People generally joke that living on an island in the
Pacific is a pretty sweet deal where your days are spent lounging on the beach,
eating fresh fish and drinking newly picked coconuts. Spoiler! Not a normal day by any means. However, Tonga is a WONDERFUL place to live,
but unfortunately everyday life is not comprised of white sandy beaches and
sunbathing (I’m about a 20 minute DRIVE from the beach, which is about an hour
walk, so needless to say, it doesn’t happen very often).
Which is why these past two weeks in Vava’u have been
spectacular! They’ve been filled with lots and lots of beach time, sun, and
good company.
Vava’u is an outer
island in the Kingdom of Tonga and situated north of the main island. It is so
far north that it is about 5-6 degrees warmer than Tongatapu or ‘Eua year
round.
Since Vava’u is generally hot for most of the year and a hub
for whales (it’s almost whale season!) there happens to be a LOT of people who
sailed from all over the world to dock there for a couple of months
(yachties!). It was a very different world from my island of Tongatapu, in that
there were many foreigners there for long term vacation and things were catered
to those foreigners. Whereas, in
Tongatapu you can find a lot of foreigners in town (especially during whale
season or if there is a cruise ship) and sometimes around the resorts, but
mostly they are short term vacationers or working in Tonga.
We spent the past two weeks getting to explore the islands
of Vava’u and check out our fellow volunteers houses and villages. Here are
some of the highlights.
Ha'apai Islands
It wouldn't be a Tongan adventure if a random child was passed to me during transit...
Tapuhia Bridge jump
View from Mt. Tall
Volunteers from all the PC Tonga islands!
Sailing Adventures!
Crew making the food for lunch.
Grabbing some coconuts...
Morning hike!
Sunset view!
We found the secret beach!
These to wonderful ladies kept the adventures going!
Winnie the Pooch.
Top of the volcano in Ha'apai!
The drop off!!!!!!
Kayak adventures!
More to come soon as we move into July.
Happy 4th ya'll, enjoy the fireworks and summer nights!
