The Quirke Tribe: Back to Skool

The start of a big week for all the family and the kids had an interesting time for their first day at "Ocean of Light" with 30 minutes of singing hymns every morning both in English and Tongan! Em has Mr Nick (Young Ozzy bloke) who doesn't wear shoes! Dyl on the other hand has Mrs Lavie (Tongan) who will be having one month off soon for the birth of her child. They are both making friends and driving us up the wall with their reluctance to do home work so everything is back to usual!

To the left Primary school to the right we have High School, playground in the middle!

Dylan and the crew in the playground! Shoes are optional!

Wednesday saw us invited to a cocktail party on a visiting US Coast Gaurd - Bouy Tender, USCG WALNUT. The food was devine, the beer was cold and not local so all parties invited had a great time. Their port call was to assist in combined fisheries patrols in Tongan waters, to lend a hand with local charities whilst in port and assist with professional training within the Tongan defence force. Not to mention hit the local club and pub!! We also scored a tour through the vessel, very impressive and very modern! The girls were getting a little sea sick due to strong winds and rocking of the boat (yes even alongside) so we had to drop into the fishing club for a night cap "steady"on the way home! We forgot our camera so we've posted a friends shot of the boat!

USCG WALNUT (Bouy Tender) They were designed as Ice breaker's but sadly the CO can't find any ice in the pacific!

Friday was another big one!! For all you Kiwi's you would be glad to hear we got tickets to Waitangi Day celebrations at the NZ High Commissioners house! The views from the Commissioners verandha are to die for - straight out into the bay. The Tongan defence force band played all arvo too. Once that was done it was off to pick up the kids and head off to the monthly expat community gathering at the Ozzy High Commission. By the end of this session Lyndon had been signed up for a 40 odd km ride out to the airport and back leaving at 6am the next morning and we'd also been invited as a family to the local Du-atholon (run/ocean swim/run).

Our new friends Bec and Tiny at the NZ High Commission on Waitangi Day

Saturday was a quiet one recovering from Friday night and the early morning ride for Lyndon, no hills they said and my arse............. I still can't feel it either! The Du-atholon was called off due to bad weather but that didn't stop everyone going for a swim with the locals at the end of the rock wall! On Sunday we did a Tiki Tour of the eastern end of the Is, we travelled just over 90km and it took nearly 4 hrs but it could have something to do with the maximum 40 km/hr speed limit. Not that many people drive that fast - why rush, you may miss something like pigs, dogs, a cow, smiling locals or one of the million coconut trees!!! We found some pretty beaches which we are really looking forward to revisiting on a less windier and not so rough day!