Photos - Day 7 and 8 daytime

Windows in and security mesh being installed

More wood priming

Grant tackles another door and Sandra does some touch up painting

And another door for Andrew to do

Photo bombing seems to be an art for the kids

Juanita get a high five

some hand signs

the girls looked very smart in the red uniforms

Members of Nuku'alofa Rotary with President Paul (second left) the PTA President (third left) and Chilli (centre rear)

classroom 6 under major renovation with all window uprights removed

Photos Day 7 evening

A night out at the Tonga Hospitality Training Centre. Vicki, Andrew, Paul (Robey) Geoff and Sandra on the front table with Grant and Juanita visible in the background

Our band for the evening

One of three dancers

Photos of Day 6 - The resort

View from Pangaimotu island looking back towards Nuku'alofa.

A very happy Chilly on the way to the island for a rest day.  Tony is thinking about the week to come and Pamand Vicki are enjoying the trip.

A few of the team looking forward to the rest day on Pangaimotu

The waters at the resort were crystal clear



The sunken boats mare the arrival at Big Mamma's Yatch Club resort.

Just paradise

Look carefully and you will see grant fishing

Paul (Roger) on a treck around the island

Lunch - Fish and Chips

Now this is the life

Lunch - Curried fish in coconut milk -yum

The day was a little too much for Paul (Robey) who took a nap

Day 8 Tuesday 30 September

Today was a little bit of déjà vu, with all the team continuing the plan for the week.  Today’s target was the completion on classroom 3. So much like day 6 everyone was on similar jobs except one classroom further along the corridor. Pam was not feeling too well, so stayed at homebase for the day to rest.

As with all good plans there are always a few things to challenge the progress. Today’s challenges came in the form of significant white ant activity in classroom six, requiring removal of several window frame and the carpentry of new ones.  Fortunately for us the President of the Lapaha School PTA has been helping us and he is a carpenter, so he quickly addressed this need while we continued with our tasks.  Also a storeroom in Classroom 3 was a new task, as the first two classrooms did not have storerooms.  This meant an extra door to fix up and an extra room (albeit a small one) to also recondition in order to finish classroom 3.

Today the Rotarians from Nuku’alofa Rotary also visited us for lunch and a look around the project. I think it is safe to say they were impressed with what was going on, and were pleased to be part of the project as the local partners.  Chilly provided a guided tour and was of course in his element talking to the visitors.

Today was the first day that it has rained heavily a fair bit of the afternoon.  This was quite a relief as it cooled the air and as we were working undercover in the classrooms it did not stop our progress.  The children continued to spectate and the braver ones had fun high fiving us and learning a few tricks from Chilly and Sue, which then became the norm for everyone. A few young boys who don’t seem to go home after school also were keen to help us pack up at the end of the day.

If we can get better internet access, you will hopefully see some good photos involving the children.

The day’s post would not be complete without mention of our evening trip out to dinner at the Friends Café in Nuku’alofa.  This was another nice evening, although we had a long wait for the food to arrive, it was very nice, and we actually had ‘real coffees’ I the form of Latte’s and Cappuccino’s etc.

Day 7. Mondy 29th September

It is now week 2.  The plan for this week is to finish a classroom each day. We have five classrooms left to do and with the team now working like an assembly line we should be able to achieve our target. Chilly is now looking a little more relaxed as the work progresses, and his constant checking of the budget and our progress tend to allow him to feel confident we can pull this task off in budget and on time. Both key outcomes for a project management guru like Chilly.

The day progressed much like any other day in paradise !!  We have decided this week we will start on site by 8am which means breakfast at 7am and in the bus and on the road by 7.30am. Yes we achieved this and were all on site at 8am and unpacking our tools and getting into the swing of things. The principal of the school has been kind enough to let us have all the remaining five classrooms to do our progressive work.

What was neat this week is that the kids are back at school so we had quite a few spectators. A bit of a laugh also to start the day as someone (who will remain nameless to protect the reputation of Goulbourn) apparently left a pain of glass out of one of the louvres.  3 pigeons exploited this omission and were found in classroom one when the kids entered to enjoy their new classroom.  Chilly and Paul (Roger) were on hand to chase the pigeons out.  But one proved a little stubborn and Paul had to climb up into the rafters and catch it by hand. The thirty odd kids in the classroom thought it was great fun and were able to pat the last pigeon before Paul released it to fly away.

