Kholakat.net Dissociative Ramblings

- Monday 24th October (Tuesday 25th October in Australia)
This morning the car hire place swapped the smart car for a Rav4. He then took me to the transport department to get a temporary licence. It gave me a good chance to watch how others drive on the right hand side of the road. I then went to hire a mobile phone, grabbed some lunch at Maccas (cause it was air-conditioned), and then went to the airport to do some work. It’s like a 40 minute drive. mostly long the coastline, driving 40km/h (if you are lucky!!!). I think I am getting the hang of the driving – I mainly just copy the other drivers

- Tuesday 25th October (Wednesday in Australia…)
I spent the morning watching ’sisterhood of the travelling pants’ and thinking that I need a pair of magical pants too! Just for different reasons… It’s hard for me to find a pair of pants that fits me properly – they end up looking funny on me sometimes. Darn genes/jeans! Lol!

Anyway, it has been raining on and off today and it has been of the torrential kind. Then I went out to the airport again to do more work, and to try and stay in the air con for as much as possible. I don’t think I could ever adjust to this heavy heat. Then tonight for dinner, we went to the Apia Yacht Club. It’s a simple little eatery with cheap and good food, and usually a good view, right on the waterfront. Don’t expect any yachts though! Tonight it was raining though so we got sprayed a little until we moved table. I tried the local beer, Vailima (sp?) which wasn’t too bad but after 2 beers, I decided that driving on the right hand side of the road was not for me

- Wednesday 26th October
We went to a cafe called the Green Turtle for brekkie and then went into town. I wandered the streets till I found a doctor that didn’t have 20 people in the waiting room. (I had stopped at a chemist first but they recommended tetracycline which came in a little packet covered with Chinese writing… in Samoa….for $1.80 in the local currency – which you divide by 2 for the AUD conversion…) The part just under my eye had swelled up a little and was sore for a couple of days so I wanted to get it checked out before it mutated into an explosion of worms (urban legends) or before it required an operation like one of my friends had. I was told I would be next in line so I sat down, thinking it would be 15 minutes. But no, apparently even the doctors operate (no pun intended) on island time! They were in there for over an hour, and I eventually found out why – he was a thorough doctor. Very nice though. He prescribed me antibiotics (with a name i recognise) and I was soon on my way.

Next stop was the laundromat around the corner of the hotel. The lady there wanted to load up our washing for us but I seriously warned her about the bad smell of my clothes (lots of sweating in very tropical weather!) and emphatically told her I would do it myself. She just smiled at me like i was crazy. So i started loading a washing machine and she came to stand right next to me and watched me load it up. It was so weird! When we came back after lunch (from Maries cafe I think!) to pick up the clothes (we would dry them on our balconies), they were all folded up (wet) on the bench, which I
thought was nice. We then got some of the best ice-cream on the island at a place called ‘Scoops’. It was Baskins material. I had a cookies and cream/hokey pokey cone and i was not disappointed.

Then out to the airport for more work/testing before coming back to have dinner at a place called Sails Restaurant and bar. I met up with some other work people and just about everyone ordered the steak and lobster combo but they were ‘finished’ the lobster. Doh!

- Thursday 27th October
Since I had the morning off, I decided to drive around the north of the island a little to check out the sights. The scenery along the coast is just amazing! Blue waters on one side of the road and lush moutains on the other. Unfortunately there was a little bit of rain which made the water look dull
(but the greenery look great!). I checked out the cave pool along the way and tried to find some waterfall but didn’t find anything spectacular. When I went back to town, I went to see the Bahai temple and the Robert Louis Stevenson museum. Then it was back to the airport for another hot afternoon. Blah!

We went back to the Yacht club for dinner and ate by candlelight (1 candle for 6 of us!) and underneath the miriad of stars that we could see out here. It was strange that we couldn’t recognise the constellations from here even though we aren’t that far away from home! Oh, and my eye is better. Thank (the universal and understanding) god/goddess for antibiotics!!

- Monday 17th October 2005

We were unable to start work today since the equipment still had yet to clear customs so we decided to head out and try to find that elusive beach from yesterday. We eventually found it (we had been there yesterday and not known it!!!) and then decided that our swimming beach from yesterday was the best! Since it was lunchtime, we wanted to find somewhere to eat that was suitable for tourists so we found a ‘resort’ called the Good Samaritan Inn that served some food. When we got there, we found some people we had seen from last night – I think they were the owners of last night’s dinner restaurant – so it must have been a good place. The view was really nice (pics to come soon) and the food was pretty good too.

After that, we went to the beach from yesterday and spent the afternoon in the sun, with the gorgeous beach all to ourselves!

