It's all about family

We’ve had the pleasure of having Moana (sister) and her three boys join us here in Tonga. It was nice showing them around and sample what life is like here. We kinda feel like locals now!

The kids were so excited to see their cousins again and had so much fun together.

Jacob and Pedro-Lucca


We showed them all the sites of Tonga (as many as six kids would let you..) but most days were spent at the beach where the kids were happiest.


My Dad (Granddad) came as a surprise for the grandchildren (boy did they get a surprise!!). They were all so happy to see him. We all headed to an outer island called Pangaimotu for the day.
It’s only a 10 minute boat ride from the mainland, but it felt like a world away.

Jacob with Granddad


Ezra, Keanu and Moana


Eli with Pedro-Lucca





It's a beautiful place and so relaxing!

We also went to the Market to stock up on fruit, veg and souvenirs






Unfortunately the good times had to end...Moana and her boys returned home to Auckland...we miss them so much already!

Dad stayed longer, so we visited all the Tongan sites again.
(Visisting the Trilathon)

(Captain Cook Landing)


The boys were happy that Granddad could make it to their school concert. It’s an annual fundraising event where the students perform dances and the audience go up on the stage and stick money on the performers (fakapale).

(Me getting Jacob ready for his dance)



Eli in his dance costume


Now Dad has returned home and life is back to normal. We loved every minute they were here and now we miss them even more. xo

So far...

It was a rough start at first. We arrived in Tonga August 11 2009, the same day our camera died. The weather was hurricane like and our house wasn’t finished so we had to stay in a lodge for almost a week. Eli got really sick and was diagnosed with Rheumatic fever, but the medication wasn’t working so after seeing a paediatric doctor he was re-diagnosed as having Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (HSP). Neither of us knew what it was, but he fit the symptoms and characteristics perfectly so meds were given and the road to recovery began (it took 3 weeks!!).

Eventually we moved into our new place, all our stuff we shipped here arrived and Jacob started his first day of school...he was a trooper going without Eli.

August also brought us many beach trips, blow hole visits and tiki touring around to get our bearings. Our highlight though was sampling traditional Tongan food. Our family have REALLY taken to it: Lu Sipi, Lu Pulu, Taro, Manioke, hopa, BBQ, Kale Sipi, chop suey, lasi (pawpaw), watermelon...and the list goes on! We LOVE it all :-)(except the horse meat, dog meat and jellyfish).


September, we started settling in and finding our groove. Eli was finally able to start his first day at school and I finally felt confident enough to drive around. The reason it took me so long was because the roads are very hard to navigate...There are no street signs or street maps, people don’t even have proper addresses, so the only way to get around is to memorise different landmarks like a shop sign or a certain tree etc.

Charles had to go to China for work, so it was just me and kiddos for 10 days.

The rest of the month was filled with meeting lots of lovely people... at Church (we attend a small English speaking LDS Ward), various dinners our family were invited to, a TWISC luncheon (a social club for all the expat ladies) and our neighbours.

The end of the month we were met with a Tsunami warning, so we just hung out at home (our house is kind of inland, so we didn’t feel the need to find a hill). Tonga has no hills anyway!! Luckily nothing came our way, but we do feel very sad for our neighbours Samoa, American Samoa and a northern Tongan island Niuatoputapu. The ocean is part of everyday life here, so to have something like that happen is devastating for everyone. We were really impressed at how everyone came together, donating food, clothing, money and supplies around town.

And here we are in October...our most FUN month yet!

2 Months in already

Welcome to the Nepia Family Blog! We are 2 months late in starting it, but at least it's finally here. This is for all our friends and family who want to know what we're up to and for those that aren't on facebook to look at our photos.

Here you will find all our experiences, adventures, everyday life as well as some crafty stuff and scrapbooking ;-D

I wouldn't say we are the best at keeping in touch with everyone, so this is our solution...enjoy.

We have 2 months to catch up on, so stay tuned for the next post...

Joelene xo