Last night after a hard day of slog at the school, we freshened up and headed out to a local Chinese Restaurant for dinner. The restaurant did not have a banquet menu as such, so Paul (Roger) did the ordering and a great feast was consumed. Special dishes were cooked to cater to gluten free requirements (definitely no Soy Sauce - a challenge in a Chinese restaurant). Photos of some of the delicious dishes were taken and will hopefully appear in the blog later tonight or early tomorrow. The restaurant had VB beer and some very nice Australian red wine from the Griffith region. After the meal we returned home to what is becoming a nightly tradition of tasting each others duty free (medicinal purposes only) purchases. Last night's was a Macallum Select Oak single malt. There was also a DJ dual between Chilly, Grant, and Geoff. Each played music from their IPhones/notepads. Each had their own era of music and all were good. Chilly felt that he won, but the popular vote went to Grant, and Geoff expressed the view that it was all very unfair. Thank you guys for the entertainment.
Day 3 started with the team breakfast, in the breakfast house. Platters of fresh fruit were provided by our guest house staff, and we also enjoyed cereal and toast (acquired during our supermarket trip on Day 1). Then it was all aboard the buses and off to the school for another day of toil.
Today we continued the prep of the classrooms. More windows were removed and cleaned, and work on stripping and sanding the window frames in classrooms 2 and 3 got underway. Classroom 1 reached the stage where the window frames are now ready for painting (standard of preparation approved by Terry - the 2 Pauls though it was ready yesterday, but were persuaded that more prep could be done and we had to wait for the drop cloths as we are not trusted as tidy (drip free) painters.
The additional wood surrounds ready for the security mesh were also completed for classrooms 2 and 3 and the upper mesh was installed for classroom 1 and half of classroom 2. (now waiting for more mesh to be delivered). Lots of other things were happening too, with doors being removed and repairs started, anti pigeon mesh going up in spaces in the eaves, etc.
Lunch was again huge, provided by the PTA. We are thinking there may be some weight gains if we are not careful, despite all the physical labour.
Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Day 2 all work and little play
Photo 1. Tony washing the window glass for the louvre windows. 72 pieces for each classroom. Tony was assisted on Day 2 by Sue and Sandra and did an excellent job on the first classroom.
Photo 2. Chilly (background) doing a supervisory visit to the carpentry shop where the Goulbourn boys (Andrew and Grant) were working hard. So hard they burnt out the circular saw on the first day.
Photo 3. Tony watches on as Paul (Roger) gets to work with the mitre saw.
Photo 4. Bill and Paul heading to the carpentry shop, with the main work area in the background, where Chilly can be seen returning from his supervisory visit to the carpentry shop and preparing to supervise Geoff (yellow shirt).
Photos Day One
Photo 1. The little red truck, perfect for transporting our luggage.
Photo 2. The group outside one of our houses. Ready for day one familiarisation.
Photo 3. On arrival at the school we were presented given a lei, Grant and Sue model theirs here with Geoff doing the photo bomb in the background.
Photo 4. We discovered that Chilly can write in Microsoft Project !
If you get to see this, we have succeeded with loading photos. This is the group at Sydney airport, from left to right - Vicki, Gavin, Terry, Juanita, Sandra, Sue, Geoff, Pam, Bill, Chilly, Andrew, Grant, Paul (Robey) and in the front Paul (Roger) and Tony. After this shot we headed to the duty free section to acquire important supplies.
Tuesday, 23 September 2014
Day 1 in Tonga
We arrived safely in Tonga at about 11pm Canberra time, 2am Tonga time. Most of the group cleared customs quickly, even chilly who was x-rayed and had to open all his bags (obviously looked suspicious). our two Goulbournnites were however stuck in a slow queue and took about half an hour longer than the rest to get through immigration/customs. Toni was there to meet us with his two mini buses and off we went to Toni's Guest House, closely followed by a little truck/ute type vehicle with all our luggage.
We have two houses to accommodate the 15 of us, in our own compound. We were all tucked up in bed by 4am and did not need much rocking after the long day. One house has become the breakfast house and the other the evening cocktails and nightcaps house. Yes we all acquired some medicinal liquids at duty free. Single malts are in abundance and we also have a couple of gin and tonic suppers and a brandy fan. First night's consumption indicates we may run out of medicine within the first week.
