RETIRE TO THE UNDERPOPULATED SOUTH PACIFIC, IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE - SPECIFICALLY TO OUR EXPAT COMMUNITY 'COCOMO VILLAGE' IN VAVA'U, TONGA - REFRESHINGLY DIFFERENT THAN OVER-HYPED MEXICO, NICARAGUA & ECUADOR IN STEAMY CENTRAL AMERICA. ENGLISH IS SPOKEN ALONG WITH TONGAN BY THE FRIENDLY INDIGENOUS POPULATION. Reinvent yourself in the South Pacific at our Expat 'Cocomo Village' ocean-front island community; you'll enjoy a healthier, virtually stress-free lifestyle and likely live a longer and happier life than wherever you now are in the "Western" world !

On the other hand, our real estate taxes are about $1.00 per day per US$4,950. ocean-front island lot ! We suggest you acquire one or two lots at below-market prices before they increase and availability becomes short ! The “THIRD and final step in the systematic destruction of a whole generation’s wealth,” we have statistical evidence to bear out his forecast.

The generation in question is the baby boomers. The first step in the destruction of their wealth was the dot-com bubble. The second step was the real estate and credit bubble.

Step THREE is a bubble in fixed income... starting with U.S. Treasuries.

Worldwide, investors have pulled $34 billion out of stock mutual funds this year... and plowed $75 billion into bonds.

In the United States, according to EPFR Global, stock mutual funds and ETFs have had a net inflow of $4 billion this year... while fixed-income managers have seen a tsunami amounting to $86 billion.

And what are all those “risk-averse” investors getting for their trouble?

A 10-year Treasury note yields 1.93% this morning. But consumer prices rose 3.4% in the last 12 months. So even by the addled standards of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you’re losing 1.5% of purchasing power every year. Before taxes.

This is no accident. It’s policy, said Addison in June — when the yield on the 10-year was 2.95%! Even if, in the end, we discover it’s accidental policy.

Negative real interest rates are how the federal government will try to pay down some of its staggering debt.”

Thus, the final destruction of the Boomers’ retirement...

There is a resistance with most Americans to consider anything might be really out of line or wrong in our grand country that grew out of such a remarkable history and foundation. How could America, a word that once equated good, truth, freedom and right, be transformed into just the opposite? At least this is as most of the world sees us now.

At home we are constantly inundated by the TV with the might and right of the USA and soldier pictures evoking sympathy and empathy for our troops sacrificing themselves for our just causes. Playing off a history of proud American golden years, the tune today somehow just doesn’t really harmonize with the ugly truth. Many Americans are ashamed of what their government has done, or not done in the case of some disasters blamed on unfathomable incompetence. Many world cruising yachts now fly smaller American flags, some carrying a Canadian flag just in case. We are booed in some countries like a felon. What changed things? The answer isn’t blowing in the wind, it is right here in this little discourse.

We have to know deep in our hearts that making war and excusing one curious tragedy and blunder after another is unacceptable. But we respond to these exposed atrocities like a child might who has learned their parents were murderers and worse who killed their own brother and one sister. A child fights the reality of the tragedy and ignores it superficially, but very deep, they know and are scarred. They continue to play and frolic, even more industriously so, ignoring other kids enquires of how weird it must be to live with their murderous parents.

One can go through life in this altered state, or face the music and get clear on the truth and know that, somehow it will set you free.

I have come to terms with the realization that things are not what we have been led to believe by our parental like leaders. The list of abuses these parents of ours perpetrated is long and hard to accept. How we can better accept this situation is to see these parents as both just “step parents” who knocked off our real parents, our beloved founding fathers and mothers. Somewhere along the historical trail, we got a new set of parents. It happened when we were still very young and only today are we old enough and wise enough to see our step-parent government in a clearer picture and to know them for what they are and what they have done to us.

I am contending that the American government was hijacked and I have the exact day, month and year of when we were orphaned and the adoption papers were signed. The new step-parents on that day would vow to care for us as their own and in so doing, inherit the wealth that came with us, for we were very well endowed and worth an unqualified fortune. The papers were signed and sealed, on December 23, 1913 when blessings were given. If you Google that date, you will see the whole story on those webs. Our new government parents immediately moved into the mansion of America, our home that we inherited and was held in trust for us by an irrevocable constitution. When we look back, we had a good time, playing and enjoying life as any privileged children might of an inherited fortune. We were the envy of the kids in the neighborhood of the world for many years. We shared our toys with the less privileged and always helped a friend in need. We were good indeed.