- Tuesday 18th October 2005

Another day of waiting around in Tonga. We went to the airport to check it out and then spent the arvo checking out town and then hanging out by the pool.

- Wednesday 19th October 2005
A rainy day today! More waiting again here. But I have taken the opportunity to work on some work doco. Blah! Tonight was Island night (or equivalent) which means local food-type buffet and a show. The food was quite nice with a mix of some seafood (ika ota – marinated raw fish, octupus and sea cucumber we think) as well as taro leaves and salads. They even had some sort of fried rice (apparently the owners of the hotel are Asian). The pick of the meal was the roast piglet they had lying on a plate. I swear I heard piglet squeals earlier this afternoon from my room. Scary! Then again, it is one of the common local foods here.

The island dancing show was interesting too, especially when comparing it to Vanuatu and Rarotongan dances. The dances were quite similar although the girls were dancing a lot slower in Tonga. They did some fire twirling, the haka (sp?) and even did some Raro island dancing (at about half speed!). During the dances, audience members would walk up to the stage area and tuck paper notes into the clothing of the troupe. We only had our room keys with us so we weren’t able to donate. The last act was a girl dancing, and she looked like her arms and back were covered in baby oil or something. During her dance, many people went up and stuck money all over her arms and back. Maybe it is a good luck thing? Doh!

- Thursday 20th October 2005
We spent the day hoping to start doing some work but still no go. Hung around the airport for a bit then went to get some dinner at a place called the Friends cafe. We had been there for brekkie and I got a chai latte served in a big bowl! I was a happy chicky. I then had lobster for dinner there. I guess we found a new favourite place!

The work thing is a little annoying but time to change my flights again and hang around Tonga for a bit. As the restaurant guy said, it grows on you

- Friday 21st October 2005
The work is still not happening for us… I had to get my flights changed to Monday night instead but I am starting to wonder if even that is hopeful! So we hang around here, living some sort of resort lifestyle with an undercurrent of stress. Everyone else back in Brissie and Apia are stressing about this all so I think it is compounding the problem. Not that there is anything I can do about this though except enjoy the relative peace and quiet! It’s almost one of those ‘be careful what you wish for’ type things cause I have wanted to be able to just sit down and document stuff for a while, uninterrupted. I guess you can’t get any more isolated that Tonga!!! Especially since the storm last night knocked out some of the local mobile phone network today

We went back to the Friend’s cafe for brekkie. I tried the salmon eggs benedict – Yum! There was a huge thunderstorm last night around 2am, which continued through the morning. By the afternoon, the sun was out again, tempting me to go to the pool. Meanwhile, the locals are jumping off the pier into the ocean, while others appear to be lathering themselves up in the rain (in town!)

Since I am staying the weekend now, we might take a tour with ‘Joes friendly island tours’ on Sunday, since there isn’t much else we can do! His business card says ‘don’t go without joe!’ on the front, while on the back it says ‘I’m powered by Weet-bix’. Apparently some of the other guys got his business card the other day when he stopped to chat to them. Anyone with a business card as funny as that has got to be good!

Also, since I have yet to see a laundromat, and also cause I bought some washing powder the other day (complete with instructions on how to hand wash), I decided to do some washing in the bath-tub. I just hope it dries by Monday since my balcony door remains locked (no-one can find the key)!

Then we went to Coco’s cafe for a late lunch. It was quite nice and I think one of the princesses dropped by after we went in. That’s the second time we have seen royalty – the first time was last night when we saw the prince and the chinese ambassador apparently (or so we were told). Something funny we have noticed is that if a food place has run out of a dish, they will say ‘it’s finished’ rather than ‘we dont have any’.

For dinner we decided to check out the Billfish restaurant and bar down the road. The food was pretty good and there was quite a mix of tourists and locals too. I left early but heard that it got a little rowdy later on in the evening when the alcohol was seeping in..

- Saturday 22nd October 2005
We went to the Friends cafe again for brekkie and then wandered around town looking at the shops. Caught some sun by the pool while waiting again for the airport to get connectivity. Blah :S

For dinner we decided to try someplace else so we went to a recommended restaurant called Lunarossi’s in town. The food and people were great! We had slipper lobster (aka Moreton Bay Bugs) and I had ordered some steak with green peppercorn sauce. I ended up with 2 steaks on my plate as well as chips and a tomato salad. The complimentary soup (french onion) was a nice touch too.

I think I will have to go on the soup diet and do lots of gym-work when I get back to Australia!!!!

- Sunday 23rd October 2005
Today was our big island tour day with Joe ‘Don’t go without Joe’, our tourguide. He took us to see the royal tombs in the middle of town before taking us to see the large fruit bats they have here (along a road we have driven a few times before but have never noticed the wildlife in the trees!). Then we saw the 3 headed coconut tree before going to the blowholes. This time we saw some great eruptions which I managed to capture on video. Yay!

