Kenny & Becky Kapp: A Visit from Dusty, Carly, and Keni

Welcome to Tonga!

We were able to welcome our Grandson Dusty and his wife Carly to Tonga this week as they came for Spring vacation to get away from work and the rat-race at home. It's been fun having them here and we were also able to revisit some of the fun places we have been in the past.

They arrived at the airport right on schedule and zipped through customs. We welcomed them with the traditional kayla (or lei) made from flowers and plants by the locals. The leis are very beautiful and aromatic.

We immediately headed for lunch at Central Kiwi Kai in Veitongo (under new management) for fish and chips Tongan style (batter dipped and fried mahimahi). They also have very good pizza (my vote for best in Tonga) but we'll save that for another time. Then we headed to Liahona so they could get settled in. I won't try to put everything in order but here are some of the highlights.

First thing on the agenda was to prepare for our second cyclone in the past 5 weeks. This one was a rapidly developing one in Fiji that immediately headed for Tongatapu, cyclone Keni ... yes I know it sounds a lot like Kenny but it wasn't as big of a blow-hard as I am. As near as I could tell the worst damage on Liahona campus was self-inflicted as they took down all of the tallest palm trees that were near homes on Liahona. You may remember that the one home that was completely destroyed on campus by Gita was caused when a palm tree was blown over and damaged a roof which let the wind inside, then taking the entire roof off and a cinderblock wall crashing down (the family was uninjured).

We could watch its progress online as it headed in our general direction. Tongatapu was only projected to be on the outer edge of this one instead of the direct heat we had with Gita. It was also only a category 1-2 cyclone compared to Gita which was a cat 4-5 (depending on who you believe). We still got some moderate winds (60-70 mph) and lots of rain during and after. I guess no one told Keni that the cyclone season ends on April 1st. We certainly hope we are finished for the year. Sorry, we can't promise a similar experience to other visitors.

We did receive a nice phone call from our grandson Joshua warning us that Keni was coming and exhorting us to seek shelter in the church house nearby. We did feel safe as our homes are built to the same specifications as the meeting houses (and we did survive Gita). It's nice to have him watching out for us as one of his many hobbies is studying weather.

Tsunami rock. They now have a gate to prevent cars from driving in.

We took them to see Tsunami Rock and spent some time on the nearby beach. Dusty didn't climb on the rock but I could tell he wanted to.

Wading out in low tide. You can see
the edges of the protective reef.

Searching for shells

Friday night at Oholelei resort with Na'asipa
Sea Kalonihea (sister K - served with Dusty
in Oregon) Dusty, Carly and Lepeka

On Friday night we went to Oholelei, a Tongan feast and show put on twice weekly. The food is typical Tongan fare and we had 19 different dishes to choose from. Anything from ota ika (raw fish) to roasted puaka (pig) cooked in an uma. They also had seaweed, lu kapapulu, kumala (sweet potato salad), talo, clams, watermelon, etc. They also had Lepeka's favorite food ... good old tossed salad (iceberg lettuce and tomatoes only but salad non-the-less).

Oholelei resort cave program after dinner

We attended church in Te'ekiu on Sunday which is Sister K's ward. She had us sit pretty much front and center and the Stake Presdient even recognized and thanked Elder and Sister Kapp for joining them as well as the young couple next to us (Dusty and Carly). The singing was the usual, no piano accompaniment but lots of gusto. Tongans singing is the absolute best!!

I'll leave you today with a few more photos of their visit. They head back to the U.S. tomorrow morning (Monday) at 11:20. They will loose a day this time so this may be the longest Monday of their lives. We really enjoyed having them visit and they now have some great memories and a wonderful story to tell any who will listen.