Adventures in 'Eua!

This weekend we took a trip to 'Eua to visit our fellow peace corps friends and volunteers ( Sammi B, Sammi L, Bailey ,& Corrinne)

It was a weekend/ week of adventures!

We attempted to swim with whales on Saturday and half the crew got sick overboard, they were troopers and we still got to see quite a few whales just no swimming....

Then Sunday we split up among the volunteers and went to church with them and Kai umu'd!

I got to go with Sam to Ta'anga!

We ate lunch with Finau and her family!

Cutest baby ever!

Found a new kitty at Finau's house for Kayla!

Walked with our herd of animals to Bailey's house in Tufuvai! ( it was a beautiful walk on the beach) 

Made an awesome fire on the beach ( with the help of some Tongans aka they lit it under 2 minutes, where it would have taken us a good 30...)

Roasted some mellows with a little chocolate and graham crackers for some tasty s'mores ( a big thanks to Sammi's fam who sent the care package)

Naturally after desert first we cooked up some nutolo for our main course out of already cut coconut shells 

The next day we planned on biking to the other side of the island near Sammi's house to see the infamous horses of 'Eua. Unfortunately the island got hit by a nasty storm so it started torrential down pouring on our way there and we decided to dry off and warm up at Sammi's the rest of the day!

Rainy day movie time ki ai with Tapuaki'i ( Sammi's new pig)

Got to cuddle with Sammi's precious little puaka ( pig) named Tapuaki'i ( blessing)

Played with the new kitty!

Decided that we needed to do more intensive de-flea'ing of the kitty, so we took him to the sea to finish the job.

He wasn't a fan...

Sadly the storm just kept coming and the boat didn't come for 2 whole days, so we were basically stuck on 'Eua! But we made the most of it and kept adventuring...

Got to meet Bailey si'i!

Went on a lot of walks around 'Eua!

Explored with Alex!

Climbed some coconut trees...

Basically lived it up on the beautiful island of 'Eua!

We finally made it on the ferry home!

It was a super crowded boat as no one had been able to leave the island for 3 days!

Overall it was a great trip with great people! We made the best of it, despite the crazy weather and bad sea. 

Lesson learned: NEVER underestimate the power of the sea and the weather...

Water tank fixes...

This Saturday my school was lucky enough to have the Nuku'alofa  Rotary Club come to both the primary and secondary schools and fix 2 water tanks. The project was funded by a grant through the Australian High Comission.

Friday afternoon we had to dig a trench next to the secondary school water tank ( sima vai) in order to put piping in as drainage for the rain water into the sima. We dug until dark and had to finish the rest in the morning.

Bright and early saturday morning Robert the engineer from Rotary and 2 contractors drove up to our school ready to work.

We unloaded supplies and got to work.

While Robert and some community members worked on getting the piping installed for the secondary school tank, the contractor got to work patching up the hole in the primary school tank.

They even installed a brand new spicket!

Once they got the piping in, they started working on getting the gutters up.

We had helpers of all ages!

They installed the piping to the tank!

We filled in the trench.

Osi! This whole new drainage system will hopefully be more effective when collecting rainwater, now we just need lots of rain to fill our newly fixed tanks!

On another note my neighbors pigs just had babies and they are the cutest little things, even if they do eat my vegetables and flowers!