from Tonga en route to Auckland

To me it’s Feb 11th. We’re now at 32 degrees 40.61 S and 177 degrees 19.11 E. [To you it may be a different day.] We’re over 12,000 miles from New York.

One of my goals for this trip was to figure out what I wanted to do after I get home - I’ve made little progress on that. I have accomplished something surprising, however. From the first week, I’ve working out with a personal trainer on a regular basis. Those of you who know me know how unusual that is for me. Whatever my future I will be in better shape to face it. Darlene, I’ll be ready for bike rides next summer! Yonnie, I’m looking forward to golf. By the way, we drove past a golf course in Tonga - very flat. [New pictures will be posted today on my gallery. www.gallery.me.com/herrlk/10017]

Tomorrow we’ll be in Auckland, New Zealand. Already it’s cooler and less humid. Samoa and Tonga tested my tolerance for a hot climate! Those two nations are quite different, as it their geography. Samoa is mountainous, Tonga flat plantation land. Somoans buried their loved ones in the front yard; Tongans use highly decorated cemetaries. In both cases, however, the people I met were quite friendly, and the tour guides provided good information. Schools are important, especially on Tonga, and there are many church-run schools, primarily Methodist, Catholic, and Mormon. Other churches dot the landscape as well. There are few jobs however and not much economic development. Each of the islands here has a story to tell. One of our lecturers today covered the history of who has controlled what in terms of the islands of the South Pacific and how that has changed, especially with respect to WW II.

Occurs to me that for all their good intentions, foreigners meddled with the cultures over the past 200 years without planning for the consequences.