We know it's been a while, so hopefully the pictures will make up for the fact that it's been almost 10 days since our last post. As you can see we've been busy. Suva was a fun town, too bad our camera didn't come until the day we left for Yanuca, otherwise we'd have some pictures. We did get to attend the temple there and it was a really neat experience. Wednesday was awesome, we went to a place called Loci-I-Suva with some sweet LDS kids we met. It was this park that had all these pools out in the middle of the forest that were connected by series of waterfalls. We went to the biggest, deepest pool there and it just so happened that there was a rope swing that hung from a tree-limb 30 ft. above the water. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun swinging off the rocks that sat about 18 ft. above the surface into the pool. Austin had the great idea of climbing all 30 feet of the wet, slippery rope to get up to the limb only to find himself exhausted by the time he got there. As he began sliding down the rope back towards the water, he had a bit of a bumpy ride at the end due to all the knots that were in the rope. He's in good shape, but he's still got some of the marks from his rough ride (the photos of which might be considered inappropriate by some). That night the family we were staying with took us out for pizza and it was the best we'd ever had- not because it was all that good, just relative to what we've been used to eating. Thursday morning we split up and Austin went back in Nadi to grab some surfboards while I headed into downtown Suva to get our camera from customs. Too bad they had to confiscate the beef jerky that was so thoughtfully inlcuded (thanks anyways, mom and dad), but we certainly enjoyed all the goodies and especially the camera.
We arrived on Yanuca late in the afternoon last Thursday. It takes about 30 minutes by boat to get to the island, and another 20 minutes to get from the island to Frigates. We welcomed the primitive living conditions- electricity only provided from 6-8 pm by a gas-powered generator and a cold water shower consisting of a 50 gallon barrel full of water attached to a spigget - upon finding that they provided us with much needed mosquito nets. After an amazing dinner (they fed us like kings at this place), we could hardly sleep with the anticipation of surfing Frigates Pass. As you can see, we had the time of our lives. We didn't take any photos on our first day out, but that was okay because the best day for surfing was saturday-which also means it was the most crowded day. Our camera's sweet because these pictures are really just frames from videos we took that you can pause and save as photo documents. Anyways, Sunday we resisted the temptation to surf and had an intimate little sacrament service, followed by a visit to the village where we went to the Methodist church. We received a warm (both in spirit and in temperature) welcome from the villagers and from all the flies. Monday we surfed for about 4 hours and then came back to pack up and head back to the mainland. We missed you out there Steve-O, it was just us and one other guy that was staying at the same resort as us. We then hopped on a bus to Sigatoka (SING-ah-TOE-kah) where we heard there was a beach break. That night we stayed at a home-stay dorm in the local village with our weed-smoking buddy Chongs. We went to surf tuesday, but it wasn't very good and after 45 minutes we'd had enough. They had these cool sand dunes there that we regretfully didn't get any pictures of. Then we hopped on a local bus to go back to Nadi. Too bad we didn't know it wasn't an express bus that takes a straight 1 hour course over the paved highway and ended up having to take the 2 hour course that goes over all the dirt roads through all the local villages between Sigatoka and Nadi as if we were on some off-road safari. It was a fun experience though, and somehow the boards made it without getting too dinged for them to charge us any extra. Now we're just hanging out in Nadi and we'll be leaving for Auckland, NZ on saturday. Well, until next time, we love you all. Take care.
PS- Brit, your emails crack me up! Keep them coming!- Austin
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Yanuca Island
-Yanuca Island. This picture was taken from the boat that shipped us out to Frigates
-The Jungle Hike on our way to church. Rhett and "Batman" in their church clothes
-A view of the Village on Yanuca Island. The big building (the biggest in the village) is the church house.
-Our shower/bite of death from this highly poisonous spider!
FRIGATES PASS!
-Austin
-Austin
-Rhett, Look at that physique!