Little did we know that we were being kept in the dark all those trusting years. We had no inclination to think anything was wrong when we enjoyed what seemed to be untold amounts of freedom and lots of candy. The candy wasn’t particularly good for us, but step daddy’s uncle had a Big Pharma store who sold a lot of it. We were given just enough toys to keep us happy while our inheritance; our heritage was being slowly stolen from us in the most insidious and undetectable ways. They even had the lawyers and executors paid off this whole time we were singing in the sunshine and playing in the sand. Of course we had to endure some bouts of economic flu now and then, losing some weight we had gained, but all seemed well enough. All these years those bribed and over paid nannies kept us misinformed as to what was really going on.

Who would have guessed that one day we would be old enough to understand things as they really were? We have to thank that nice old man and his concerned friends for enlightening us who lived out back and underground in the Internet forest that we were always told was the source of bad information and to be avoided like a poisoned apple. Because of that fear implanted in our minds, some of our brothers and sisters would not believe us. Some of us, just two of our ten, dared to investigate and learn the hidden truth.

Our beloved governing parents were not really who we thought they were and they were siphoning off our rightful fortune for themselves to offshore banks everywhere. They even had their own bank handling our money. They called it the FED. They mortgaged our beautiful mansion and bled us of all but the toys we had in our rooms. They had tricked us into believing they were investing for our future and this was seconded by our trusted executors and lawyers, and even the nannies. Everyone was in on it for their own personal gain, and some who vowed to tell us were murdered. We weren’t stupid, we just didn’t know. We were naïve and unaware and unbelieving that anything of this magnitude could ever happen to us. We will never forget the reassuring smiles and pats on the head from all those we trusted. They were all a party to our loss, which was their gain. Yes, they were a sick lot or this is just a silly game of Monopoly where anything is fair that wins.

We have been screwed, but not by our loving parents whom we were told died in a train wreck, but rather by the step parents who took us over. Our true parents died on the same train that took our step parents to Jekyll Island that winter where the papers were signed and when we got a new swing set right after. That was the day our vaults were opened and our inherited wealth would be systematically transferred to this cultish lot who pretended to care for and nurture us as they laughed behind our backs at how stupid we were and how easy it was to placate us with goodies while they stole our real fortunes.

I hope this little allegory served to mask the offending and difficult to accept concept of our having been short changed; to understate the event. If this is enough motivation for you to read on for the more precise and direct means that were used to undermine us while they mined us, read on.

The name of this little cartel masquerading as our benefactors is FED, like Fred with no “r”. It should have been called FRED, because it is a private banking institution/corporation that private people own. It literally runs our nation. Guys like Fred and Morgan and Rothschild and a few others that took over from time to time as the positions of ownership are inherited by the families of these private people; they are the culprits. That is correct; the FED is really Fred and not a Federal or Reserve anything. It does not report its corporate matters to the government save for only an appeasing brief of blah-blah to keep the poor Congress and Senate from the utter embarrassment of having to admit they have no control over the FED. They have been offered a token gesture of some kind of say in the form of a Volker, Greenspan or Mr. Bernanke today. A few have certainly taken the FED to task over the years, but you never hear about it in the mainstream media. JFK really tried to get rid of them with an executive order that started with 1111__ and coincidently died shortly thereafter. You will have the opportunity to ascertain this yourself for I have made it easier than what I had to go through to get it clear. To understand how they took over with the same control as a step parent of an adopted child, stay with it.

December 23, 1913, while most of Congress was sent home for Christmas with the promise that nothing very serious would be passed by the specially selected skeleton crew left to preside. That day they hurriedly passed a law that would change forever how America’s money was created and disbursed. You can’t get any more control over money than creating it and distributing it. To top off this new contracted out money control; two remarkable things were going to be the result of that deal. One was, the FED would create money out of thin air and LEND it to the US government. Now, think of the implications of that. Take a few minutes if you need to.