Day one was spent familiarising ourselves with the local scene. We had a quick tour of the sites and then visited the school where we planned our work tasks and teams. The parents and teachers put on a welcome lunch that would have easily fed 50 people. There were dishes of just about everything Tongan and we all did our duty and ate as much as possible, but had to surrender. After lunch we visited the town and got our selves local sim cards and stacked up with essential (snacks and beer).
Our first evening was another feast. This time a BBQ with the Rotary Club of Nuku'alofa. Also attending the meeting were visiting Rotarians from Singapore and New Zealand, as well as a guest from the Australian High Commission and her husband, and a PACE exchange student from the Blue Mountains. So we had an excellent evening of international fellowship. President Paul said some very moving words about our project, and the reps of the Merimbula, Tuggeranong, and Jerrabomberra exchanged banners with Nuku'alofa. (Our members from Belconnen and Goulbourn clubs will be sending their club banners later).
We will attempt to post some photos. However we first want to ensure this post makes it to publishing. Our internet access looks like being limited to the guest house and is not very fast, so our blogs may be intermittent and not as comprehensive as we hoped. But we will keep trying.
The TONGA RAWCS Team
We have two houses to accommodate the 15 of us, in our own compound. We were all tucked up in bed by 4am and did not need much rocking after the long day. One house has become the breakfast house and the other the evening cocktails and nightcaps house. Yes we all acquired some medicinal liquids at duty free. Single malts are in abundance and we also have a couple of gin and tonic suppers and a brandy fan. First night's consumption indicates we may run out of medicine within the first week.
Day one was spent familiarising ourselves with the local scene. We had a quick tour of the sites and then visited the school where we planned our work tasks and teams. The parents and teachers put on a welcome lunch that would have easily fed 50 people. There were dishes of just about everything Tongan and we all did our duty and ate as much as possible, but had to surrender. After lunch we visited the town and got our selves local sim cards and stacked up with essential (snacks and beer).
Our first evening was another feast. This time a BBQ with the Rotary Club of Nuku'alofa. Also attending the meeting were visiting Rotarians from Singapore and New Zealand, as well as a guest from the Australian High Commission and her husband, and a PACE exchange student from the Blue Mountains. So we had an excellent evening of international fellowship. President Paul said some very moving words about our project, and the reps of the Merimbula, Tuggeranong, and Jerrabomberra exchanged banners with Nuku'alofa. (Our members from Belconnen and Goulbourn clubs will be sending their club banners later).
We will attempt to post some photos. However we first want to ensure this post makes it to publishing. Our internet access looks like being limited to the guest house and is not very fast, so our blogs may be intermittent and not as comprehensive as we hoped. But we will keep trying.
The TONGA RAWCS Team
Sunday, 21 September 2014
T minus 3 hours and counting
In three hours time the first group of volunteers will board the bus in Canberra to head to Sydney International Airport. Hopefully we will get a photo opportunity before boarding to show how smart the group is in their RAWCS polo shirts (logo pictured above). Weather forecast for Tonga is looking good with sunshine for the first week and temperatures in the mid 20's and humidity at a comfortable 57%. There is however a little rain on the horizon for the weekend, which may dampen our first island R & R trip.
Saturday, 20 September 2014
T minus 24 hours and counting
A 1pm (1300 hours) on Monday 22 September a group of Rotarians will depart Canberra on their way to Sydney International airport and a flight to Nuku'alufa, Tonga. Two additional Rotarians will link up with the initial group at Sydney airport to complete the group of 15 who will form a volunteer party for the 2014 Rotary Australia World Community Service project in Tonga.
This Blog has been established for the group to report its progress and activities over the coming two weeks. Hope you enjoy future posts.
Posted Canberra time 1pm (1300 hours) 21 September 2014
This Blog has been established for the group to report its progress and activities over the coming two weeks. Hope you enjoy future posts.
Posted Canberra time 1pm (1300 hours) 21 September 2014
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