-Austin
-Rhett
-Rhett dropping in on one of the bigger sets of the day
Sunday, January 21, 2007
FIJI
Well, we finally got a few pictures posted from our adventures in Tonga and we hope you like them. We are currently in Fiji trying to make arrangements for this island we're going to go stay on called Yanuca (pronounced yah-NU-thah) where they take you out to a reef break called Frigates Pass. Anyways, the past week has been a little on the uneventful side, but still fun nonetheless. We took the ferry back from Vava'u last Wednesday and arrived back in mainland Tonga on Thursday morning. Since everyone we knew had either already left Tonga or was busy working, we mostly just hung around, relaxed, and made preparations to leave for that Saturday. Saturday evening we flew into Nadi, Fiji, where we stayed at a cheap backpackers place. Early Sunday morning we took a taxi into Suva and made it in time for 11:00 Sacrament Meeting. I was surprised to see that they had a piano, but no one who played for Sacrament meeting. So when I went to go get some practice in after sacrament (the first time I've touched a piano since we left) there were some Fijians who were excited to find out that I could play. So we went through some of the hymns I could play and cross-referrenced the numbers in the English Hymnal to the Fijian Hymnal and got everything read so i could play for the 1:00 sacrament meeting. Meanwhile, Austin made use of his charm that has proven to be effective on people who don't even speak much English and found someone who not only gave us a ride back to the couchsurfer we're staying with in Suva, but also fed us dinner. Dinner was a sweet experience. Fijians are just as hospitable as Tongans, and this family treated us like royalty. My favorite was the Kava. After dinner, some of the Father's friends came over to talk some business and to socialize over a bowl of Kava. Austin chose not to join in, but being my first time I couldn't resist. Just so you know, they take the kava root and pound it up into a dry, powdery pulp. Then they take the kava powder and put it into a porous bag and soak it in a large specially made wooden bowl with water. Once the water has become murky enough that it just looks like dirty pond water, it's ready. We all went outside on the balcony and took our places around the large wooden kava bowl. They offered me the first drink and I accepted. With a couple of claps and a "Bula Vinaka!", I swallowed my first little bowl full. Kava doesn't have a whole lot of flavor, but it leaves a slight numbing effect on your mouth. Everyone in turn had their own drink and then came some socializing. Since it was all in Fijian, I spent my time watching intently as the man directly across from me began rolling some brown, dried out leaves in a carefully ripped shred of newspaper. As he smoked his little joint I noticed that whatever he was smoking had a sweeter smell than normal tobacco, so I asked what it was. All they told me was that it was Fijian Tobacco, and who knows what that really means. Anyways, I already had 5 little bowl fulls when they pulled out some more Kava pulp and reloaded the sack to get a little more flavor when I decided to quit. I just felt a little tired afterward (it takes more than 5 bowls of kava to give me a buzz, i guess). So here we are at Tim's house (the couchsurfer guy) and we'll soon be on our way to couchsurf with some of his friends. Until next time, we love you and hope all is well. Keep Smiling! (that's for you, Dad)
Saturday, January 20, 2007
TONGA PICS
Me and "Richie" Probably the cutest kid in Tonga.
- Yeah, he's only 2 years old and like 30 lbs.
And they called him "Handsome"....
-They were just mocking me, I'm too small for Tongan women.
Hokie Pokie Baby
Probably like 30 feet high!
SOOO cool
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Swallow Caves
This one goes out to the Big Billen Kahuna! Hey, you guys should google earth this place. It gets more and more slendid everyday! I donno if it will come in, but you should try. "Vava'u Tonga" Look it up!
We couldn't believe it...for $10 USD we could rent kayaks for half a day and paddle all around the islands! We asked the lady where a good place to kayak would be. She responded with "Oh, the Swallow Caves are nice, but they are far and especially with the rough seas it would be too hard and too far." That was music to our ears! When asked for directions or a map or something, she simply said, "Oh, just once you get out of the harbour, go that way", and she pointed behind us towards the sea. That didn't really help, but we were set out to find these "swallow caves" Our first attempt to even get out of the harbour was proven unsuccesfull we paddle the wrong direction for about a mile to find there was no outlet! So back the way we came, along the island shoreline. We didn't mind, we enjoyed conversing and remembering our homemade kayak trip from Laughlin to Havasuu we did as young men. We decided that with the wind to our back we could just float down the shore out of the harbour. We'd hold our paddles up in the wind and convince ourselves that we were sailing. When we put it to the test, and Rhett lowered his "sail" I left him in the dust. Once we came arond the first point we were awed with the scene before us. Islands all around us, with lush green jungles that continued all the way to the cliffline shore. We'd paddle in shallow blue/green water along the island shore, then island hop to a different island with dark deep blue waters underneath us. We stopped once to hoot and hollar at large gathering of enourmous bats! Hanging upside down from a large tree, flying out for bugs then flying back into their tree. They must have had at least an 18" wing span...maybe even 2 feet! They were so cool! Our path....