Then he took us to the natural bridge, which was very cool. Unfortunately, one of our party had his second bicep disconnect from his arm while boosting someone up a ledge – it wasn’t me!!! So we took him to the hospital (and he is flying home tonight), and then continued the tour. Next stop was Captain Cook’s landing place (not so exciting), Tongan Stonehenge, Tonga’s oldest church and then the palace.

- Monday 24th October 2005
It definitely is a comedy of errors. We spent a day not knowing what was going on with work – again! So I packed my bags and we went to town to hop on the internet, have some frappes and do some last minute stuff. I bought a sarong/skirt with dolphins on it! Then we headed out to the airport, only to find out that the system was now working – just as I was about to leave! I still hopped on the plane anyway cause the other guys can test here while I work on in Apia. I was able to get myself and a colleague upgraded to business class, only to find that the flight was about an hour. Doh! It was good though. Nice and comfy.

When we landed, the customs check went through fairly quickly (yay! Another stamp for my passport) and then I had someone standing at the airport holding a big piece of paper with my name on it. *grin* I am finally one of _those_ people

Work had booked me a Rav4 to drive on the right hand side of the road. The guy did the vehicle inspection and then one of my other colleagues was going to drive me to the hotel so I could get used to it. We hopped in and tried to start the car… nothing! Soon we were surrounded by airport staff (I think) as everyone had a go looking under the bonnet. Soon a taxi was pulled in to try and jump start it. The car company gave us a ’smart’ bmw car instead. So here we were, in Samoa, with the tallest guy on the island, driving the smallest car on the island!!! We eventually got to the hotel (35 min drive, 3 huge speedbumps, nearly 2 squashed people and a giant $40million USD Mormon church later) – Aggie Grey’s. oh, and the jump started 4wd overtook us on the way in!

Anyway, the room is nice and homely.. there are rugs on the tiles, wicker chairs, a vase with birds of paradise flowers (I think), a little desk and a bar fridge. It’s quite a nice little (almost) self-contained area. I think I like it already! Although the drive in was scary. What was I thinking – to be driving to the hotel myself?!!!! Oh well, I think the phrase for this whole trip is “just go with the flow”…

- Saturday 15th october 2005 (BNE time)
Twas the dawn of another adventure trekking through more of the south pacific. I flew to Sydney in the morning while Nath went to MKY to catch up with relatives – no, we are not running away from each other! Then I had to catch a flight to Tonga. The problem was, the other person i was travelling with originally had an e-ticket but this was then changed to a paper ticket (coupon thingy), but which could not be found! In the end the airline (Polynesian Airlines) ran the tickets out to us (we are unsure if they reprinted or not) and we had limited time to do duty free shopping I like to think of it as having self-control while passing ‘bargains’ I don’t really need

We met up with the other IT people and eventually hopped on the flight. The other guys were sitting right behind business class so they were able to get the good champagne and were even able to send some down to me and a colleague in row 20. On board were some PB staff in uniform that were part of the transitional crew I guess. 4 hours later we landed in Tonga. I was prepared for long waits through customs but was shocked when i realised that most of the guests on the flight were bound onward to Samoa! That has to be the shortest island customs stop ever!!!!! I waited in line behind 2 others before shooting through and getting the hire car. We packed our stuff inside a Toyota Echo and followed a transfer bus headed for the same hotel, the International Dateline hotel.

Speed limit here is 40km/h but can vary depending on the driver… by vary, I mean anything from 20-25km/h to 60km/h. We avidly tried to follow the bus as he leap-frogged past many cars (trailer included). The funniest thing we saw was a whole convoy of cars leap-frogging each other.. some indicating, some not. We passed a sign that said ‘welcome to pea’ (something we found hilariously funny at the time) as well as one of many convenience stores still open at 10:30pm at night, called ‘Snuggles’. Photos will be forth-coming when we drive past these places again.

The hotel itself isn’t too bad. The bar was still open but not much else. We asked to be put into the new wing, which has been outfitted with nice rosewood style furniture, but everything is in chinese – from the phone, to the air con, to the tv. Oh, and no alarm clock or hotel manual. I guess at this time of night there isn’t much we could do so I asked reception how to get internet and how to dial internationally (2 very important questions). Then went to have a dinner of twisties and baileys (a very limited bar – no cocktails since the blender is broken…). Found out that the pool is closed for cleaning so we hope to get some photos of us in an empty pool

There is a 3 hour time difference so it will be interesting to see how I cope tomorrow with the early start. I’ll try to get into the swing of things as much as possible.

