How many Tongans...

Tuesday and our last full day on Vava'u and we've had a great time and can't believe time is up already. Karen had a cleaning job so we decided to get a car and go for a drive around the island. 

We started out at Bella Vista for breakfast, the same restaurant we went to on our first night in Tonga. It's an open restaurant that has a perfect view of the harbour where you can see boats as the enter. 

With full bellies, we headed out looking for the brown information signs dotted around the island. What we didn't know is that are not terribly reliable. We drove down some roads that we had been on the previous week then we finally found a new area that we hadn't seen.  

As we headed down one road we came across some kind of military exercise. There would have been at least 100 soldiers walking along the road in full military gear complete with guns and camouflage makeup.  It was a bizarre sight to see and I wasn't sure if I should be taking photos as I had no idea why they were. After a few nods and smiles from the soldiers I decided it would be OK and got one last few. Not a good photo mind you, but I'm going to pretend I was trying to protect their identity.

All was going well until we turned off for the a lookout that had a big sign saying it was 3.4 km. Well...it all started out fine and the road got narrower and narrower. We passed a few workers in the taro plantations so at least there people around. 

Probably about 2km along the track it got worse. Obviously the rain last week caused a bit of a bog but it looked to have dried up. Terry decided that it looked solid so decided to go through. Despite the small scrape on the bottom of the car we got through it fine. After that the road got even narrower and the grass up the middle was getting longer. Eventually we thought the track was going nowhere so we decided to back up to a spot where we could turn around. I have a funny feeling had we got out and walked a few hundred metres we may have reached the lookout. The area along the road had thick undergrowth and was probably full mozzies and after Terry's recent fight with mozzies at the botanical gardens we felt very unprepared for this environment.

Having turned around safely, we headed back and got through the bog much easier and got back on the main road. A bit further along I spotted a great view and asked Terry to stop. 
We stopped for a few minutes and then headed on foot up a track but there was nothing but more taro plantations. These Tongans do like their taro...it's everywhere!

We got back to the car and started heading back toward town. I looked at Terry and he had a funny look on his face and told me the car was losing power and all the warning lights were on. Then it died! He tried to restart and it sounded like the battery was flat. We were pushing it over to the side of the road when a man pulled up in an old beat up car and offered assistance. He pushed us and we were able to coast for a while and then came to a stop again. 

By this time a second ute turned up with two old guys and about five young ones all sitting in the back. 

They all piled out and offered and pushed the car off the road and then proceeded to look at the engine to help us out.  Have you ever wondered how many Tongans it take to assess your car...well here's your answer.


When I looked at the state of their utes, I wasn't sure it was a good idea but we didn't really have an option. After a bit of deliberation they decided the need another battery to start the car but they needed to go and get another car with a good battery. Obviously the two they arrived in were no good. One of the young guys and the original old guy headed off and in no time they came back with another car. They whipped the battery out of their car, started our car, swapped our battery back in and we were back on our way.

With that all fixed we were extremely grateful to these people and couldn't thank them enough. Now six Tongans under the hood seemed to be the most bizarre thing that happened on our trip, so far until one of the old guys who was keen for a chat told us his name was Abraham Lincoln. So there you go, we we saved by Abraham Lincoln and his mates...who would of thought that would happen in Tonga?  We gave them some money for their troubles and don't really think they expected it but I hope it was enough. Although the Tongans may not be the most motivated people they certainly make up for it with their friendliness and generosity.

They told us to follow the road and it would get us back to town unfortunately there was one turn that wasn't obvious and took us into an other village. We soon turned around and got back on track and when as we hit the causeway we knew we were fine. 

It seems we can't have an overseas holiday without some kind of drama!

We have had ten days of fun, relaxation and adventure. Vava'u Tonga is a beautiful place to visit despite it's rustic appearance. It's laid back people and lack of things we take for granted make you appreciate what you have but at the same time make you wonder if we need it all to make us happy. Tongans certainly don't seem to need it all. I admit that I'm not at a point I could give it all up and live like they do though.

I was great to spend the time with Karen and Andrew and share a little slice of their Tongan life.