Welcome to Tonga where everything except one bakery and a couple of restaurants are closed on Sunday. Petrol, food and anything you might need on Sunday needs to be purchased on Saturday. The remaining option is Pangiamoto Island, 2km from town by ferry, jokingly referred to Sinners Island because this is where you go instead of Church on a Sunday. It hosts Big Mama’s Yacht Club, restaurant and bar. On our first weekend we went out there for a swim and play and it was relatively quiet. On on our second trip last it was packed with sinners and non sinners who came after mass.
We have now started on a new adventure after Anny was approached by the Tonga Government to assist on a World Bank Transport Sector Project. After three weeks in Australia and our late night arrival into Tonga (3rd June), we woke to our new sleepy, very sleepy, South Pacific Island. While the first weeks were difficult to get settled, living in hotels and finding everything much less developed than where we had been, we have now settled into a routine and are finding our feet. On our second Sunday morning a layer of smoke sits above the ground from the hundreds of Umu’s (in ground cooking) started for Sunday lunch.
