Picture 4 - We approached the girls and told them
how incredible their singing sounded and they seemed both embarrassed and
pleased to hear it. Embarrassed maybe because they were swimming and
therefore were less covered up than usual, although their swimming outfits
consisted of shorts, sports bras and in some cases t-shirts. When Sue
asked if we could take their picture, they giggled and agreed, but scrambled to
pile on more clothes before the picture was taken. Some of the girls were
sisters and they were all part of the Seventh Day Adventist church choir.
They promised to sing a song for us and as we walked away they broke into a
3-part harmony version of 'Old Time Religion' in English. Our very own
Sunday service.
Picture 5 - A view of the moored sailboats in the
Neiafu harbor. We have almost the exact same scene in our collection of
pictures from last year.
Picture 6 - The full moon setting in the west as
the sun rose in the east. We are not often awake at sunrise, but just
happened to catch this scene on a very still morning.
Picture 7 - Leaving Neiafu the first time on our
way to Hunga Island, we (Harmonie with Storyteller ahead of us) had our first
encounter of the cruise ship kind this season.
More on our Vava'u adventures later.
Anne
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