- Sunday 16th October 2005 (BNE time… +3 hours for Tonga time)

Today was our adventure day while we decided to take in the sights of tonga. Unfortunately (fortunately?), being a Sunday, this meant many closed shops.. actually, everything was closed except for the hotels and churches. Even petrol stations were closed. The Tongans are a very religious people and nearly everyone was at church today. We grabbed some brekkie at the hotel and then drove to the beach with the blowholes. We found it easier than we expected and spent a while there taking photos of various blowholes from various angles. The
water was a gorgeous dark blue colour, almost in constast to the light blue of the sky and the lighter blue of the rock pools a little higher up on the beach.

After that we decided to try and find this wonderful beach near the top left hand side of the island of Tongatapu. (the main city being Nuku’Alofa). We found out that the one and only map of the island is totally not to scale. Also that streets are very rarely named once you get outside of town, and that the map is most definitely NOT to scale. This meant that we were unable to navigate very well at all! We drove down every side street near the tip of the island but only found closed resorts, and not the one we were looking for. We decided to head back to the hotel to get some lunch, and then head out again to the Eastern side of the
island.

We kept a steady 40km/h pace through various towns, dodging dogs and piglets, but the highlighted animal of the day was the cow that was playing ‘chicken’ with us on some quiet back road. We rounded a corner to find a jersey cow looking down the road at us. We stopped our (red) car. We looked back at the cow, trying to decide if it found us aggressive or not. Seeing no sign of movement, we decided to risk the road and starting edging towards the cow. Of course, it did not charge us but I won’t deny that I saw visions of us, with a rental car, on some quiet little back-road in Tonga, with a cow half way up the windscreen!

We drove past some old ruins from 1200AD or something (I’ve got to read the inscription again!) and then finally found a beach to swim at. Being an island, you wouldn’t think it would be that hard to find a nice beach to swim at! We tried countless places before finding the perfect spot. We drove down the road and along the track to find a little sheltered beach behind some layers of coral. The local kids were going crazy in the beautiful water so we knew we were onto a good thing! Speaking of children, the kids in Tonga are little cuties!!!! (no, not clucky! no, not clucky!) They were also really friendly since we would wave to each other
as we drove along the road.

After our little swim, we headed back to the hotel and went out for dinner at a place called the ‘waterfront’. I compromised between eating local and non-local foods by having the marinated raw fish for entree and then Australian rib fillet for mains Let’s not mention dessert now… *grin* I might even have a new favourite cocktail – a BBC (Baileys Banana Colada)

Anyway, tomorrow shall be back to work day… or else we might try to find that beach again.

p.s. I found out that while all this time Nadine (work colleague) has been talking about the little corner store called ‘Snugglers’, it is actually just some sort of branding or promo stuff on the front of the shops! Every second little shop had Snugglers (nappies brand), or Coke, or some other brand labelled across the
front. Lots of kids = tv must be crap!

We went to see the Chinese concert called ‘My Dream’ the other night at QPAC. It is a show that is comprised of singing, dancing and music playing, all by Chinese people with disabilities. The dance troupe (or toupe, as one of the slides mistakenly said… also becoming the barrage of some bad jokes through the night) had about 20 people, all hearing impaired. They danced to music, all choreographed by 2 ladies who would use their hands to simulate the beat. It was amazing – espesh their 1000 hands Bodhisattva dance (yes John, it was done by 20 people = 40 hands….). They had a guy with no arms do some dancing involving some sort of plant representation (Rice? Soy beans? Strange hats?). They also had some visually impaired people play the piano, bamboo flute and a host of chinese instruments – all very, very talented people. One man, wheelchair bound, did some ‘whistle singing’. I had no idea what this was until he was on stage. He whistled his entire performance, sounding much like a bamboo flute. It was amazing!

One of the best things about the performance was the way they learnt local songs for the audience. Hearing Waltzing Matilda belted out by a Chinese man in ancient China Mongolian costume was an experience. Later on there was a duet with an Brisbane lady (Emma?) and one of the Chinese ladies singing ‘I am Australian’. It sounded great. ‘Click go the shears’ was an instrumental piece done with authentic Chinese instruments (chinese zither(?) and Opera fiddle(?), bamboo flute and xylophone), followed by a ‘Sound of Music’ medley.

Oh, and the MC was a hearing impaired ex-model who did the most graceful sign language I have ever seen! Anyway, that’s my rambling for you The whole production was centred around showing how anyone and everyone should be able to follow and express their dreams, regardless of any disability they may have. Finally, I have the motivation to become that medical doctor/ archaologist that writes novels in her spare time…oops – that was my dream 20 years ago!!! Time to find a new one/s.