(hahaha, there is some guy in the computer lab with us, with headphones on singing computer karaoke out loud to Hotel California and Eric Clapton! Haha, he's butchering it!) Anyway, our path lead us to the Tongan beach resort where we got out of our kayaks and went into the bar to ask for directions to the caves. They showed us on the map that we were about a mile and a half away! The bar tender then showed us the point we had to paddle to. It looked far, and the gap between us wasn't protected by any islands. It was all open seas from here on. We'd come this far, so thought we might venture. Every paddle was challenged by the wind, blowing her white capped seas in our faces and over our kayaks. We thought the paddle would never end, but once it did, we realized it was undoubtedly worth it! We found the rocky cliff shore intimidating as the strong ocean currents and swells collided up against it. Once we paddled around the point, we found the first cave! A small cut in the cliff about 4 feet wide, that led into a bigger opening. The top was somewhat open with shrubbery growing and webbing out across above us. We enjoyed the rest and the sights for a few minutes, but had a felling there was more up ahead. As we exited the first cave saw our prize. Another larger cave right next to it. "Swallows Cave!" Oh you guys, probably one of the coolest things I've seen. The cave was amazing in and of itself, but the water and the sunbeams were what made it awesome. Since the bottom of the cave was somewhat deep, the water had the coolest color to it. It was like a dark dark blue, but at the same time, it was clear and clean. If you looked through the reflection you could see the rocks and reef below. Then in one room of the cave, the sun must have been at the perfect height in sky, because you could see a little pocked of water illuminated. The water in that spot was like an array of different colors, that would ripple with the water. You could look at the spotlight, then follow its rays out the top of the cave where the sun was shinning through it. We just layed on our backs, looking up and watched the swallows chasing bugs up 30 feet above us, and listened to the rising tide enter and exit the cave. It was heaven! The paddle back sucked. Something about hell on earth. I prayed for the wind to die, but Rhett realized some poor fisherman was probably praying for wind, so we decided that we should pray for strength to get home. (I secretly prayed for a boat to come pick us up, but everytime I saw one, and paddled my brains to flag it down, it either was going the other way or couldn't speak english) So we toughed it out like real men, and proved our manhood to the ocean. Haha, everytime I would get near Rhett I would hear him singing some random song at the top of his lungs, and "Disco Inferno" would gladly get out of my head, and I'd sing along with Rhett. I was the kind of experiance we thrive off of. We finally got home, and did the math. About 18 miles in 6 hours of pretty much non-stop paddling. We would have done it faster if it wasnt for that bloody wind! Anyway...thought we would make you guys jealous and share that little experiance!
We love you!
We couldn't believe it...for $10 USD we could rent kayaks for half a day and paddle all around the islands! We asked the lady where a good place to kayak would be. She responded with "Oh, the Swallow Caves are nice, but they are far and especially with the rough seas it would be too hard and too far." That was music to our ears! When asked for directions or a map or something, she simply said, "Oh, just once you get out of the harbour, go that way", and she pointed behind us towards the sea. That didn't really help, but we were set out to find these "swallow caves" Our first attempt to even get out of the harbour was proven unsuccesfull we paddle the wrong direction for about a mile to find there was no outlet! So back the way we came, along the island shoreline. We didn't mind, we enjoyed conversing and remembering our homemade kayak trip from Laughlin to Havasuu we did as young men. We decided that with the wind to our back we could just float down the shore out of the harbour. We'd hold our paddles up in the wind and convince ourselves that we were sailing. When we put it to the test, and Rhett lowered his "sail" I left him in the dust. Once we came arond the first point we were awed with the scene before us. Islands all around us, with lush green jungles that continued all the way to the cliffline shore. We'd paddle in shallow blue/green water along the island shore, then island hop to a different island with dark deep blue waters underneath us. We stopped once to hoot and hollar at large gathering of enourmous bats! Hanging upside down from a large tree, flying out for bugs then flying back into their tree. They must have had at least an 18" wing span...maybe even 2 feet! They were so cool! Our path....