From a work perspective, Bill and Paul (Roger) worked all day on classroom 2, putting in the new louvre windows and then adding the security screen mesh. Andrew (aka Andy, aka Mitch) and Grant, known collectively as the Goulbourn boys continue on doors and wood related things. Paul (Robey) and Geoff continue to finish off the upper security mesh (above the windows in the six classrooms).  That is why every picture of Paul tends to show his legs while he is up a ladder. By the way, Paul’s arm is healing well under the care of medic Geoff. The rest of the crew were deployed across prepping duties, with Gavin proving to be an expert ‘grinder’ of old paint and Vicki proving to be a good ‘stripper’ of paper , while Tony, Juanita, Sandra and Sue showed ongoing skills in the painting department.  Terry was around doing QC work, and also the no-more-gaps applications in between prepping and painting. Pam got the runner job, as we seem to constantly need something from somewhere in the way of materials, and Chilly got into the work as well helping to strip one of the classrooms.

The day went well, only interrupted by yet another huge lunch. The target was achieved with classroom 2 being completed and handed back to the school by 5pm. Significant progress was also made on the remaining four classrooms indicating we will make it by Friday.

For our Monday evening we visited the Tonga catering school ‘Pot Luck Restaurant’ where we enjoyed a three course meal cooked and served by trainees in the hospitality business.  We also enjoyed some local entertainment and cultural dances.

Day 6 photos 1

This is an early photo of the view from the resort where we spent Sunday. The sunken boats are visible in the background.

Day. 6 a day on an Island

Well it is day 6 and we have the dat off. It is Sunday 28th September and we had completed the first week of work. All is on track and we are in need of a rest, so we decided to head off to a nearby island reputed to provide a peaceful setting for swimming and relaxing with a restaurant and bar.

We had a lazy breakfast and headed to the waterfront where we caught the ferry to Pangaimotu Island which is about 15 minutes by boat from Nuku'alofa. The resort was pretty good and did not disappoint. The bar wa open and the test match between NZ and. Argentina was on the TV so a few tragics went there first. The rest of the team found a couple of tables to make as a base for the day.  Some then went for a walk around the island  (about 30 minutes all the way on the beach). Others acquired the free snorkels and went to explore the sunken boats nearby which had been placed to form a coral reef.  There were plenty of tropical fish of many varieties, and good quantities of live coral growing in the crystal clear waters.

The restaurant provided a good menu and we all enjoyed a dealing lunch with some white and red medicine to wash it down.
We returned on the 4 pm ferry and had a short tour around the poorer parts of town which provided an interesting contrast to what we had seen to date. The evening was then spent relaxing at out guest houses where we cooked our own cheese and tomatoe toasties in abundance.

Another day gone in the adventure. A great day of relaxation. Tomorrow it is back to the grind stone. Photos will follow.

a sample of our breakfast fruit plates

another sample of breakfast fruit platters

Each day our leader Chilly has awarded a Play of the Day certificate to someone who has been noted

Day 5 Photos

Paul (Roger) takes the angle grinding seriously in stripping the paint and getting the windows ready for the primer coat



Two grinders are better than one so Gavin is at it as well

Chilly thought he should get in on the act as well

Chilly joined Paul (Robey) and Vicki is doing a rapid paint job on classroom 2.



Paul and Bill putting the louvre window frames into classroom one.

Later on day 5 the windows are in for classroom one and Bill and Paul get on to installing the security mesh.


 

Day 5 (Saturday 27th September)

It is Saturday and we decided to keep working, as next week the kids will be back at school and we will have some restrictions on what we can do.

Today was a bit of a shock to the team, as Chilly decided to put in a full days work, as opposed to the previous days where he had spent most of his time worrying about supplies and running off to the hardware store. Chilly has perfected the art of walking around with a clip board and looking important.  Apparently this is what he does for a living and he is very good at it.

The task for day 5 was to finish classroom 1.  This meant applying the final coat of paint, and after an hour (touch dry) installing the new louvre windows and the security mesh.  Then cleaning up our mess so that the classroom can be used on Monday. Also other crews ploughed ahead with three other classrooms. As with all projects, things do not always work out to be straightforward.  The new louvre frames were each 3mm narrower than the ones we removed, meaning that we had to make spacers for each window in order that the glass louvres would fit tightly. More work and more time needed.  Any way we got it done.

We forgot to mention on Day 3 we had a lovely fish and chip dinner at Toni's Beach House, and on Day 4 we went to a little waterfront restaurant called the Country Café and had a pleasant evening enjoying a fairly adequate menu and some Australian wine. The nightly night cap session has continued with music provided by the three DJs. Our medicinal supplies are running low, with the Glenlivet and the Macallan all gone. Now down to the Aberlour.

Today we had our first injury on tour (and it was not Terry!). Paul (Robey) had an argument with a rusty nail and came off worst.  Most of the team had knocked of for morning smoko, so we missed the incident, but heard the screams (only joking he was very brave). Paul stayed to finish a task with Geoff and when pulling out a stubborn nail, it somehow twisted and ended up stuck in Paul's left arm.  Geoff fortunately has past experience as an army medic and we had a good first aid kit.  So after numerous suggestions about amputation, and other ways of fixing the problem, Geoff was able wash and dress the wound with Paul's arm saved for another day.

