The Quirke Tribe

Monday, April 23, 2012

King George Tupou V Funeral Preparations

During the week of preparations for the funeral, action in the royal tombs was frantic with the construction of the new tomb for King George Tupou V. As the royal tombs are a sacred place to the Tongan's they have a number of special rules they follow during the construction, such as only Tongan's are employed to do the work and they must be dressed in the mourning dress. Possibly not the most comfortable uniform to do construction work in either I imagine. Also there are official caretakers for each of the past three Kings and Queen Salote who are also there the entire time, including the offical three months mourning period after the funeral, yes night and day, rain or shine. We see so much tradition in every step of the way and throughout this entire process and I'm sure there is pleanty more that we have no idea about but we can also see how the Tongan's have adapted to the times and impacts of the future. We are very lucky to and thanks to our Tongan friends as they have explained so much more of the traditions both past and present.

Construction begins on King George Tupou V tomb.

It is quiet a large tomb when you see it from both sides.

At the same time construction of the shelters for the burial service also began.

Completion of the main walls.

Some times modern technology helps.

Traditionally the caretakers seen here would fill this section by hand, and at the beginning of time 10 caretakers would also follow the King into the grave (yes, alive) to keep him company while he passed over to the next life.

The Royal Tombs all ready for the Burial of the King.

The return of The Kings body to Tonga

A few days after the passing of the King everything was in motion. The Chinese government had organised a plane to return the Kings' body and the associated dignitaries. From day one the Tongan Defence Services began guard training for all of the ceremonies. Local villages cleaned the entire island. Who was organising it we will probably never know but it all happened like clock work. First off was the return of the Kings body, all of Tonga lined the streets from the airport to the Royal palace where the body would lay in state for 1 day. Every school in Tonga was given a section of street to line in single rows. The teachers gave the kids lessons in how the kids have to sit and they are not allowed to look at the vehicle and body when it passes, eyes must be looking downward out of respect. The school told the kids to be at their position in town at 0900 yet the body didn't even arrive in country until 1.30pm but the real kicker was that no one was allowed to wear hats, sunglasses or have umberella's and it was a stinker of a day. The kids started scavenging scraps of cardboard to protect their butts while they sat on the hot bitumen all day. The kids showed amazing discipline as there is no way you'd ever see the control these kids showed back in Australia.

All the girls had to wear kiekie's, Dyl got out of it easily with his black arm band.

Some of the Ocean of Light teachers.

A lot of the schools marched in from their schools to line the streets this is Tupou High students.

Ocean of Light outside the post office, Emily is second from left.

Looking back up the main street.

Some of the local community in the shade of the Raintree.

The teachers giving the kids the run down on proceedings.

This is the traditional mourning outfit worn by most Tongans.

They sat all day and still they smiled.

We got cheeky during the middle of the day and gave Em some shade and as she is a Palangi she didn't get into trouble.

The Bishop girls and Jenny coming to join us. (Anyone would think the parade was for them as they strolled down the middle of the road)

John McKee even joined the kids on the side of the road. He reckons this is the only time we'll ever see him in All Black colours too.

The police indicated the cavalcade was on it's way.

As soon as the vehicle was in sight all eyes were down (bar mine taking photos)

This is the Kings vehicle and escort. Some families even lined the street with Tapa mats for them to drive over. King George was followed by the new King Tupou VI, then members of the Royal family, parliment and High Commissioners and representatives of other nations followed in cars behind.

All day waiting and all over in minutes, finally it was time to head home.

Jodie sat back in the shade during the day and luckily Lyndon thought a camping chair for her was a good idea.

Lyndon and the Defence Attache (DA) CMDR Peter Steel even made the event with the families.

Tonga Turns Purple for the Passing of King George Tupou V

On the 18 Mar 2012 Tonga woke to the news of the passing of King George Tupou V in Hong Kong. A very sad day for the Kingdom of Tonga. The kids had asked previously what would happen if the King passed away as they are so used to seeing all the tradition and effort put into a normal person's funeral. It definitely impacts the entire Tongan comunity. The mourning colours to decorate the outside of your building or home are black and purple with everyone wearing black for the mourning period of 3 months. The kids and Lyndon wear black arm bands for the period. Below we have attached some photos from around town to give you just a small idea of what it is like. Initially all of the buisiness's around town shut down but opened within 10 days. Needless to say that there was a run on purple and black material at the stores which ran out pretty quickly, and all of the black clothes at the marketi doubled in price, grieving does not trump commercial gain.

Friends Cafe.

Parliment house.

New Zealand High Commission.

The Dateline Hotel.

One of the Princess' houses.

The prision market stall.

The University of the South Pacific entrance gates.

The Queen mothers residence.

The entrance gates to the royal Villa residence.

Even our local road side food marketi.

The royal tombs.

Dataline building in the center of town.

Treasury.

Westpac main branch.

An example of how much effort households went to. (We think this is actually the Prime Ministers house, but can't be sure)

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Louise's Hens Night

During Ryan and Amanda's holiday one of Jodies friends had a hens party so off she went with the girls, and Ryan and Amanda went off to dinner for some "alone time" on the same night. Lyndon and Kerrie were at home with the kids. Jodie and crew had a lovely dinner at Cottage Breeze then it was off to Reload for cocktails (Ladies night $5 cocktails) and a little dance. Meanwhile, Ryan and Amanda had finished their dinner early and so Lyndon didn't have to do two trips in the car he told them to walk "just down the road" to meet Jodie at the nightclub. Well, "just down the road" turned into a 30 min walk for Ryan and Amanda and they were very thirsty campers by the time they gate crashed the hens party. The bride to be did not mind at all and they were soon dancing away with everyone. Congrats to Louise and Scott who got married last weekend after 15 years and 3 children together - see you when you get back to Tonga.

The night started out quiet enough

Then out comes the decorations....

....and the gifts!

Off we go to Reload.

Of all the joints, in all the world, look who happens into our little club

Dancing time

Drinking time

Oh - how cute!!

Cultural Dinner and Show at Liku'alofa

While we were staying at Holty's it was a perfrect opportunity to go down the road to the near by Liku'alofa Resort for their traditional feast and cultural show. The place has just been done up so it was our first time also. Everyone was impressed with the huge buffet on offer (except fuss pots Emily and Dylan of course who only ate dessert) and the show was a combination of traditional dances from around the region. At the end of the show they always get some of the crowd up, and there was no asking Ryan twice, up he went with Gale and they were soon joined by Amanda, Kerrie and Ebony. A great night was had by all.