(hahaha, there is some guy in the computer lab with us, with headphones on singing computer karaoke out loud to Hotel California and Eric Clapton! Haha, he's butchering it!) Anyway, our path lead us to the Tongan beach resort where we got out of our kayaks and went into the bar to ask for directions to the caves. They showed us on the map that we were about a mile and a half away! The bar tender then showed us the point we had to paddle to. It looked far, and the gap between us wasn't protected by any islands. It was all open seas from here on. We'd come this far, so thought we might venture. Every paddle was challenged by the wind, blowing her white capped seas in our faces and over our kayaks. We thought the paddle would never end, but once it did, we realized it was undoubtedly worth it! We found the rocky cliff shore intimidating as the strong ocean currents and swells collided up against it. Once we paddled around the point, we found the first cave! A small cut in the cliff about 4 feet wide, that led into a bigger opening. The top was somewhat open with shrubbery growing and webbing out across above us. We enjoyed the rest and the sights for a few minutes, but had a felling there was more up ahead. As we exited the first cave saw our prize. Another larger cave right next to it. "Swallows Cave!" Oh you guys, probably one of the coolest things I've seen. The cave was amazing in and of itself, but the water and the sunbeams were what made it awesome. Since the bottom of the cave was somewhat deep, the water had the coolest color to it. It was like a dark dark blue, but at the same time, it was clear and clean. If you looked through the reflection you could see the rocks and reef below. Then in one room of the cave, the sun must have been at the perfect height in sky, because you could see a little pocked of water illuminated. The water in that spot was like an array of different colors, that would ripple with the water. You could look at the spotlight, then follow its rays out the top of the cave where the sun was shinning through it. We just layed on our backs, looking up and watched the swallows chasing bugs up 30 feet above us, and listened to the rising tide enter and exit the cave. It was heaven! The paddle back sucked. Something about hell on earth. I prayed for the wind to die, but Rhett realized some poor fisherman was probably praying for wind, so we decided that we should pray for strength to get home. (I secretly prayed for a boat to come pick us up, but everytime I saw one, and paddled my brains to flag it down, it either was going the other way or couldn't speak english) So we toughed it out like real men, and proved our manhood to the ocean. Haha, everytime I would get near Rhett I would hear him singing some random song at the top of his lungs, and "Disco Inferno" would gladly get out of my head, and I'd sing along with Rhett. I was the kind of experiance we thrive off of. We finally got home, and did the math. About 18 miles in 6 hours of pretty much non-stop paddling. We would have done it faster if it wasnt for that bloody wind! Anyway...thought we would make you guys jealous and share that little experiance!
We love you!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Mountains, Caves, and General Authorities
Hey, this is Rhett coming at you this time from a crowded upstairs internet cafe full of tongans and the smell of B.O. So a lot has happened since we got off the boat, so this will just have to be a few of the highlights of the things we've done. First of all, we're staying at this Backpacker place that's pretty sweet. We stay in a dorm-style room with 2 frenchies- a bro. and sis. named Vincent (ven-SAHN) and Clemence. There's a warm shower and a full kitchen and a refrigerator that's open for all the guests to use and we've been surviving on Oatmeal and canned peaches for breakfast and Rice and pineapple for dinner with in-between snacks of crackers, watermelon, and best of all- Hokey Pokey ice cream!!! (found at your local Wholesale Foods market). The Elders have been our Taxi service. We just ask if we can ride along wherever they're going to see the rest of the island. It is amazing here, much better than mainland Tonga. Friday the Elders took us and the frenchies to see the highest point on Vava'u. On the way, we picked up two brothers- a 14 year old and 16 year old- to be our tour guides. They didn't speak much english, but we managed. On our way there the road kinda just disappeared into a dirt path. There was grass and leaves from tree limbs coming in the windows of the van and we bounced up and down and side to side making our way to the hike. Finally we arrived and started up the trail. We were in sandals, but felt better seeing the 14 year old was bare-foot going over the metamorphic rock and dirt. The smell of coconut filled the air as we made our way towards the top being shadowed by the tropical treetops. 15 minutes later we're at the top, a breathtaking view of the entire island and all the surrounding islands. All you can see is green and blue, island and ocean and sky.
Saturday we made our way to the veimumuni caves- a destination we spotted on the map that was within walking distance of the place we're staying. We made our way, again with our French friends, a found ourselves facing a hole in the side of a cliff that sat right on the ocean. There were a few local kids inside the cave and heard what seemed to be the sound of swimming coming from inside. Upon further inspection we see that this isn't just a cave- it's an underground freshwater lake! So we dove in as fast as we could. We couldn't figure out how it was freshwater considering we could hear the ocean waves crashing into the rocks just on the other side of the cave, but it didn't matter. We couldn't help but feel like some underground lake monster was gonna get us, then we realized we were 21 and 22 years old and could kill whatever would come after us. It was definitely an adventure unlike any other either of us have experienced and we'll probably go back before we leave.
