Goodbye New Zealand

Here I sit in a South Pacific paradise, and I have to blip a photo of Auckland. The flight was delayed and we arrived in Tonga in virtual darkness, so I have to settle for a shot through the plane window as we departed Auckland.

After a taxi ride to the port there was just enough light to see our taxi boat.
Coming out to the island was fascinating. As we crossed the reef the driver stood on his seat with his head out the skylight and steered the boat with his feet. He swore he could see the markers that way and steer at the same time - though I have no idea how he could see a thing. I suspect we really crossed by feel!

The welcome on the Island has been second to none. Greeted on the jetty with freshly squeezed fruit juice, fed fresh today yellowfin tuna for dinner and then taken for a wander through the palms to our fale.

We took part in a kava ceremony tonight - and such a cosmopolitan group of us took part - we are the late arrivals and the only kiwis. The other guests here are Italian, Greek and French. Beautiful singing from the locals and interesting conversation with the guests. It's already shaping up to being a great break.

We were warned to listen out for the flying foxes on the roof in the night. That'll be a new experience too!

NOTE: Commenting may be limited this week - not only is this place far too beautiful for me to be spending much time on the computer, internet access is somewhat limited too. I'll catch up with you all when I get home, in the meantime, thanks for dropping in :-)