Tonga and New Zealand

September was the month of travel. An APCSS outreach event took me to Tonga.
Although Tonga lies right below the Honolulu-Auckland flight's path, to go directly to Tonga, someone has to be badly ill (or fake one) on board, or one must bring a parachute.
Transit stops in Auckland were no problem for me, for I have several friends in Auckland. It was nice that I had time to see them on both legs of the trip.
The workshop in Tonga went relatively smoothly, except that the night before the opening day was very busy with preparation of the binders. The copymachine was so slow that it became a bottleneck of the work flow, and so many (wo)man-hours had to be utilized rather inefficiently during the day. Once all copying was done, then it was time for the Chinese-like "Sea of (wo)men" tactic to punch holes on and bind the printed material.
There was a nice jetti in front of the hotel I was staying, and there were some big fish in early mornings. Some chases and strikes on my lure, but hooking did not last long. Unfortunately, pre-dawn windows of opportunity were so rare, and there was no notable catch in Tonga. Tuna sashimi in Tonga was much cheaper than in Honolulu, and I enjoyed it very nuch with the local beer, Ikale.
Tonga's main island (where its capital city, Tongatapu, is located) is flat. Unlike Oahu or most of the Hawaiian islands, there is no significant mountain. On the other hand, lagoons inside the reef and some magrove coverage of the coastline provide a different set of sceneries. The place was much more laid back than Honolulu, and for those who want a complete asylum, there are a few small islands that are only reachable by a small boat. Nothing really to do except playing in the sea--no problem for me. I took a mental note of Tonga as a possible place to spend winter months of my retirement.
Time to catch up with kids and enjoy tradewinds and cooling weather in Honolulu.