Sunday we attended a tongan sacrament meeting and luckily sat by a tongan who served his mission in Hawaii and spoke good english. After sacrament he told us about a fireside that would be at the stake center that night for the young adults. That night, as we were walking to the stake center, our luck began as the elders passed us by and gave us a ride. We found a seat in the back of the crowded open-windowed building, fans blowing full speed overhead. We were the only palangi's in sight and definitely stood out like a sore thumb. After a few locals spoke and bore testimony, the guest speaker was introduced- Elder David S. Baxter of the quorum of the seventy, first counselor in the Area Authority Presidency. It just so happens that this man happens to be a close friend of James Canon, someone Austin was companions with for 6 months of his mission. And here we were on a remote island in the south pacific hearing him speak. He gave a great talk on the good and the evil that's in the world and how important it is to know the difference between the two, especially when using the internet. After the fireside, Austin went and approached Elder Baxter while I went in search of refreshments (oatmeal and rice gets a little old). What I found was a room set up with tables and tables of different dishes and plates of food with a table set up next to it lined with chairs for special guests, most likely Elder Baxter I assumed. So I got a drink from the drinking fountain and met Elder Baxter as he and Austin were talking. Turns out he lives in Auckland, NZ, which is our next stop after Fiji. After we exchanged information, we started to make our way home from the fireside. Just as I began telling Austin about the spread of food I saw in that room and was expressing to him how much a wished we'd been invited to eat with them, one of the Tongan Stake Presidents comes after us. "Please, won't you join us for some tea before you go?" he says. "Uh, sure, yeah that would be great!" I say as we make our way back. I could hardly contain myself and wasn't able to stretch my cheeks far enough to smile as big as I wanted to. We got to sit down right by Elder Baxter at the table. The only other ones there were 11 different Tongan Stake presidents and priesthood leaders. We along with Elder Baxter had first choice over all the food. After stuffing ourselves on the tongan dishes (Austin's favorite was the lobster pizza), the women brought out huge bowls of ice-cream over some type of pineapple cake. It was amazing. But honestely the best part was just getting to be there, food or no food, with Elder Baxter and those great men and feel the spirit that was with them, as well as getting to experience they're senses of humor. Tongans are the best. We love you all and hope to hear from any and all ove you as often as possible.
Saturday we made our way to the veimumuni caves- a destination we spotted on the map that was within walking distance of the place we're staying. We made our way, again with our French friends, a found ourselves facing a hole in the side of a cliff that sat right on the ocean. There were a few local kids inside the cave and heard what seemed to be the sound of swimming coming from inside. Upon further inspection we see that this isn't just a cave- it's an underground freshwater lake! So we dove in as fast as we could. We couldn't figure out how it was freshwater considering we could hear the ocean waves crashing into the rocks just on the other side of the cave, but it didn't matter. We couldn't help but feel like some underground lake monster was gonna get us, then we realized we were 21 and 22 years old and could kill whatever would come after us. It was definitely an adventure unlike any other either of us have experienced and we'll probably go back before we leave.
Sunday we attended a tongan sacrament meeting and luckily sat by a tongan who served his mission in Hawaii and spoke good english. After sacrament he told us about a fireside that would be at the stake center that night for the young adults. That night, as we were walking to the stake center, our luck began as the elders passed us by and gave us a ride. We found a seat in the back of the crowded open-windowed building, fans blowing full speed overhead. We were the only palangi's in sight and definitely stood out like a sore thumb. After a few locals spoke and bore testimony, the guest speaker was introduced- Elder David S. Baxter of the quorum of the seventy, first counselor in the Area Authority Presidency. It just so happens that this man happens to be a close friend of James Canon, someone Austin was companions with for 6 months of his mission. And here we were on a remote island in the south pacific hearing him speak. He gave a great talk on the good and the evil that's in the world and how important it is to know the difference between the two, especially when using the internet. After the fireside, Austin went and approached Elder Baxter while I went in search of refreshments (oatmeal and rice gets a little old). What I found was a room set up with tables and tables of different dishes and plates of food with a table set up next to it lined with chairs for special guests, most likely Elder Baxter I assumed. So I got a drink from the drinking fountain and met Elder Baxter as he and Austin were talking. Turns out he lives in Auckland, NZ, which is our next stop after Fiji. After we exchanged information, we started to make our way home from the fireside. Just as I began telling Austin about the spread of food I saw in that room and was expressing to him how much a wished we'd been invited to eat with them, one of the Tongan Stake Presidents comes after us. "Please, won't you join us for some tea before you go?" he says. "Uh, sure, yeah that would be great!" I say as we make our way back. I could hardly contain myself and wasn't able to stretch my cheeks far enough to smile as big as I wanted to. We got to sit down right by Elder Baxter at the table. The only other ones there were 11 different Tongan Stake presidents and priesthood leaders. We along with Elder Baxter had first choice over all the food. After stuffing ourselves on the tongan dishes (Austin's favorite was the lobster pizza), the women brought out huge bowls of ice-cream over some type of pineapple cake. It was amazing. But honestely the best part was just getting to be there, food or no food, with Elder Baxter and those great men and feel the spirit that was with them, as well as getting to experience they're senses of humor. Tongans are the best. We love you all and hope to hear from any and all ove you as often as possible.
