Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
fancy fishing boat in its place. They would spend the next couple of years exploring all the
great fishing spots between St. Lucia, Faanies Island, Maputo, and Lake Malawi, among
other lesser known off the beaten track places. They loved nothing more than closing up
their Oasis Restaurant, loading up their big four-by-four truck with several weeks worth of
supplies, hooking up the trailer and boat, and setting off on yet another African fishing
adventure with their handsome teenage son, Charles John. We had gotten to join them on
some of these occasions, and great times we had too!
Craig took us to the local market in the dusty heart of Vava'u. At least two, sometimes
three, days a week the market was in attendance. What they lacked in fresh green produce,
they made up for in pork, goat meat, fish, chickens, yams, bananas, papayas, watermelons,
and sometimes breadfruit, all laid out on the ground on their tappa mats made from the
beaten bark of the yangona tree. There were also curios for the tourists, a lot of wood and
bone carvings produced by the local artists, though it has to be stated that a lot of these ar-
tifacts of dolphins, fishes, pigs, sea birds, and war masks were pretty crudely carved, sadly
lacking in detail or finesse. But, they were sweet souvenirs and a lot were sold to the “pa-
langes.” Tappa cloth was another item that could be bought, as well as hand fans and fly
whisks. There were heaps of gorgeous South Pacific shells for sale as well. We were ad-
vised by some of the sailors in the know that these shells were readily dived up on the
neighboring islands and atolls.
I soon noticed how easygoing the men folk of Tonga were. Unlike the Samoan or Hawaiian
men, the Tongans seemed unphased by white men, perhaps another reason for the name,
“Friendly Isles.” Yet in the face of that observation, we were appalled to learn how a young
man and woman in Tonga sometimes have their first sexual experience. It was not uncom-
mon for a would-be suitor to escort his fancy out somewhere at night and then punch her
in the throat, knock her senseless, and proceed to engage in sexual intercourse. The reason
for this would be to protect the “innocence” of the young girl. If she wasn't conscious at the
time of their sexual union, then her virtue remained blissfully intact! Go figure! Now, I'm
quite sure that if one of us white boys tried this little trick on one of their dusky beauties we
would soon see the unfriendly side to these big Polynesian men. And then some! Luckily, I
never did find out.
Penny and I continued to see each other and were together quite a lot, when she was not
with her parents or out on an errand with her brother Craig. It was a great set up, and I ad-
mit she was very much a reason for my happiness and contentment on this leg of my cruise.
Oh, we had our fights; she was very aggressive, and I could take so much of it, and then an
argument would surely ensue. She would then beat a tearful retreat back to the sanctity of
mom and dad's boat for a day or three, and then like a summer storm, it would all be over;
the sun would come out, and Penny would be deposited back on-board Déjà vu, all bright-
