On the radio net at 8:30 we hear the first airplanes carrying the South Pacific Forum
visitors have been spotted landing. This means the motorcade will pass through town in
about an hour. We rush with breakfast and dress better than usual to join in the
festivities in town. When we arrive on the dock the fresh paint, flowers, flags and
balloons have transformed the town. Tents by the dock have been set up to shade tables
full of fruits and other foods for the Forum attendees to snack on.
We walk up to the main road which is lined with locals. Many of the children are waving
small Tongan flags. People are hanging over balconies and out of second story windows
above the street. The sidewalks and storefronts are standing room only. We stand in the
hot sun for nearly an hour waiting for the motorcade. We meet a nice Kiwi woman who offers
us insect repellant; it turns out she is from the New Zealand town where Bella Donna is to
be hauled out. An Australian TV channel is filming in the street. We overhear the
newswoman's comments, "As you can see the many happy people in the streets are in sharp
contrast to the disagreements among South Pacific leaders attending the Forum". The Tongan
soldiers are stationed here and there up and down the street armed with real weapons and
large colorful water guns. I never understood what the water guns were for; I assume they
are to have fun while waiting.
Just before the heat becomes unbearable the motorcade passes through. Lead by the King of
Tonga the Forum attendees make their way to the hotel. The last vehicle is a bicycle; the
man on the bike is wearing a backpack with a colorful tree or plant sticking out of it. A
sign on his backpack in Tongan must have said something like, "That's All Folks"; anyway
the local crowd laughed. We make a beeline to The Tropicana, our favorite hangout in town;
I have a cappuccino and Afghan Biscuit. Deborah and Ant have a fruit smoothie. John worked
out and skipped breakfast to join us so he has a meat pie and a lemon mar rang pie.
After lunch we say good bye to town and head south. On the way out we answer a distress
call from friends whose dinghy has run out of fuel. Ant takes one of them back to the fuel
dock in our dinghy for a jerry can of fuel. After towing their dinghy from a lee shore to
good shallow anchorage to wait for Ant we sail a few miles south to anchor in front of a
resort that Lisa at Tropicana recommended we stop at for sundowner drinks on our way
south. The resort's beaches and dock are uncommonly unique. Up on a cliff the bar has a
beach sand patio with hot tub overlooking the dock and beach below. Lisa told us that an
American owns the restaurant. The bar is empty and the bartender explains this is a slow
month and they only have 5 guests.
We meet a guest, a Kiwi woman, who turns out to be the mother of the owner's girlfriend.
Her daughter has a business in Tonga filming DVDs of her customers swimming with whales.
She says her daughter is filming the Forum and the owner is the sound system expert for
the Forum event. Another Kiwi woman shows up who is traveling by herself because her
friend was Israeli and Tonga decided recently to require a visa from Israelis. She turns
out to be a Pediatrician and spent the day touring Tongan hospitals. I will just say that
what she said make me think I would get to New Zealand if I need a hospital.
After sunset we weigh anchor and head south back out into the Pacific Ocean.
God Bless Bella Donna.
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