Friday, January 12, 2007
HOLLAH!
Whats up guys! This is Austin... Rhett will be joining in a sec. His explosive bowel movements have finally been tamed! Haha, he has turned out to be quite the cook! Brewing up all sorts of tasty meals. He cooks and I clean. Works for me! Thanks for the emails everybody. It costs money to use the internet here in Vava'u so we are trying to be thrifty with our usage. But Shauna and Fronky, thanks for the shout outs! You too rach! John, Rhett has been ravished like 5 1/2 times already since we got to Tonga! Haha! Half because I jumped in the 6th time and regulated on some Tongan sista's if you know what I mean. I may be a scronny "palangi" but watch out when rhett is getting ravished!
Ok, Well we gots a lot to say. First off, Monday night, before we left, the whole Uata family had a huge birthday celebration dinner for one of Naite's cousins Stephanie. She was turing 14, so the had the whole family over and we were invited (of course). The food was soooo GOOD! They had, sausage, and BBQ chicken, tortillas, salsa, salad, juice, chocolate cake, ice cream, SWORDFISH!, and even TAPATILLO! No choranchula...but it was still a treat. The two highlights of the night for me, other than the food, was first when the whole family started off the night singing a tongan hymn. It was soo cool. They sang so good, and harmonized like motab, and it was just a neat experiance all of us sitting out on the patio of this house in the middle of the Tongan jungle, surrounded by palm trees, and banana trees, and shrubbery of every kind, hearing this family sing. Wish you guys had my eyes and ears that night. The other experiance was talking with Naite's brother David. He is an extraordinay man. He has accomplished so much thus far in his life. He worked for Boeing in the states, and then was recruited to the vietnam government to do some work there. While he was there, he developed some online management system that ended up awarding him the technological invention of the year in vietnam. From there, he came to Tonga, and while the people have been trying to establish a democracy for 22 years, and been somewhat unsucessful, he comes and after 2 1/2 years, he'll have it accomplished. The reason why it was so neat for me, was because his whole focus in life is the love of Christ. Everything he does, he tries to revolve it around Christ, and His love. He is so giving and charitable. A good reminder to all of us.
Tuesday at like 4pm, we hopped onto the ferry that takes us to Vava'u. The ferry is a little different than I'm sure you imagine. The boat is like 200-300 feet long, and would in no way, meet the standards and requirements to even haul freight let alone passengers in America. There were probably 300-400 passangers, that all sat on top of this deck, covered in rust, with no covering except the small room that sat maybe 30 people, and the lower level that was already jammed full. The loud diesel engine exhaust coming out the top of the deck on both sides left a dull low rumble in the air. What we thought was a 14 hour cruise through the islands, was really a 17 hour rollercoaster! The swells were huge, rolling the boat back and forth all night! The best part was that while everybody else had to sit out in the element and smell the exhaust, Rhett and I had our own VIP suite! Haha, the Uata Family has a room with fans, and beds, and tables, that the family uses whenever they ride! And of course, we got hooked up! We felt kind of guilty because we had it so good! We even had our own bathroom and shower! It wasn't luxury compared to America, but compared to what everybody else had...it was great!
Ok, Well we gots a lot to say. First off, Monday night, before we left, the whole Uata family had a huge birthday celebration dinner for one of Naite's cousins Stephanie. She was turing 14, so the had the whole family over and we were invited (of course). The food was soooo GOOD! They had, sausage, and BBQ chicken, tortillas, salsa, salad, juice, chocolate cake, ice cream, SWORDFISH!, and even TAPATILLO! No choranchula...but it was still a treat. The two highlights of the night for me, other than the food, was first when the whole family started off the night singing a tongan hymn. It was soo cool. They sang so good, and harmonized like motab, and it was just a neat experiance all of us sitting out on the patio of this house in the middle of the Tongan jungle, surrounded by palm trees, and banana trees, and shrubbery of every kind, hearing this family sing. Wish you guys had my eyes and ears that night. The other experiance was talking with Naite's brother David. He is an extraordinay man. He has accomplished so much thus far in his life. He worked for Boeing in the states, and then was recruited to the vietnam government to do some work there. While he was there, he developed some online management system that ended up awarding him the technological invention of the year in vietnam. From there, he came to Tonga, and while the people have been trying to establish a democracy for 22 years, and been somewhat unsucessful, he comes and after 2 1/2 years, he'll have it accomplished. The reason why it was so neat for me, was because his whole focus in life is the love of Christ. Everything he does, he tries to revolve it around Christ, and His love. He is so giving and charitable. A good reminder to all of us.