Photos to for Day 5 to follow.

Day 4 photos

Photo 1. President Paul could not resit the opportunity to have a photo taken with some of the mums.

Photo 2. The work at the school is only one side of the project. Chilly (centre) spends a lot of time each day checking his figure to keep us in budget.  Terry (right) helps out and Paul (left) thinks up things to write in the blog (if the internet is working).

 

Photo 3. Sandra (front) with Tony (at the back) and Bill (inside) get into the painting in classroom 2.

 

Photo 4.  Bill has been noted for getting more paint on his shirt than the window frames.

 

Photo 5. Andrew planning one of the classroom doors, while classroom two painters are hard at work in the background and chilly can be see stripping and sanding in classroom 3.

Day 4 (Friday 26 September)

Day 4 arrived with rain. It was forecast, so we were not worried and as our work is indoors most of the time we were not going to be slowed by the weather.

Breakfast today was bacon and eggs, with an additional option of a special scrambled eggs, bacon and tomato mixture - delicious. We have an arrangement now for the Guest House family to provide brekkie every day (except Sunday), alternating between cooked bacon and eggs and fruit platters. For those that seek more fibre we have cereal. Our trip to the school was uneventful and the rain was easing off by the time we arrived and unloaded our security container. We have the container on site to store our tools and material safely when we are away from the school.

We now have four classrooms under various stages of renovation. We work in what has become five teams with some painting, some scraping and stripping, some cleaning, some doing windows, and some doing doors. The plan is to roll through the classrooms.  The first classroom should be finished by the end of week one and then we aim to finish a classroom each day in the second week.

We learnt today why we are treated to such a huge and very yummy lunch each day.  The school apparently has 5 geographical zones making up the areas where the students come from.  The parents of each zone are providing the lunch on the different days  As such there seems to be a bit of competition going on to see who can impress us the most.  So far there is very little difference, everything has been excellent.  Although the mums today were a lot more chatty, and were happy to advise that we had to try absolutely everything, and we would not be allowed to leave the room until we had.  Needless to say the number of dishes made this impossible. One thing that is becoming a norm each day is the chilled coconuts that we are given to drink.  The mums cut a small hole in the top and put a straw in and then give them to us to drink the coconut water in side.

Photos to follow

Hi all,

We are having a great time in Tonga and feel we are really making a difference to the school at Lapaha. 

As always with a job like this the initial prep work takes a long time and we will not see the real results until next week. However we know one thing for sure, we have a great team of volunteers here, and we are all working really well for the delivery of a great result. 

So if you are reading our blog, please add some comments and encouragement, or maybe just tick like.  Its always good to know the folks back home are interested and following what we are doing.

Day 3 photos

Photo 1. President Paul with some of the student's parents who provided us lunch on day three.  The many dishes you can see on the table consisted of fish dishes (cooked and raw), chicken dishes, a roast piglet, yam dishes, sausages, egg dishes, curries, a very traditional Tongan dish of Tarro leaves filled with corned beef and coconut, mud crab, sandwiches, salads, fruit, and much, much, more.  Needless to say we put a dent in it, but by no means ate more than half. The student's mothers came in later and enjoyed what we could not manage.

Photo 2.  President Paul and Gavin tackle the problem of securing mesh to the upper windows.  The mesh will serve two purposes. One of providing security, but secondly and equally important keeping the pigeons and other birds from the classrooms (they make a bit of a mess).

Photo 3. President Paul in all his splendour (Now where should I put that staple?)

Photo 4.  With both feet firmly on the ground, Grant prepares for his next task of fixing that hole in the door.

Photo 5.  Vicki leaning into her tasks. Having finished her first task Vicki moved on to removing all the hinges and locks etc. from the doors, in preparation for the Goulbourn boys (Grant and Andrew) to repanel any holed doors and generally make all the doors serviceable and ready for repainting (about 12 doors all up).

Photos from Day 2 evening meal

Photo 1. The beautiful steamed fish with ginger and shallots.  Unfortunately this dish had soy sauce so Vicki could not partake.
Photo 2. The second fish dish which was free of soy sauce, so Vicki had first crack at this dish, before everyone else got into it.  Absolutely delicious.
Photo 3. Chilli and Past President Paul enjoy the evening with a glass of red (or two).
Photo 4. Back at home base (in the party house) the DJ challenge is in full swing. Pictured here are Bill, Paul (Robey), Tony, Geoff, Sue and Grant.  You will note Grant has his phone open and his little green speaker system on the table as he moves towards taking out the first DJ challenge.