And the fun continues.....

Monday night (22Feb) saw us on board the visiting French Frigate "Vendemiaire" and they didn't skimp on the beverages. Jodie asked for a glass of orange juice but instead got a glass full of vodka and a splash of orange, similarly the soda water was actually gin and tonic. Requests for certain drinks were getting lost in translation, so we decided to take full advantage of the generous french hospitality and just drink what ever it was they gave us. Although, the french bubbly didn't come out till dessert which was such a pity.The nights entertainment included a Tongan Tae Kwon Do exhibition and a cultural dance display by the Princess's own dancer.

Ceremonial guard on duty ready for inspection by visiting dignitaries (no, not us though), the Royal Princess and the Tongan Prime Minister along with a few High Commissioners from different Embassay's in Tonga

Us before boarding, our friend Tiny in the foreground in the floral shirt

Note who's wearing the pants out in public nowa-days!!!!

Saturday was spent mainly around the compound as Dyl had his mate Ualala over for a play day! But that night we picked up our favourite pizza and took the compound boat "Satisfaction" out into the harbour for a spot of fishing and to watch the sun go down over the Island. A tad windy, however as usual, Dylan caught the first fish, Emily drew pictures, Jodie admired the view and Lyndon supervised us all. He ended up with the biggest hit of the night although we will never know what it was as it broke the line off around the anchor chain. (we think it must have been a shark) the boys at work were upset as it would have feed the village!! Dyl ate his for dinner Sunday night.

Q's uninteresting Sunset cruise!!

To top off our week we had a phone call at 12.30am (Sun Morn) Tonga time from the Defence Attache in NZ advising us of the Chile earthquake and subsequent tsunami that was most likely heading our way at 7.30am that morning. For the first time the Royal Palace grounds were open to the public to seek refuge (it is on the only hill in Tonga), other than that the people were advised to head to the airport as it is inland. Fortunately, we were spared and nothing came of it and as far as we know no wave action was reported. Our friend Lincoln saw one very well prepared local out at the airport- he was walking around with a life jacket. On the other side of the island on the foreshore Lyndon and Joe (Army Major) had to wake up a guy who was asleep in the water on the boat ramp with only his head sticking out at 0545 while we took our boat out! Don't panic though, our house is a strong two storey building and well placed inland, so we did not have many concerns, but we did bring up the kids life jackets though, just incase.

We know things tend to happen in threes but we are crossing everything to ensure that nothing else in the natural disaster department heads our way. Keep the blog feedback coming and let us know what you are interested in finding out about Tonga so we can include it. Over the next couple of weeks we will include pictures of our house compared to "typical" Tongan homes, some of the many churches here and the classic "only in Tonga" pictures. The type of pictures that really do tell a thousand words.