Vava'u

Greetings from Vava’u! We have now officially met all of Dad‘s siblings. When we arrived at the wharf in Neiafu we were greeted by our Aunt Vasa and her husband Sateki. She looks a lot like Siosi and Grandma Osi mixed together.
The boat ride was actually pretty enjoyable. The deck was closed in and air conditioned with air plane like seats and a big flat screen TV. Granted, they blasted a Michael Jackson concert for the first 2 and half hours, but other than that it was okay. It was a bigger ship too, so it wasn’t as rough as our boat ride to ’Eua. None of us got sick, but hours later in the motel we all still felt like we were rocking back and forth on the ship. We left Nuku’alofa at 8pm Monday night and arrived in Neiafu at 3pm Tuesday. We made one stop at the Ha’apai group of islands around 7 in the morning.
Our first stop was at the Twin View Motel in Neiafu. Vava’u is so different from Tongatapu. It’s really beautiful and a bit more like home, full of hills and cliffs. There’s a lot of smaller, rockier islands with caves. The Twin View sits right on top of a hill. From it we had a great view of the ocean and many small islands surrounding us. Driving up to the motel was a much different experience from driving in Tongatapu. It was practically all up hill with little restaurants and houses sitting on the side of the hills. It’s really very beautiful. After a few hours at the Twin View we realized it had a bee infestation! So, we moved to The Balcony, which is a really great hotel right in the middle of town here. They have a bar and restaurant connected to our little porch. We had a great first day here looking at shops and walking all over town.
Tomorrow we are moving to another (cheaper) hotel that I can’t remember the name of. It’s really very nice though and located right on the water. Hopefully we will stay there until we leave.
Everyone is very happy here in Vava’u, although we miss our dear family in Tongatapu. Wish they could be here to share this with us.
Exactly two weeks today until we arrive back in the states.
Lots of love to everyone at home.

-Maria

Dad's Birthday

So, we had our second Tongan birthday… but this time we were actually in Tonga. It was absolutely amazing. Sarah, Petesa and I got ready, and the family picked us up around 4:30. We went back to the home place while all the cooking was going on. I’ve never seen so much food before! We had two roasted pigs, grilled chicken, fried chicken and fish, octopus, cabbage salad, crab salad, stir fry, and, of course, cake! We stopped at the bakery and bought Dad two white cakes on our way to the feast.
The family set up a tent for us to eat under. The inside was lined with tapa, and it was beautiful. When we all sat down to eat, the speeches began. Dad’s uncle Seti said the prayer, and Langima’a made the first speech. Then almost everyone around the table took their turn making speeches for Dad’s birthday, including Dad, Sarah, and Petesa. It was a really emotional thing for all of us, and by the end of dinner everyone was crying together. Taufa’s son Sione played a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday on his brass horn, and one of the girls sang Happy Birthday. After we all had cake (which was delicious!) I sang one verse of Amazing Grace.
It was truly an unforgettable night, and we all agreed it was one of the best nights we’ve had on this trip. This family of ours is so incredibly loving, and they make us happy just by being near them. They all want us to come back next year for Dad’s 60th!
The three of us crashed after the party, but we were up early on Saturday to watch the Heilala Parade. It is part of the Heilala Festival celebrating Tongan heritage. We got to see some great bands and floats, one of which had Miss Heilala on it. Later we went to visit with the family. We played cards and sang a little Country Roads! It was fun, and I was pretty impressed the girls knew our little West Virginia song. I’m pretty sure all Tongans have fantastic voices and a great knack for picking out harmonies.
Vava’u awaits us next week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed the boat ride is smooth.
Hope all is well in America and anywhere else you may be reading this. Until next time…

-Maria

'Eua

So our trip to ‘Eua was absolutely wonderful. ‘Eua is so clean and a lot less populated compared to Tongatapu. We took the ferry on Tuesday afternoon, and I’ll admit I got a little sea sick. It was a very rough trip, but it was only about 2 and half hours long. We were picked up at the wharf and taken to the Deep Resort where we stayed for 3 nights. The Deep Resort is absolutely wonderful! Eva is the owner, and she’s the sweetest woman you will ever meet. She has 3 bungalows on beautiful beach front property. The bungalows are cute and very clean with plenty of room for all 4 of us. I can’t wait to post the pictures of this place. It was like paradise. It was like our own private beach in front of our little house. None of us wanted to leave! Eva and her family cooked us breakfast and dinner every day, and it was delicious. They are really great cooks. We even had a barbeque Wednesday night for Eva’s birthday. American hot dogs, grilled chicken, potato salad, the works! Oh yes, and chocolate cake to finish the meal off.
Anyways, ‘Eua is very different from Tongatapu. Most of it is jungle. There are hills and cliffs, so the scenery is great. Loni, Eva’s brother, took us on a great tour of the entire island of Thursday. We went from one edge to the other. This morning we took a ship back to Tongatapu at 5:30am. It was a much smoother trip, and Tesa and Dad got to watch the sun rise from the deck of the ship. Oh yea, and today is Dad’s birthday! We had a big breakfast at the hotel and gave him his present, a New Zealand rugby shirt. Now we are waiting for the birthday feast to begin tonight! Sarah, Tesa, and I are going to stop and get two cakes at the bakery on our walk home from the internet café.