Did you come up with, this is a loan? Then the next logical thing would be, loans get paid back, would this one? What would be the point of calling it “debt” a loan if it wasn’t intended to be paid back? So, yes these loans had to be paid back. Then think of the cycle here. The money was printed up by the FED as the government needed it and it was actually loaned, normally through floating a bond or other government securities. The FED would sell these securities through their Wall Street connections where the public would buy them. Some of these Wall Streeters being the same people who owned the FED. This how the Government would pay back this loan from the FED, but that loan would be transferred to the public; that’s us, you and mini me. Now think this out in these steps as it is easy to get lost in how it is otherwise explained in FED talk. The FED is getting paid back had cash that it created out of thin air. If that isn’t a bit too unbelievable; how about this?

The FED has the audacity to charge interest on this free money they create from nothing, loan as if it were real and get paid back. Interest on top of the principal of money made from air. Could you imagine a more profitable way to make money ever? Consider that only 4% of money is actually paper and ink while most is just an entry in a computer register. The profit is every bit of money the USA has ever had introduced into circulation, plus interest. Un-freaking-believable! Who set that up?

Woodrow Wilson, known in rewritten American history as one of our great leaders, but known worldwide as a bit of a scum bag, signed the FED in and a day late, probably holding out for his new swing set to be installed before he sold the country out.

Because what I have revealed here is so unbelievable, I have troubled to put some evidence up to reference for support of the ridiculous statements above. Find that below in the form of different websites. Some of it is from news articles dating prior to when the FED had taken over the press in the early 1900’s and some quotes from Congressmen with balls back then and some from minutes of meetings and plenty, 131 pages of historical and documented and footnoted material, way too much for anyone except for a very curious mind could endure.

When you are done with this homework, which has to be the most important personal investigation of your entire life for what you learn here has affected and will impinge on you now and in the future, you will become wise in the ways of the world. Assuredly it is best to know the whole story and be confident before chewing on this next little scenario. Page two!

Scenario of what did the FED guys do with the money paid back to them? Now this is pure speculation of the most logical and reasonable nature one could ever come up with. Let’s paint in the scene here. The FED just lent and was paid back, with interest (LOL) all of this money, billions, well trillions, but that is unimaginable sum, so let’s think of millions and billions paid back and basically, in the bank, the FED bank. Now who owns the FED bank? That was revealed in the various pages of web information. Every source has some verification and validation but never have all of the owners, shareholders of the FED been revealed. It works like this; the regional FED banks own the Main FED and the ownership of the regional FED banks is where ownership gets very private.

For certain, everyone who studied it agrees, Morgan, Rothschild and Rockefeller are just 3 of a host of others in this very, very, very elite club. Now, picture this: These guys have got all this money, unaudited by the government and not discussed. Granted the FED offers up different kinds of statements and fuzzy stuff to keep the congressional busybodies at least looking not so foolish and looking like they care, but the real books are private.

This next revelation of logic is going to require its own paragraph.

Let’s approach this next scenario with another question. What are these guys going to do with all that money? Give it away? Burn it? Or spend it? Who thinks power hungry bankers give their money away? Raise your hand. Now leave the room for there is no hope for you unless you grasp the power of money. Who said “they would spend it?” You have to be on the right track here. It is only logical and reasonable that these guys would spend this money, but on what? As banker types they might call it “investing.”

Another revelation; What is there to buy with this money? Well, how about they buy up controlling interest in public and private companies that are successful, and using their clout with the government people ensure the further success of these companies in getting business, particularly government contracts. That would be a wise and good investment. When would this buying control ever end? When they ran out of money would be the logical answer. And, guess what? That would never happen unless they were put out of business by the Federal Government.

Too late now for they must be so entrenched and already have bought up all the good companies in America and who says they would have to limit that to just the USA? Next, deserves another paragraph of its own, but first; to keep this incredible monster alive and well, one would have to never stop buying and influencing every thing and everyone, everywhere their years of growing and weaving into every of this nation’s fiber. We, you and I, might be happy to settle for a billion and buy a nice ranch somewhere and live off the interest, but not this the type who would be in this unique and unreal position to basically control the world. The FED is just an extension of the all the Central Banks, which are headquartered out of England… and now we can guess where the Royal family gets their bucks too. Just a guess. These things are beyond our mental ability to fully comprehend in its magnitude.

