Stamp in the Passport

The last couple of days on the main island of Tongatapu were spent playing! We went to the blowholes and other beaches. We also went to the temple again. Oh I have some funny stories about the temple from the first time we went together. I was really excited because I was getting to do family names that I brought, so much so that when I went into the font I slipped on the stairs and jetted into the font! Luckily I had one hand on the rail to help me out a bit. The tongans had a good laugh about that, but not as much as we did when we heard about Jaclyn and Laurie's stories later. So the signs were not in English so they both were a little confused as to which bathroom they were suppose to go into. So they start taking their showers  and the government power shuts off at seven every night until the generator kicks in. So poor jaclyn is in the dark in the boys bathroom yelling I am still in here! She finally realizes her mistake when the power comes back on and quickly makes her way to the right one! Luckily there was only one boy doing a lot of names so he hadn't come in yet! 

The Temple in Tonga, which was right next to the Liahona school where we were staying.

Me at the blowholes.

Laurie and Sarah at one of the beautiful beaches there, which is hard to find there because most of coast is coral and too rough to go swimming at.

Sione taking in the view. He was our pet turtle on our trip.

toes in the sand

License plate

Last day at the market, tired from all of our bartering. This old guy came up to us and was trying to talk to us about how love and forgiveness is all you need. It was really hard to understand him, but I guess he had a good message to share with us.

We also went to a little island called Pangimotu to do a bit of relaxing on a cloudy day of course.

This was our little home at the Liahona:

Our room.

I had to pull myself up on to my bed every time because there were no stairs to get up on it. It helped me build up some sweet biceps though ;)

 Then as our trip came to an end I decided to take 13 of my nursing friends on a trip to Fiji for my birthday! Ok so it was actually a really sad day to be leaving Tonga and our layover was in Fiji, but we still had a blast celebrating in Fiji at the Sheraton, which was a culture shock because it was so ritzy compared to anything we had seen in Tonga. We also had Indian for dinner, which was perfect because that is a family classic for celebrations. So I got two stamps in my passport for my birthday!

Hang out in the pool at the Sheraton

Amy and I at the Hindu temple in downtown Nandi. There is a huge Indian influence in Fiji because of the British rule up until 1970. We hardly met any native Fijians. I was alright with it though because it meant I was able to eat Indian food all the time we were there!

Jaclyn, Shelly, and me at my Indian birthday dinner.

Then begins the adventure of the fearsome five who were left behind in Fiji to fend for themselves at the Bamboo hostel!