Hope everyone is doing well. We miss you all.
-Maria
P.S. Dad is 59 today… not 35 as he would have you believe!

One week down

Hello from Tongatapu! This is my first Tongan post. We have been here for one week now, and we're really getting used to the island life. We've met all of our family that lives on this island, and they are just wonderful people. We are now staying in the International Dateline Hotel after one night in the Friendly Islander Hotel. It's very clean and right in the middle of things.
So we spent this past week traveling to every beach we could find on this island. We've literally gone from one tip of the island to the other, swimming where we could and taking lots of pictures. Unfortunately I can't update the pictures for some reason, but as soon as I can you will see them.
We went snorkeling the other day at our favorite beach, Masiata Beach. The day before that we went looking for the caves on the eastern part of the island. We actually swam in an underground pool in the cave in Anahulu. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. Then we went to 'Oholei to see another cave and walk on the beach. Sarah, Mom, and Dad actually visited 'Oholei when they came here 24 years ago, so we got some pictures of Sarah going in to the cave 24 years later.
On one of our trips we went to see the Ha'amonga Trilathon at Niutoua. It looks like Stonehenge, and it was built in 1200 AD. We also saw an 8 foot tall rock that an old blind Tonga king built to protect himself. He would lean on it and swing his stick so no one could approach him. While we were there we bought Dad a birthday present: a carved fish hook necklace that symbolizes save travels and protection of your family. You will see that in many of the pictures from the rest of this trip.
Tomorrow we are taking a ship to 'Eua, the oldest island in Tonga. Dad hasn't stepped foot on 'Eua for almost 30 years. It should be beautiful. Much of the island is uninhabited, so there is a lot of jungle. There are supposed to be wild horses and cockatoos, but Dad's not so sure about that. I guess we'll see tomorrow!
The week after we get back from 'Eua we are traveling to Vava'u where Dad was born and has land still. He can't wait to get there. Everyone says it's the most beautiful island.
We are doing really well here. It's quite an adjustment with different food, different clothes, and an overall different atmosphere. But Sarah, Tesa, and I are all taking care of each other, and Dad is taking care of us. It's really a great thing for us to spend so much time with Dad. We may never get to spend this time with him again, so it's nice to get to know this world he came from with him.
We miss everyone we left in America, and our family we left in New Zealand. It's so crazy how big our family is and how spread out they are. We all feel so lucky to have such great relatives and friends all around the world. We are sending love to everyone out there who isn't with us. Until we meet again!
Love,
Maria

TONGA

Well we made it! It's about 5 in the morning here, but it's our second morning in Tonga already. The first night we stayed in a house next to the family. We arrived with our Auntie Langima'a around 1:30am yesterday. We went straight from the airport to the family. As soon as we got out of the plane, we could notice the change in weather. It's quite a comfort compared to the cold winter of new zealand. Once we made it to the family, we finally met Grandma Osi. She was so happy to see us that she started to cry. It was sad and happy at the same time. I know I'll never forget meeting her. The next day we ate a lot of food, a lot of food. Dad made his customary bok choy salad for everyone, and then Aunt Siosi, Aunt Taufa, and Aunt Halamehi made a bunch of food too. Once we were done eating, we found a nice little hotel next to the lagoon. Before we fell asleep, I discovered a small reptilian friend. A gecko. I tried to catch him and put him outside, but he was a lot faster than any American gecko I've seen. So naturally, he stayed the night with us. This morning we are going to church and possibly finding another hotel. For church, we must all wear the local attire. This includes skirts and the mat-type cloth made from leaves. Both men and women wear the wrap around skirts. Later on today, we're going to check out some of the local beaches. The water here is crystal blue and very warm. It's a lot different than the green-water beaches back home...not to mention less oily. Well I best be off. We'll update some pics later for everyone if you care to check it out.
Petesa

Okay, so I forgot a few things

Oops! I forgot to mention what we got to do in the few days leading up to our Gisborne trip. The most important thing being we got to tour one of the sets of Lord of the Rings in Hobbiton in Matamata! That was pretty amazing, and of course Petesa absolutely loved it. We took Langima'a and Sekope with us because they had never been.
After the tour they took us to Auckland to see what the city is really like. We got to see the coastline for the first time right at sunset. It was really beautiful and peaceful with the city in the background. Then our aunt and uncle drove us through the city so we could see the sights and the main streets. It was a really fun tour and so nice of them to do that for us.
On the way back to Hamilton we stopped at the youth church camp most of our cousins were at. We got to see them perform! They did motions and actions for a mixture of songs. Apparently the minister and person that runs the camp really appreciated what our cousin's youth group put together for the camp. We got some pictures of them performing to show the family in Tonga.
It was a really nice day with Langima'a and Sekope, so I thought I should share it with everyone. I will post pictures of Auckland.
Goodnight!

