18 32S 178 16W
Libertyatsea10
Mon 13 Sep 2010 22:44
Farewell Tonga. We are so sad to leave this place, we are completely captivated but the people, the music, the culture, everything about it draws us in and does not want to let us go,
but we now have the goal of getting to that wedding!
Finally, we came clean with Ursula and at last, Benj can tell the truth on his facebook as to where he is! Ever since Grenada we have been parsimonious with his facebook info in an effort to spring the surprise of the century on my lifelong mate Ursula and my gorgeous God daughter Ciara...we have not quite made it as we told the whole truth and nothing but when in Tonga. We were concerned that we would be adding difficulties and logisitical problems if we continued on the line of " we have to book our flights soon" so we came clean. We had booked our flights from Fiji and weirdly, just as I was emailing Ursula to tell the story, she was on the internet checking out Fiji...weird weird!
So we are on our way to check in to Fiji in Lautoka, and then on to catch our flights to Brizzy to finally see my amazing friend and her family and to join in the joys of Ciara's wedding, needless to say I will bawl the entire time, not because of the romance and beauty of the event of course, just because I am so bloody old!!
Ciara is a remarkable young lady and if Benj grows up with half of her assurance, sensitivity and tolerance, I will be thoroughly pleased for him. She is also totally beautiful ; beautiful to behold and to be with. Ritchie is a blessed young man, and I could not wish for a happier match for that little rosy cheeked bundle that took us all by surprise when we comparatively young and foolish.
We have fallen in love with Tonga and it is our favourite place, there could not be anywhere so pleasing in which to spend time with people..we have promised to come back, this time Grum's idea!, easy.... only four flights from Dublin, and God knows how many days travel! BUT it is SO worth it.
We love the way these people are so comfortable with their way of life, they accept us "palangis" (white skins) and welcome us genuinely, but they do not want to be like us. They do not want or need the lifestyle that so many ex colonies have adopted or inherited, European or American influence does not dictate here, OH it is so refreshing.
These folks live at one with nature, they live in harmony with the land and the sea, They live their faith and their history, they have something precious that we have lost in the developed world that we cannot even recognise we are missing it. The Palangis who come here to run businesses are the only hint of our ways and the Tongans politely allow the palangi to get on with it but do not become part of the politics and drive that seems to turn folks against each other in the end.
we will not tell anyone else about Tonga because we hope it stays a secret forever,. and just like our friends on Sunboy did, we will advise everyone not to come as they will never want to leave.
We always try to visit a school and we managed to sell our old outboard for 1000 bucks which went to the school, we got a real kick out of making the deal work as we were going to trade the machine for a lobster! The school were thrilled and so were we!
We left Neiafu on Sunday, having been wished well by a beautiful family we met and with whom we became instant friends, they insisted on coming to the dock to wave us off. As we lifted the hook, the voices from the cathedral were rising above the anchorage, uplifting and heartbreaking in its six or seven part harmonies, falsetto male voices and enormous basso, intermingling and weaving around each other as no one voice takes the main line. Amazing, and not a choir or vocal training in sight. At anchor we had three nights of the wake for the funeral as the voices lent their support to the family of the dead, never stopping. I wondered about the family and believe that they must find the outpouring of song as the most emotive expression of sorrow and support that ever could be. Words cannot describe it. For a week we have been wrapped in this experience, intoxicated..unable to imagine being anywhere else in the world. .
and speaking of which I tried the Kava!! Now that's another story,....