Tuesday at like 4pm, we hopped onto the ferry that takes us to Vava'u. The ferry is a little different than I'm sure you imagine. The boat is like 200-300 feet long, and would in no way, meet the standards and requirements to even haul freight let alone passengers in America. There were probably 300-400 passangers, that all sat on top of this deck, covered in rust, with no covering except the small room that sat maybe 30 people, and the lower level that was already jammed full. The loud diesel engine exhaust coming out the top of the deck on both sides left a dull low rumble in the air. What we thought was a 14 hour cruise through the islands, was really a 17 hour rollercoaster! The swells were huge, rolling the boat back and forth all night! The best part was that while everybody else had to sit out in the element and smell the exhaust, Rhett and I had our own VIP suite! Haha, the Uata Family has a room with fans, and beds, and tables, that the family uses whenever they ride! And of course, we got hooked up! We felt kind of guilty because we had it so good! We even had our own bathroom and shower! It wasn't luxury compared to America, but compared to what everybody else had...it was great!
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Friday, January 5, 2007
TONGA
Rhett was just about to update this blog, but his explosive diarrhea says otherwise! Haha, we were walking away from this flee market, and he's like, "Guys, I gotta go" (Guys=Austin and Uliti, a cousin. Liti speaks good english and is so rad, he's been our tour guide and become a good friend.) So Liti is like, alright, let me call a cab. Rhetts like, No, like right now! So he ran in the bush and did his duty! So we went and got him some toilet paper and he was greatly pleased. Since then he's been going pretty steady! Haha, but he'll be alirght. If not, I'll just give him a little blessing.
Man have we been having some fun! First off, the second day we got here we were out in the sun for like 6 hours! The tongan sun is brutle and Rhett's peeling forehead can witness to that! He looks like a burn vicitm...hey, he is a burn victim! This coast line that we went exploring down was amazing. It was on the north shore of the island, and had a low overhanging cliff with waist deep water that ran all the way down the side of it. There was a current pushing north with the winds, so that when we got sick of walking we could just wade....lazy river style. Anyways, Liti all of a sudden warned us of black and white snakes that are deadly to the bite. I figured that there was nothing poisonous in Tonga. The funny thing was that Rhett went off in some cave off the shore a few yards, and he looks up and BAM! There was one of the snakes just sitting right over his head. Rhett has an eye. Let me tell you. He can see everything! Look a crab! A fish, a starfish! What is that? He sees it all! A good companion. Ok he's back! Here Rhett...Sorry guys, you just never know when that diarrhea's gonna hit. So let me tell you about Austin's injury. We went out to this island just a little way off the coast with a bunch of the family that's hooking us up and it was just us there. Right off the coast of the island is this old sunken ship that's completely rusted, the top of which sits about 15-20 feet from the water. So naturally we had a good time diving and flipping (and Austin gainer-ing) off of it for a while. Then we moved on to the rope swing that hung off of a coconut tree right by the shore. At first we were just swinging out of the tree over the 6 inch deep water coming back onto the sand. Then Austin wanted to try swinging into the water, so he had me pull him as far and as fast as i could on the rope towards the water. He let go over water that was hardly to his shins and lands first on his feet and then on his back. He gets up quickly, smiling, as if nothing happened. Then he looks down at his aching foot to see a flap of skin dangling from his heel with blood pooring from his wound. When one of the Tongans saw it, he went and grabbed some leaf and folded it up, put it in his mouth and chewed it into a pulp. Then he pulls it out and puts it in his hand and squeezed the saliva-leaf juice into Austin's gaping laceration. "ah, that stings!" he yells with a smile on his face. The tongans were proud that he didn't cry or moan. So I've had a good time dancing the past couple nights while Austin's had to stay at home, poor chap. Yesterday was sweet. We checked out some of the sights like the King's Tomb, then went to the blowholes. It was seriously so cool. 4-5 foot swells were coming in and crashing into the rocks and through holes in the rocks sending water 30+ feet into the air while we stood on the cliff and watched. Don't worry, we have some pictures. This place is amazing, even if it is 3rd world conditions, there's no surfing, and pigs eat dead dogs.......yeah, that's not even a joke. Well, we love you all. Noko'o!
