I still feel rough from last nights sickly dessert...
My first telephone call to Toni's Guest House in Tonga revealed that it would cost us a mere TOD 35, USD 17, for a double room with bed and breakfast for one night and transfers from the airport. Needless to say I booked the room, can it get any better than that?
Having completed all of our tasks we decided that the skies were clear enough to get a good view from the summit of the Sky Tower. We ascended to the main observation level at 180 metres in 40 seconds! We changed elevators and ascended another 40 metres to the skydeck which at 220 metres is the highest viewing platform for the public, for those that don't wish to climb another 28 metres whilst wearing a harness anyway! We went as far as the skydeck, two thirds of the 328 metres height to the summit. The views were stunning and, unlike the Eiffel Tower, the observation levels are enclosed so you don't get uncomfortable from being blown with cold wind. The hills we climbed yesterday now seem like miniature ant hills. It sure didn't feel like it at the time!
As we left the youth hostel I realised I hadn't got my Oakley sunglasses with me. I searched my pockets, my bag, the toilets, checked with the cleaner and ran down the road to the cyber cafe where we had just spent an hour before accepting that I could only have left them somewhere up the Sky Tower, although I don't remember taking them out of my pocket. We didn't have time to go back to the tower so I wrote down the telephone number so I could contact them from the airport. We arrived at the airport and checked in to the flight to Los Angeles, which we hoped stopped at Tonga on the way although there was no mention of Tonga at the check in desk. Still the flight number was the same as ours... I got held up at passport control because my name was coming up twice or something. This information wasn't shared with me, I just had to wait at the desk having had all of my documents taken out of my sight with no explanation. With the issue resolved I charged straight into a duty free shop which sold sunglasses, aware that I needed some for the rest of our trip - my sensitive eyes can't cope with bright sunlight - and announced 'I am in a real hurry, how much are your cheapest Oakley sunglasses?' The helpful assistant showed me the cheapest costing NZD 150. I asked for the next cheapest as the first took over my entire face. They were priced at NZD 195. They were nice. I bought them. It was an hour later that I realised they were the equivalent of USD 95 which in my opinion is good value! Satisfied with my quick purchase we boarded the plane for Los Angeles.
We left 45 minutes late, taking off at 17:15 local time, 04:15 GMT, and endured a very turbulent rollercoaster flight for 2 hours 35 minutes, but the view out of the plane window was great. There were so many clouds to look down upon, most of them looking like candy floss or curdled cake mixture! We arrived in Nuka'alofa at 19:50 local time and were greeted by two Tongan women who would transfer us to Toni's Guest House. They each placed a beautiful floral garland displaying wonderful colours and fragrances around our necks. They were beautiful. I wished that they would last for the week! We eventually arrived at the guesthouse which was 3 kilometres out of town. It turned out that the guesthouse had been relocated when previous backpackers had complained about being in the centre of town which was noisy. That coupled with the landlord wanting to increase the rent provided Toni with reason to move. Naturally we needed to be in the middle of town to pursue our diving activities and for flexibility so we won't be stopping at Toni's Guest House for more than one night.
Ian photographed me looking like a grubby ex-convict, pictured with our floral garlands. It's a sun tan, honest...possibly the worst picture of me ever taken. Thanks Ian. [Editors Note: to all of Ian's friends who are yet to meet me in person - please don't judge a book by it's cover...]
It rained quite hard in Tonga as we stepped off the plane on to the runway and it continued to rain through the night. Apparently it hasn't rained for six months and we were told that a hurricane was on it's way. But it is warm here, which is nice.
In the absence of Toni who had briefly invited us to drink kava in his house then disappeared having received no acceptances, our hostess chatted to us in the evening about Tonga and her previous guests. We found ourselves in the company of two Canadians, two Finns, one English, two Germans and a very, very French woman who pronounced her 'the' as 'zee' in a very 'Allo 'Allo fashion. When question were presented to our Tongan hostess about places and visits on the island the general response tended to be 'yeh, but not as this time' indicating that the rains in Tonga stop everything!
There was no food or drink at the guesthouse so we retired at 23:00 in the hope that we wouldn't get thirsty until we reached town tomorrow morning...
Copyright 2002 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.