-Maria

Back from Gisborne

SO, three rainy days later we are back from our trip to Gisborne to meet Olivia. Yes, it rained for every minute we visited the city on the east coast, but it was still an amazing trip.
We took a bus from Hamilton, so it took about 6 hours to get there. But the bus ride was really fantastic. We got to see some of the most amazing New Zealand sights. The mountains and hills plus the coast were absolutely beautiful. For the last hour and a half we had to go through the Waioeka Gorge, and it was a little scary because the road was so twisty. But to look up from the bottom of that gorge at the mountains on all sides of you was a pretty amazing thing.
Jacqui took us all around city, so we got to see the best parts of Gisborne. The coast line was just amazing. We went to Makarori and Wainui beaches. Jacqui also made us all the New Zealand staples when it comes to food and drink. We had Pavlova, a delicious dessert named after Ana Pavlova the ballerina, custard squares, the best fish and chips in the world, Maori bread, Ginger nuts which are cookies with African tea, chips and onion dip, and Gisborne-made wine and champagne. She was quite a host!
And of course, we got to meet Olivia! She is so very sweet and beautiful! She just fit right in with the three of us. It was really a great experience to tour her town with her and her mom. We got to see all her baby pictures and pictures of her growing up. She got to talk to Dad on our last night there. I know she really wants to meet him, and we are all sad he didn't make it this way with us. But she said her and her mom are coming to America in 2012, so that will be great! We all want to get to know her better and be a part of her life.
So, overall we had a really really nice time in Gisborne. We are back in Hamilton now preparing to go to Tonga in 2 days. YES, that's two days until warmth and beaches and Dad! I will post pictures of Gisborne and Olivia as soon as I have a free moment.
Lots of love to everyone!

-Maria

Maria's Birthday Party!

So, I dont think we really understood what it meant to celebrate a Tongan birthday, until last night! When we first arrived, we all changed into traditional Tongan outfits and it was completed with beautiful necklaces made of chocolate candy! The living room was transformed into a beautiful Tongan room with a birthday chair in the middle for Maria:) They did a small service in Tongan except for Petesa who read from Proverbs, and then the feast began..the pictures don't do justice for the amount of food that they cooked!The kids were so sweet and kept us entertained with dancing and laughing all evening. Our family went above and beyond to put this together and we all appreciated it so much!! It was a happy and filling night and we can't wait to celebrate another Tongan birthday with dad!
-Sarah

In my last post I forgot to mention the singing that we got to witness at our family's church. I am telling you it puts our trained choirs to shame! We went to the Wednesday night service, and there weren't very many people there. So, we sat down and Nani just bursts into song right next to me. Everyone else in the church joined her in these beautiful harmonies. Mom was not kidding when she said they will blow the roof off the church with their singing. It's so powerful and beautiful, and they just let go and sing as loud as they want. It brought Sarah and me to tears.
Then last night I got the best treat! Right at midnight when I turned 23 my cousins that were here sang me Happy Birthday and then one of their church songs. It was so beautiful I started crying. We have it all on video tape. Then Nani did a few Tongan dances for us.
Right now we are waiting for Sina to pick us up and take us to the pig roast. Should be fun! = ) Hugs and kisses
-Maria

Almost my birthday!

So it's about 45 minutes until I turn 23 years old here in New Zealand. This is the first time it's been cold outside on my birthday, and I miss the warm weather! Obviously I am a summer baby, and I can't wait to feel that island heat in Tonga!
But for now we are having so much fun with our family here. Right now our cousins are here at our motel hanging out. We are just playing music and laughing = )I'm feeling under the weather which sucks! I always get sick at the worst times, but I'm determined to get better before I wake up tomorrow morning.
We went to Langima'a's tonight, and Heikoti and Maui's husband Tefano were getting the pigs ready for the pig roast tomorrow. I'm excited! We will take a lot of videos and pictures of the birthday party. Hopefully it will be sunny because it's freezing outside without the sun.
Yesterday they took us to the Rose Garden here in Hamilton. The pictures I just posted are from there. It's a huge, beautiful place with gardens made to look like gardens from all over the world. Sadly, the American Modernist garden was by far the most boring! The Italian Renaissance garden and the Indian garden were my favorites. We all miss those of you still in America. Keep us in your thoughts! Love to everyone
-Maria