Luckily we all except two students that couldn't make it could prepare for the flight on the tiny island of Atata half a hour boat ride from the main island of Tonga. We stayed at the Royal Sunset Island Resort with the beach and the ocean water just ten meters away on the western side of our bungalow and maybe 50 meters away on the eastern side. We didn't realize all this until the morning after we arrived. The boat ride out to the island after dark was quite exciting especially when the boat was stopped by the coral reef (grundstötning). We managed to get out there eventually but I think it took about 40 minutes longer than it normally takes.
Except tanning and bathing time have been spent snorkeling, exploring the waters by a piece of floating material (EasyRider) and waiting for the next meal and for the happy hour in the bar. There weren't much else you could do out there than that.
The flight home wasn't too bad even though I didn't like the stop at Samoa in the middle of the night where we all had to get off and wait for an hour before we could return to our seats.
Actually the flight between London and Stockholm was quite bad since it sounded like the engines were installed inside the plane. We wore ear plugs the whole way which didn't really help!
I am a little sad to be home. It is always difficult to return to a everyday life after such an adventure that this trip has been. I will probably get used to it faster than I expect though. I hope you have enjoyed the my page and I hope to see you again when I fly away again!