While we FED owners are on a spending spree, why not buy up all of the media companies? The investigative journalist could be the catalyst of the undoing or burdensome explaining the truth of this FED scam. If the FED boys owned the media, lock stock and barrel, no renegade reporters would be getting anything printed that wasn’t approved by the editors in control with the FED agenda. This is why you are not seeing the inside of anything today that seriously gets into certain underwear. To achieve ownership of all of the mainstream media would be a task that would take some time, but when you have more money than time, you can buy time, and maybe they did just that. Imagine the 1500 or so private media companies in America in the past, each with their own reporters and freedom of the press to investigate and do the thing the press has always been associated with, that being a watch dog over government. This was always a part of the original plan given some of our founding fathers were journalists. Freedom of the press would require our FED owners to arrange to buy them up with their millions of billions and slowly merge them into just 6 very major corporate giant media companies. Always easier to watch and control 6 kids than 1500 or more. Now they have the freedom to control the press, a paradox that can’t be denied.

So, now that our private FED elite have all the media under control, what about some of the loose ends over there in the government. Since there are only 535 or so real players in the government, to include the Senators and Congressmen and Federal judges and of course the President and Vice President, with the cabinet et al. How much would it cost to buy all of them, one at a time? Would a Supreme Court Judge who is appointed by a paid for President accept a sum of a few million to cooperate? How about 25,000,000? Am I too low? They have plenty to spend like this. Imagine the unimaginable power here. Let’s say we understand the power of money and how the FED guys are so lucky to have a system where the most greedy, money and power hungry are attracted to the top of any government. That 535 arrived there with their hands out. Hard to believe? Keep on studying. A perfect fit. The FED guys have the money and so bloody much of it that they can afford to pay a fortune to each of them at this level of control and position and continue paying. If they were smart like the Mafia they would record these payments unknown to the payee and show them their own home movies when they balked at doing a favor. What happens when they come across resistance for one to join? I am sure they have for not all who climb the ladder are of the latter. These dissidents seem to die from one cause or another. And that should be a poignant lesson to those who have been given the same choice, big money or your life?

Since 1913, they have had plenty of time to have bought and paid for about all of America they might want. Those who would appose they would buy and or they would die. Some quit their posts out of disgust and retired into oblivion and you will get a feel for how they must have felt when you know what they knew.

The greatest Monopoly game on earth and with the same kind of technically worthless paper money is America. The only difference between the game of Monopoly and the monopoly of real life is, the properties are real in ‘so called’ real life.

I had intended a long list of websites with explanations and copied pages, etc. when I started writing. But about 5 hours ago I received this interesting offer to visit the site indicated below. It basically says what I had planned to map out here, and does it in just over 3 hours, the best 3 hour education you will ever receive free. It is better than any college course and probably should be viewed by everyone in America.

See what you think.

By Robert B.

Copy & paste in your browser:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936&q=the+money+masters&total=1234&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Tonga, in the South Pacific, is a fine example of a beautiful, unspoiled, low-populated relocation 'Haven' in this world of turmoil !

Date: 7/21/2011

First let me say that I have no business or financial affiliation with Cocomo Village, its owner or the sales staff. Additionally I have not received any financial compensation for this report which, by the way, was my idea. I am simply a client/customer of the Cocomo Village land project on Hunga Island located in the Vava’u group in the Kingdom of Tonga. I currently own the lease to lots # 1 and # 2 in Section 'A' and are currently making arrangements to also acquire lot # 3 in that same section. Now, with that out of the way, I can explain why I have written this letter and what I found out in my recent trip to Hunga island in Tonga.

I wrote this as a service to those who have already (as I did) purchased (leased) one or more lots in the Cocomo Village project (hereafter referenced as CV) and who have purchased these parcels sight unseen as I did. I have also given permission to allow this letter to be copied unaltered to those who are interested in the last remaining lots as I would have eagerly accepted such information had it existed before I made my decision to invest in CV.

I know in talking to John Geering (the Dir. of Sales for the CV project), that like me, many clients of this project are eager for news about the lots, the road and what they have purchased. Well, I put my boots to the ground and went to Hunga island to see for myself. I left on July 9th and came back on July 19th 2011. My concerns were many and like you, I wondered if this whole thing was legitimate or some kind of scam where I would not see my investment money again. It is true that some shady real estate deals have happened in Tonga in the recent past. However, as you will see in this letter, it is my firm belief that this CV project is legitimate. More about that later.

