some "modern day" photos i've taken over the years
enjoy a little music as you look back in time. haleluia – click to play
It was July 4th, 2001 and a big parade to celebrate His Majesty’s birthday was finishing up on Vuna Road. Here I am with Phil Wiess (The author of American Taboo) and a collection of fakalaties (transvestites) relaxing after the parade. I supplied the spiffy head gear.
I took this photo in Vava’u. It is a yachting couple heading to shore. I was impressed with the puppy’s balance. As an FYI, Vava’u is home to some of the best sailing in the world.
Yet, another lazy Sunday morning.
Net fishing at high tide off Vuna Road.
A nice views from my hotel in Vava’u.
Recess time at a local Ma’ufanga school.
Pangaimotu Resort, about twenty minutes from Nuku’alofa by boat. It’s the Sunday hang out for Tongan’s, expats and tourists in the know. Cold beer and a very nice fish and chips are always on the menu. If you are energetic you can walk around the whole island in twenty minutes. You can, also, do absolutely nothing.
Pangaimotu Resort, about twenty minutes from Nuku’alofa by boat. It’s the Sunday hang out for Tongan’s, expats and tourists in the know. Cold beer and a very nice fish and chips are always on the menu. If you are energetic you can walk around the whole island in twenty minutes. You can, also, do absolutely nothing.
An old ship wreck (not the S.S. Minnow) off of Pangaimotu that serves as a fish preserve and a diving board for locals and tourists alike.
A sweet little group of school girls at the school in my old village, Ngele’ia.
CAMERA! I swear, there was the girl in the green tee shirt, all by herself. Then, I looked down at my camera to bring it to my eye, and puff they came out of thin air.
The definition of power…this rather large “rock” is actually a piece of the coral reef a few miles from the shore it came from. It’s called the “Tsunami Rock” because it is believed that it was “thrown” to this location by an unimaginably powerful, life erasing wave thousands of years ago…fortunately, well before the first “Tongan’s” arrived.
Another nice sunset in Vava’u.
A wonderful sunset at a very nice family resort called The Blue Banana. How wonderful was this sunset? I put my rum and coke down to take this photograph. As many of you who spent time here will remember, once the sun went down in the bush, the stars were simply amazing. Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but you could almost read a book by their light.
Yep, another beautiful beach to treat as your own.
This photo begged to be taken. I love the mix of colors, white and black. I know, some of you who didn’t take my Tonga High School art class (in room 19) are saying to yourself that black is a color…go on the google, technically black is not a color, nor is white…they are considered shades. You get a B+ if you remembered this. If not, then one hour after school detention.
How cool was this? It was the Peace Corps entry into the King’s birthday parade. Circa July 4, 2001. Evidently, blocking two thirds of the front windshield is not frowned upon by the local constabulary.
I took this shot one morning around 6:00 a.m. while taking a quiet stroll down Vuna Road. My imagination was thrown back to what it must have looked like to the Tongan’s as they stared at the strange boat off the shore when Captain Cook first anchored off some white sand beach on what is now Tonga’tapu, in 1773 some 247 years ago.
Yes, this is an artsy fartsy photo that might have had a sprinkle of photoshop whilst being “born”.
I think I see what Gaugin saw in the beauty of the Polynesian people.
A morning storm is a brew’n.
Just before we boarded the “barf boat” from ‘Eua to Tonga’tapu. This young lady was in deep mourning for a close family member by the looks of her outfit. You might think she was mad at me, but a second after I took this photo she flashed a big smile at me.
A close encounter by a passing whale. No telephoto lens was used taking this photo.
Another fly by, by a very big humpback whale, about ten feet from our six person outboard motor boat, off the coast of ‘Eua. Yes, I knew exactly where the life preservers were.
A parting farewell just off the right side of our tiny boat.
Taken on one of my walks around Pangiamotu.
And the process begins for the making of tapa cloth.
Collection bark that had been soaking in the salt water for several days before starting the process of making Tapa cloth.
A Hibiscus in the yard of a Tonga home.
I believe this is a white-tailed, tropic bird chick I saw up in a gigantic Banyan tree in ‘Eua.
A father and son walk home after a day of fishing on a long warm beach on ‘Eua.
A sunset with the aid of a telephoto lens.
A nice hill top view of yachts resting in the waters below.
Fafa Island Resort. A very nice island resort about 45 minutes off of the main island that features very nice fales (huts), a gourmet restaurant and a great bar. Warm pleasant waters offer a great opportunity to snorkel with all kinds of fish right off the shore.