Rain, rain, go away… we have had quite a bit of rain over the last couple of weeks and actually, the ocean also got quite a bit colder. Being used to Singapore temperatures, I am almost feeling a bit chilly on some of the days; even wearing a light sweater or jacket when it is windy (as it is now, in Rarotonga, Cook Islands).

But let me not complain about the climate as the experiences we are having are just fantastic. In Samoa, we spent the first few nights in a bungalow (after we finally managed to find it the first night in the dark…) in the outskirts of Apia and enjoyed a lot of space, some barking dogs and the experience of ‘going black’ when the prepaid electricity ran out in the middle of the night… we also had much fun sliding done some rocks at a waterfall, discovered that the author of Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson) had lived in Samoa and was buried on a mountain that we actually climbed in high speed mode, and enjoyed an excellent cultural exhibition at the tourist center in town.

We then took the ferry to Savai’i where we stayed on the black lava fields, visited the old destroyed church there, saw loads of turtles in ‘our’ bay and – got sick and visited the hospital; not only once with Gavin, but again after the weekend with the other two as they all developed a high fever and a cough. The clinic was well organized and we were surprised how fast our turn came up the first time around – the second time, we used our ‘connection’ with the nice doctor from NZ who offered help, which we gladly took up after realizing that our number was 81 and they were only at 19 at that time (we would have missed the ferry, had we not jumped queue…). Thanks to antibiotics all was well a few days later but Gavin now probably has a pill and Kenny a liquid antibiotics trauma for the rest of their lives…

Back on Upolu, we managed to find our new bungalow with some difficulty again, Roland placing the car nicely so I could end the task of driving it into the ditch and getting it stuck there, just before dark and in the rain, naturally. Luckily, a nice, strong neighbor was working close by and helped to push it out again (actually, he did it all by himself with Roland behind the wheel and me making sure to find the bungalow with the boys before dark…). The next morning, we realized that we had a fantastic view towards the ocean, but the weather was mostly rainy and quite cool. We still managed to go to the post office and NOT send our souvenirs, as there is only airmail from Samoa and it would have been too expensive, have a meal at McDonalds and go to one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world (according to Lonely Planet guidebook) for a lazy and windy afternoon in a beach fale at Lalomanu, before swimming in the To Sua Ocean trench (only me and the small ones due to the very steep climb down and the two big boys being too scared of it).

The last night was spent at the Sheraton close to the airport (due to a very early flight, we were aftaid to get stuck in the rain on the way there at 3am…) and off we were to Tonga via Fiji, where we spent the layover pleasantly in the airport lounge.

In line with tradition (almost), we found the worst road to drive from the airport to our new bungalow at Ha’atafu beach on Nuku’alofa after having done some grocery shopping in one of the Chinese stores along the way. We urgently needed to on this Saturday evening, as on Sundays, everything in Tonga is closed – it’s the law! Roland did – for once – not trust Mr. Google maps but I did and though there were admittedly many potholes, we finally reached our destination (thanks to another resort calling our host for directions), which we were going to share with hundreds of smallish millipedes over the next 10 days. Luckily, we did not settle for the Yaris Avis wanted to rent to us instead of the booked Corolla at the airport but upgraded to a RAV4, which was a great car to have on Tongan roads.

Blowholes, natural arches, tsunami / Maui rock, trip to a honeymoon island, Tasman and Christian landing, the South Pacific’s version of Stonehenge and some lovely beach visits made up our days in the Kingdom. Though the boys were not too keen, one of the highlights was the Church visit with a college brass band, loud singing and the king and queen sitting up front in the same church as us. We also included some souvenir shopping at the central market and bought some nice memorabilia; let’s hope the parcel makes it to Switzerland safely!

As there are also no flights on Sundays, we left Tonga on Monday to prepare ourselves for crossing the date line during a 2-day stint in Auckland, NZ. We found a great apartment from the airport – another second try as the first one was cancelled again last minute on us (memories of Brisbane…) – and relaxed with day and night visits to the Sky Tower, the post office, and some shopping in this lovely city.

Next stop – Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Kia Orana!