Tongan Letters...#1

Reef Resort

2-6-14

Greetings from the Kingdom of Tonga!  I thought I’d give you readers a little insight about living on an island in the Vava’u group of the Tongan Islands.

We arrived late January to care take the Reef Resort for the owners, Josef and Renate.  We had met them earlier on  sailing through the islands this past September.  We anchored in front of this beautiful open restaurant surrounded by five “fales” (guesthouses) overlooking the beach of Kapa Island and decided to stop for a beer.  The owners were very welcoming, though we couldn’t stay for dinner as most of these island resorts only prepare food for the “private paying guest”, but they could offer a cold beer!

First day on the "job" at Reef Resort

 We enjoyed ourselves so much that we visited a few more times and during our conversations asked,” if they ever needed someone to “house sit” while they took a vacation?,” we would be interested…well, you guessed it…we sold our boat in Australia...and here we are, feeding the dog, the three cats, keeping the cockroaches at a  minimum and keeping the pigs out!  That is pretty much our “job description” as we care take the resort for three months.

Gardening for the fun of it

Feeding my feline friends!

 This is summer time in Tonga, December through April.  It is just the opposite of our winter months in the northern hemisphere.  The water temp is about 85 and the air temp about the same.  The humidity can be in the 90s but mostly there is a fresh tropical breeze blowing so you dont feel the hot sun or the sweat dripping down your back.   The weather changes daily;  in the morning we can wake up to a clear sky and by mid-day a rain squall is passing through soaking the ground.  And when it rains here...its like someone turned on the faucet! It just dumps for a half an hour, then its over and the sun comes out again. Swimming in these warmer water temps is weird at first because there is not much temp difference to the air temp, but dive a little deeper and the water is cooler.

Rain squall passing through...

We hear to watch out for stinging jelly fish because of the warmer climes, but I haven't seen any, yet.  Tonga gets one cyclone every so often this time of year, so that is why (besides the whales leaving for the anartic) the sailing and tourist season shuts down.   Tonga gets hit by one cyclone every ten years or so.  You probably heard about the category 5 Cyclone Ian, that came barreling down on the islands in January? It was headed for the Vava'u group, but changed direction and clobbered the middle of Tonga, the Ha'api group of islands instead.  Leveled them. They are already low lying atolls and getting hit by 120knt of wind wiped out houses and crops.  All infrastructure has to be rebuilt. Thankfully, only one person died.  Aid from New Zealand and our US Peace Corp are helping out. That said, Tonga won't be having (ususally) another cyclone this year!  Lucky for us!


Our view from our deck is blue-green waters over a shallow reef pass between two islands.  We are like on a big boat now, managing the energy consumption by monitoring the solar panels to see if they keep up with our energy needs. The resort is closed  for off season and its just the two of us, so we don’t use much energy, unless we want to run the washing machine or have an espresso, then we need to be mindful of our energy.

Taking a break!

 One of John’s job is a daily trek up the hill to the battery bank to check the amps usage, if it’s below a certain percentage, he turns on the huge generator to top off the batteries.  Mostly the sun generates enough power for us.  Pretty cool. this power system is called the Outback (Kenwood Energy would approve of our system).  When the resort is full of guests they use the generator more often for all those cappuccinos and cold beer!

Sione does the really heavy work- mowing!

We have help at the resort, too.  Sione, a Tongan from the neighboring village on Otea, comes to help with the yard work, mows the grass, weeds and walks the 5-acres perimeter to check that the electric fence is still working to keep the pigs out.

Solar power!

Did I mention there are a lot of pigs in Tonga?  Pigs on the beach, pigs in the road, momma pigs and baby piglets and pigs just about everywhere!   The Tongans save pigs for special occasion feasts, like Sunday dinners and weddings and so there are a lot of pigs just waiting to be meals… and while they are waiting they wonder around foraging and rutting up the grounds. This doesn’t look good for a resort, so our job is to keep the pigs out!

John's daily trek up the hill to check power supply.

The battery bank of the Outback system

Pig Power.. good for cleaning up the trash!

We are on Kapa Island, one of the larger inhabited islands of the Vava’u group.  We get to town by boating one mile across an open channel to the main island of Pangaimotu, Then pick up a car parked in a friend’s yard in the village of Talihau and then drive twenty minutes to the town, Neiafu where we do our shopping at the fresh open market and buy supplies at the Chinese market.  There is a small influence of Chinese here in Tonga who own most of the markets. That's where we can buy beer only. The Tongan stores don't sell alcohol. We have lunch at one of the many restaurants who are trying to survive the “off season” when the tourists have are gone. Our small contribution of dollars helps.

Our transportation to town...

 Vava’u is known for its Humpback Whale watching and tourists come to “swim with the whales”.  It is one of only three places left in the world that allows swimming near a mother and her baby calf!
http://www.whalewatchvavau.com/about.html   There are several whale watching companies to choose a tour with!  The Tongans are making quite a living catering to this tourism industry along with sport fishing these activities sustain the economy for the year.  Just barely.

The road to town...

 Most business owners are palangis (white expatriates) and there isn’t very much trickle down to the Tongans., though there are more Tongans starting their own businesses.  Many young people go off to work in New Zealand or Australia and send money back to their families in the islands.

 Most tourists come here for the water. The water is visibility is spectacular sometimes as much as 100 ft. with colorful coral reefs to explore that are amazingly alive. and there are the whales to swim with! Tonga is a place waiting to be discovered.  It’s still a little “third world” by our standards and its not for everyone.   Air  travel is spotty and can be cancelled at any moment due to weather. This contributes to the cost factor of getting here.  Surviving the daily gauntlet of people, pigs and potholes and a general “laid-back” approach to living is a little overwhelming for some visitors.  Only the well traveled will enjoy the simple Tongan ways. We are still learning.

So many thing to do in Tonga!

Fishin' ...hope we got good bait..

Our care taking position ends in May when the owners return.  We then return to our home in Kenwood, California.  It’s been a long journey, almost two years away from home! It’s been a “vacation” of a lifetime and one we are so grateful to have experienced!

 But, I’m also looking forward to home ground, again, too.  More later...