In order to describe this land you have invested in (or perhaps considering) I must first establish a couple of things.

First Tonga is unlike any place I have ever been. The land, the people and the atmosphere is in many ways vary different than our Western culture. My visit and exposure to this place have made a lasting impression on me. It is important for everyone who has already invested in CV or those who are interested in doing so, to know that you are not just investing in a plot of dirt somewhere on earth. You are buying into much more, with all the rewards and challenges that this beautiful remote location will offer to those with the determination and vision to see it through. In this case, you are investing in a community, a village and a people with a rich tradition and history. It is vary important that we who intend to move to Hunga understand this as it will be central in our success and enjoyment while living on this paradise island, and yes, this island is about as close to a tropical paradise as you are probably able to imagine within the bounds of reality of course. Second, we who move to Hunga will always be guests and not owners of this land. As you may know, it is illegal for Tongans to sell their ancestral land and it’s my opinion that this is the way it should be, otherwise some giant multinational corporation could swoop down and buy up all the land and displace the people into homelessness in their own country such as has already happened in many parts of the earth. How we treat the land and the native Tongans will directly effect our quality of life while living in Hunga. It is my sincere hope that CV will be a community of respectful, courteous and helpful neighbors willing to work together with each other and the neighboring Hungan village.

You may find this report a bit lengthy but I felt it was necessary to include all the information enclosed. If this was just a plot of land in New Mexico or a dry dirt patch in West Texas, I would not have much to say. But this is not the USA. This is Tonga in the remote South Pacific about as close and as far as you are ever will want to be. It is special and deserves more consideration than your standard plot of land. It is a place for anyone willing to embark on an adventure of a lifetime. So, lets get started!

Meet Lord Fulivai Lord of Hunga Island, the newly appointed Governor of the entire Vava’u island group.

While in Tonga, I had the fortune of running into some key people who really helped me and who know how to get things done. From taxi drivers to the governor of all Vava’u, I count myself fortunate. I will later list these people and their contact information so that when you go to Tonga, you will have the right people helping you along saving you time and money. The only exception being Lord Fulivai as I did not think to ask permission to forward his phone number or contact information. (sorry). However, he is not hard to find as he works in the Government building in Neiafu proper.

The above picture is one I took of Lord Fulivai in his office in Neiafu. He took the time out of his busy schedule to see me as he was informed that a CV customer was coming to town and he wanted to personally meet me to make sure I had a way to the CV property (only accessible by boat) and that my needs were being met.

He explained to me how it was his fathers vision to create the Cocomo Village project long ago. It was a long hard fight to convince the government to allow such a project to exist since it had never been done before. Fulivai Jr. (above) meanwhile lived in New Zealand for the most part and until his father died, had little interest in Tonga or the island of Hunga. But as this newly appointed Governor explained to me, when he came back to take his fathers place as Lord of Hunga Island, he wept when he saw what his father was trying to accomplish, the beauty of the island and the care for his people living there in the small village.

You see, this is not just about leasing property to outsiders for a buck. This is about drawing people to Hunga to benefit his people. It was argued that by letting people who are not Tongans live on Hunga, that they would bring their expertise with them. Doctors, engineers, mechanics etc. who are willing to teach others, or even do business in Tonga. As I explained before, by moving to Hunga, you are entering more than just a land deal, you are joining a community. It is unavoidable. People successfully live here by working together as a community. I will go into more detail about this later. But for now, just know that Lord Fulivai is continuing his fathers dream to help his people.

So, what is of great importance to CV investors is that the owner of the lots, land and island is the King of Tonga the honorable King George Tupou V. Below him is the Lords of the ancestral lands, the founding families of long ago who received the land via inheritance as has been passed down to Fulivai after his fathers passing.

Next the people who live on the land: At one time long ago, the people were little more than slaves to the King and Lords. However, slavery was abolished hundreds of years ago and the people now live under a democratic constitution that currently could be the envy of the United States of America in its current political condition. (Just my opinion). How it was explained to me was that the people live on the lands tax-free without payment. The only stipulation is that when the King or Lord asks someone to do something whether it pertains to a social function (a funeral or wedding for instance) or a job that needs to be done, the people are asked and obligated to comply.

