Position: 21deg 08min South, 175deg 10min West � anchored stern too in the small craft harbour in Nuku�alofa.
I spent an hour at Viola Hospital � met the CEO � a very pleasant well spoken man. He has been in contact with Don Mackie at Counties about anaesthetic and other medical support. He is new to the position and still finding his feet in some regards. I went to the operating rooms and paid a visit. They had 3 theatres running at the time. A plastic surgery team from Middlemore (New Zealand) were there and were doing a cleft palate in one theatre and another child in the other. There was a caesarian section in progress in the third theatre. The anaesthetic equipment is basic but adequate � unfortunately they have pulse oximeters but no agent analysis � I did notice that the plastic team had brought there own anaesthetist from Starship Children�s Hospital and they brought their own anaesthetic Monitor. Overall the whole impression was the same as one would find in a little hospital in peripheral Africa � made me feel quite homesick in fact. I think at there is an opportunity for us to do more in terms of establishing some kind of professional relationship between ourselves at Auckland Hospital and Viola Hospital.
Vatuni then took all of us for a tour around the island (in our hurry we left the camera behind) Our highlights included numerous villages � all neat and tidy. Lds chapels (neat and tidy and good looking I may say) in every village. We went to the Temple which is very pretty and saw the Liahona High School. We saw the �Blow holes� � at low tide the huge Southerly Swell bashes against the reef and exits as jets of water and mist from holes in the reef � this happens for a few kilometers along the coast and is very spectacular. We saw Ha�amonga Trilithon - A large Stone Henge type gate way made from coral stone not from Tongatapu, We�ve seen their flying foxes � large fruit bats that tend to sleep in the iron wood trees. We looked at Captain Cooks first landing place and saw and spoke to one of the Tongan Ladies making Tapa ( cloth made from beating the bark of a mulberry tree shoots. � a laborious process that requires hours and hours of beating of the stuff) � this cloth is not only expensive but used in all sorts of ceremonies: births, deaths, burials, marriages etc. The Tongan people are very friendly and we have been treated well were ever we have been so far.
Water is a real issue for us. There are no taps or sources of water in the small craft harbour here. Our only options are to buy water from the ministry of works that will bring a bunker up to the dock, or try and buy some form the fishing fleet base. � we hope to do that tomorrow. Provision the vessel and leave Tongatapu for one of the other islands this afternoon.
skipper
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