Tongatapu...Tonga

Hello Everyone,

Here are some of the pictures of the last island time with family on Mounu Island before Mykaela and I left to bring her down to Tongatapu.....

Love and will miss you baby!

Kids boats getting together to play for a short time on the beach before Mykaela has to go...

Thank you Shine, Skyus, Por Dos and Lorien always fun to hang with you guys!

Boat moms......shine, athos, family circus, por dos

Mykaela and I are here in Tongatapu waiting for our flights on Monday.  We have rented a car and drove around, across, back and forth and diagonal around the island the last two days.  It is very small with only  a few main roads... most of which are paved/dirt roads.  Even though there aren't many signs we managed to find many of the must see sights.  Some were by accident like the fishing pigs... when we drove by all these pigs in the wading through the water with their snouts burried deep in the low tide we were wondering what on earth they were doing and then an hour later had read one of the sights to see were the fishing pigs and simultaneously Mykaela and I said... Oooohhh that's what that was... we quickly drove past the famous archeological site that is their version of stonehedge.. don't blink, then after multiple stops along the way and asking about 5 different farmers walking down the road with their machetes we found the famous Pacific Blow Holes... which are quite numerous along the coast it is just really hard to find a road that actually takes you to the coastline.  We saw Captain James Cooks Landing site,  the royal palace, the royal cemetery, the royal house, and then from there it was mostly rich farm land of coconut trees, papaya trees, cows, and sweet potato plants.  Field after field and the most amazing thing is that I only saw one tractor my entire 4 hours of driving.  All of the farm work, acre after acre is done by hand.  The turning of the rich brown soil is done with many shovels.  The farms are very simple with corrugated tin housing, only curtains for doors, and dirt floors... In all the driving we did we never saw one restaurant that wasn't part of a bungalow, only 2 grocery stores that were almost the size of a 7 eleven and all the other stores were identical and looked like firework stands and all sold the exact same items.  Mostly cheap products from asia and simple necessities.

some of the blow holes

little grocery store

cows, coconut trees and sweet potatoes... Oh my!

the royal palace... not the one they live in.  The royal residence you can see from the road but to far for a picture.

The one main thing throughout the islands as we were driving around were the incredible smiles, waving arms and shouts of hello from the street as we passed by.  We were always welcomed and often people would stop to ask if we needed help or direction or if there was anything they could do for us.  Such a generous society.


I just thought I would send up so pictures of the flat lands of Tonga... We had a great time but I am really excited to get back to my boat... I really miss the rest of the family and I know that even though I will miss Mykaela more than she will ever know.. I am so excited for her journey and know that she is ready and excited to get back home to her friends.