Man have we been having some fun! First off, the second day we got here we were out in the sun for like 6 hours! The tongan sun is brutle and Rhett's peeling forehead can witness to that! He looks like a burn vicitm...hey, he is a burn victim! This coast line that we went exploring down was amazing. It was on the north shore of the island, and had a low overhanging cliff with waist deep water that ran all the way down the side of it. There was a current pushing north with the winds, so that when we got sick of walking we could just wade....lazy river style. Anyways, Liti all of a sudden warned us of black and white snakes that are deadly to the bite. I figured that there was nothing poisonous in Tonga. The funny thing was that Rhett went off in some cave off the shore a few yards, and he looks up and BAM! There was one of the snakes just sitting right over his head. Rhett has an eye. Let me tell you. He can see everything! Look a crab! A fish, a starfish! What is that? He sees it all! A good companion. Ok he's back! Here Rhett...Sorry guys, you just never know when that diarrhea's gonna hit. So let me tell you about Austin's injury. We went out to this island just a little way off the coast with a bunch of the family that's hooking us up and it was just us there. Right off the coast of the island is this old sunken ship that's completely rusted, the top of which sits about 15-20 feet from the water. So naturally we had a good time diving and flipping (and Austin gainer-ing) off of it for a while. Then we moved on to the rope swing that hung off of a coconut tree right by the shore. At first we were just swinging out of the tree over the 6 inch deep water coming back onto the sand. Then Austin wanted to try swinging into the water, so he had me pull him as far and as fast as i could on the rope towards the water. He let go over water that was hardly to his shins and lands first on his feet and then on his back. He gets up quickly, smiling, as if nothing happened. Then he looks down at his aching foot to see a flap of skin dangling from his heel with blood pooring from his wound. When one of the Tongans saw it, he went and grabbed some leaf and folded it up, put it in his mouth and chewed it into a pulp. Then he pulls it out and puts it in his hand and squeezed the saliva-leaf juice into Austin's gaping laceration. "ah, that stings!" he yells with a smile on his face. The tongans were proud that he didn't cry or moan. So I've had a good time dancing the past couple nights while Austin's had to stay at home, poor chap. Yesterday was sweet. We checked out some of the sights like the King's Tomb, then went to the blowholes. It was seriously so cool. 4-5 foot swells were coming in and crashing into the rocks and through holes in the rocks sending water 30+ feet into the air while we stood on the cliff and watched. Don't worry, we have some pictures. This place is amazing, even if it is 3rd world conditions, there's no surfing, and pigs eat dead dogs.......yeah, that's not even a joke. Well, we love you all. Noko'o!
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
ATTENTION- NEW EMAIL
Just wanted to tell you to send all your emails to surfuholic@hotmail.com. That includes any emails you've already sent to austinwalk02@aol.com, just be sure to resend those because it takes to long for us to open them here in the good 'ol Kingdom of Tonga. AOL sucks! Where's TOL when you need it?
We were wronga about Tonga!
Well, we dont have much time here. The Internet is way slow, and everybody needs to use it. We'll update and post more pictures once we get to Fiji. But lets just say Tonga is way way different than what we assumed it to be. Its a total third world contry trapped in poverty, with marshall law declared because of politcal unrest and the people trying to overthrow the government! But its okay, because we are with the wealthiest most popular and respected families in Tonga! They are like the Tongan Mafia....for real! And second of all, the Tonga women love RHETT! They call him handsome, and he was getting numbers shouted at him at the Tongan dance we went to last night!! haha, it was so sweet. You are supposed to bow to girls to ask them to dance, and once a song is over everybody has to leave the dance floor. The lights are on, and you have to wear church dress. And its hotter than a mother! But man was it fun. I think i embarresed some girls when i went and bowed for them to dance. Other than getting our freak on with some Tongan hunnies, we've been exploring the coast line and dodging deadly snakes. For Real! The people are amazing and have been treating us like kings, with free rides, food, accomidation and entertainment. Their humor is like at an 8th grade level, so they love all of Dirks jokes that I tell....seriously its sooo funny! Anyway, keeping it real in Tonga, this is Austin Signing out!
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