January 15
life in vava'u
This is our fourth night in Vava'u and we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. It certainly is a bit different from our life back home, and sure enough we are missing home a little bit. It gets a bit lonely when you're travelling, even though you're surrounded by lots of people.
The last few days have been pretty relaxing. I'll try and cover most of what we have done during that time.
The day we arrived Nee was pretty buggered as the plane ride from Tongatapu was too bumpy for her to sleep. Ellianah and I slept most of the way, so we were kickin' easy. We checked into our accommodation for the first night, a cute little Tongan fale. Nee fell asleep almost straight away and I wanted to explore around a bit, so I took Elli for a walk. In the middle of the day, it was exhausting just walking around. It rains often for short periods so it's very humid. Think of the week each year in Brisbane when it's unbearably hot, and that's about what it feels like here. It's no use having a shower in the morning because within half an hour your clothes are dripping with sweat. Anyway, the our first night was very cheap (AUD$27 for all 3 of us). In the fale was a toilet that didn't flush, a shower that didn't work, and two basins with no water. It turns out that they were having troubles with the water, and said they would move us to another room for the next night. We checked out the next day because not having a shower was getting too stinky for all of us.
My walk into town with Elli was nice. After finding the internet cafe where I posted my last blog entry, I walked around the market and bought some lunch to take back home to Nee. I found a bunch of about 10 fresh lady finger bananas for AUD$1.20 (woot!) and picked up some bread and water from the supermarket, so we had banana sandwiches for lunch and breakfast the next morning.
On the way home from the market I was buggered, having walked about 1.5km pushing Ellianah in her pram in the stinking hot sun, so we took a cab back to our fale. There are tonnes of cab drivers in Vava'u so finding one is not a problem, however cabs are a little different than back in Brisbane. I think back home you can't have a cab that's more than 5 or 10 years old. Here it's a different story altogether, where you have to own a car that's at least 15 or 20 yrs old!! There aren't any cab companies like back home, so you just have to distinguish by the number plate, which would start with a 'T'. Some taxis have other markings, but not too often.
Never in my life have a seen so many econovans. Most people who own a car in Tonga have bought a van to fit their whole family. If they don't have a van, then they have a ute and everyone sits in the back. No one wears seatbelts - most of the cars/vans I have been in don't have seatbelts, or if they do have them, they don't work. It's not too much of an issue though, because most people drive pretty slow. The fastest I have seen someone drive is about 50km, and that is on an open road where there are no other cars. I think I could count on one hand the number of newish cars (2000 or newer) I have seen, so maybe the cars don't have enough grunt to go faster.
Although I haven't seen any police cars here in Vava'u, I wanted to mention the condition of the police cars back in Nuku'alofa. They are in a worse state than most other people's cars. I doubt you could call it a high-speed chase if they were coming after you. It would be faster for them to get out and run!
Back to the cabs... as you can imagine there are no meters like back home, so most people give the cabbie whatever they think is appropriate. It feels weird just giving someone a certain amount and not knowing if it is too much or not enough. Tongans are usually too shy to say something if you give them too little, and certainly wouldn't admit if you overpay. Our Lonely Planet guide book (indispensable) gives estimates for cab fares for most areas, so that is helpful. Most of the time I just ask how much the trip would be in advance, and they usually tell you the highest price someone would pay (obviously). I don't really mind as it's still pretty cheap. It only costs about AUD$10 for a trip across the island of Vava'u, which is about a 20 minute car ride.
I have been told I have to go to bed now. We have a big day of sailing tomorrow, but hopefully will be able to write more as we have free internet at the place we are staying at now! YAY! See yas soon!
The last few days have been pretty relaxing. I'll try and cover most of what we have done during that time.
The day we arrived Nee was pretty buggered as the plane ride from Tongatapu was too bumpy for her to sleep. Ellianah and I slept most of the way, so we were kickin' easy. We checked into our accommodation for the first night, a cute little Tongan fale. Nee fell asleep almost straight away and I wanted to explore around a bit, so I took Elli for a walk. In the middle of the day, it was exhausting just walking around. It rains often for short periods so it's very humid. Think of the week each year in Brisbane when it's unbearably hot, and that's about what it feels like here. It's no use having a shower in the morning because within half an hour your clothes are dripping with sweat. Anyway, the our first night was very cheap (AUD$27 for all 3 of us). In the fale was a toilet that didn't flush, a shower that didn't work, and two basins with no water. It turns out that they were having troubles with the water, and said they would move us to another room for the next night. We checked out the next day because not having a shower was getting too stinky for all of us.
My walk into town with Elli was nice. After finding the internet cafe where I posted my last blog entry, I walked around the market and bought some lunch to take back home to Nee. I found a bunch of about 10 fresh lady finger bananas for AUD$1.20 (woot!) and picked up some bread and water from the supermarket, so we had banana sandwiches for lunch and breakfast the next morning.
On the way home from the market I was buggered, having walked about 1.5km pushing Ellianah in her pram in the stinking hot sun, so we took a cab back to our fale. There are tonnes of cab drivers in Vava'u so finding one is not a problem, however cabs are a little different than back in Brisbane. I think back home you can't have a cab that's more than 5 or 10 years old. Here it's a different story altogether, where you have to own a car that's at least 15 or 20 yrs old!! There aren't any cab companies like back home, so you just have to distinguish by the number plate, which would start with a 'T'. Some taxis have other markings, but not too often.
Never in my life have a seen so many econovans. Most people who own a car in Tonga have bought a van to fit their whole family. If they don't have a van, then they have a ute and everyone sits in the back. No one wears seatbelts - most of the cars/vans I have been in don't have seatbelts, or if they do have them, they don't work. It's not too much of an issue though, because most people drive pretty slow. The fastest I have seen someone drive is about 50km, and that is on an open road where there are no other cars. I think I could count on one hand the number of newish cars (2000 or newer) I have seen, so maybe the cars don't have enough grunt to go faster.
Although I haven't seen any police cars here in Vava'u, I wanted to mention the condition of the police cars back in Nuku'alofa. They are in a worse state than most other people's cars. I doubt you could call it a high-speed chase if they were coming after you. It would be faster for them to get out and run!
Back to the cabs... as you can imagine there are no meters like back home, so most people give the cabbie whatever they think is appropriate. It feels weird just giving someone a certain amount and not knowing if it is too much or not enough. Tongans are usually too shy to say something if you give them too little, and certainly wouldn't admit if you overpay. Our Lonely Planet guide book (indispensable) gives estimates for cab fares for most areas, so that is helpful. Most of the time I just ask how much the trip would be in advance, and they usually tell you the highest price someone would pay (obviously). I don't really mind as it's still pretty cheap. It only costs about AUD$10 for a trip across the island of Vava'u, which is about a 20 minute car ride.
I have been told I have to go to bed now. We have a big day of sailing tomorrow, but hopefully will be able to write more as we have free internet at the place we are staying at now! YAY! See yas soon!
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