Transportation 103

As you know I travel everywhere by bicycle. Unlike the other aid agencies (Australia, Japan, EU etc) PCVs are not trusted to drive a car or even a scooter or powerboat. Even if we are on vacation in Fiji or Samoa. Really, I am not making this up.

Since I live in the bustling capital of The Kingdom I haven't needed to travel around on business yet. And the Peace Corps does not trust volunteers to travel for their own purposes for 6 months.

Other volunteers who have made it past the 6 months do travel away from their island. As many have asked me about tourist promotion here in The Kingdom I though I'd share some of their issues as the PCVs return here to Tongatapu from Christmas holidays, then attempt to get back to their own islands.

In the beginning of January all ferries between the islands were stopped by the Port Authority. The ferries had not paid their warfage fees. Some of the ferries have now paid, but along came Cyclone Elice. No travel by Ferries. I think they may have started to run now although the seas may still be too rough.

No worries, this is the modern age. We can simply fly between the islands - right?

Not for the past week due to the cyclone. But that is gone - so...

The radio reports that "due to technical difficulties" all Tonga Air flights are canceled "until further notice". We don't know what the technical issues are - one guess is lack of payment to Fiji Air, the carrier that Tonga Air contracts with for all of their flights? Who knows? And 'until further notice' is a bit ambiguous.

These are inconveniences for PCVs, but it is really not a big deal. We are a self reliant bunch and can adapt to a changing environment. But a tourist here for a limited amount of time might not see the humor in it. Tourists currently come through this island (Tongatapu) to get to the tourist islands - usually Va'Vau. Any who came to Tonga in 2008 may find they have a challenging holiday.