In talking with Lord Fulivai, I found him to be bright, intelligent honorable and a God fearing man. The overall impression is that he is honest and caring and I instantly felt that I liked him. If Cocomo Village was owned by anyone else other than the Governor of Vava’u, I would be skeptical about investing any of my hard-earned money in this project. However, not only is the owner of the land directly involved with this project, he was also recently appointed Governor of the entire Vava'u Island Group. So knowing this first-hand, I am more confident than ever in my decision to have acquired these lease properties !

One of the things that happened to me while riding on one of the privately owned ferries, is that my bag containing all my clothes, camping gear, food, diving gear, kayak, etc. came up missing somewhere in transit between the Capital and Neiafu while riding the ferry. I would not have mentioned this incident but for the fact that between Lord Fulivai and another key person I met, Mr. Salesi Paea, I recovered my bag without so much as one item missing. Both Fulivai and Salesi were vary upset such a thing had happened and much effort was put into finding my bag and to assure all it’s items were in tact. Vava’u relies much on tourism and the last thing they want is for a visitor to have anything stolen to sully their reputation. I greatly appreciated the effort put into recovering my bag. (More about this later)

So, I found out that the land and the owner are legitimate. That was a big relief !

Here I need to back up a little since unless you intend to sail across the Pacific ocean in your own sail boat, you will probably be flying to Tonga as I did and I have some advice and information to pass on to you that I think will be useful to you.

I currently live and work in Galveston Texas. Most flights to Tonga from the US fly out of LAX in California. So, I had to purchase a round trip ticket from Houston to LAX. Then I flew with Air Pacific airlines on a 747 jet in the late evening. In my opinion, this is the best time to fly as the majority of the flight took place in the night time where you not only eat up 8 hours of the travel time sleeping but you are spared much of the radiation exposure you get flying at high altitudes during the day under the suns rays. The flight took about 11 hours which landed at the NadI international airport in Fiji. (picture below)

Nadi international airport Fiji

Next, I had to take a small commuter plane to another Fiji airport in Suva to wait for yet another plane to fly me to the capital of Tonga, Nuku’alofa on Tongatapu island. This flight was included in my ticket purchase to Togatapu.

Little Suva airport in Fiji

First thing you notice is that you are not in Kansas anymore when you arrive in Fiji as right away the traditional dress and uniform are different and reflect the style and culture you are now entering.

The color black is often the dress up color and is also the color used for church and funeral proceedings. The lower picture is of two teenage girls crossing the road in Neiafu town. Notice the umbrella. No it was not raining. Tongans seem to avoid the sun if all possible. They use umbrellas or anything handy to provide shade. A broad leaf, a piece of cardboard…really whatever is handy to shade themselves from the sun. Again, I never saw even so much as one inappropriately dressed young person. No wild hair styles, no short shorts or revealing skirts or shirts. The boys all wore shirts and conservative shorts or pants. These people are about as God-fearing and modest a group as you will ever find anywhere.

The atmosphere is one of a great big family of brothers and sisters, uncles and fathers, mothers and aunts. There was a tussle at one of the local rugby matches in Neiafu recently between fans of two local teams. But when it was over, they all hugged and forgave each other as, after all, they are all related to each other and are really one big family.

From Suva Fiji you end up in the Capital airport in Tongatapu. (next page) A small but adequate facility.

Fua’amotu International airport, Tongatapu

From here you will want to hire a cab. Before this though, you will need to exchange some money into the local Tongan currency (TOP) There is a booth at the airport that will provide this service. However, you need to get to the booth quickly as they tend to go home early if they think there will not be any business. In that case, you will need to find a bank. If you somehow arrive on a Sunday (which I don’t think is even possible) you will be out of luck as almost everything is shut down including the radio station and TV stations! They take the day of rest seriously here.

The taxi driver I found was very helpful and knew the cheapest bed and breakfast in the best location in town. He knew a business owner who would do him a favor and exchange some of my US Dollars into Tongan currency for me. The average price from the airport to the capital is $40 Tongan dollars [TOP]. As of this writing, one US Dollar would exchange for about $1.50 Tongan. So where you would think your Dollar would go farther, be prepared to find higher prices for just about everything especially in any tourist part of town. All fresh food and farm goods are inexpensive. However a meal in a restaurant may run you $12 to $18 TOP and up. A mug of beer runs about $6.00, a fancy meal can run as high as $40 TOP a plate. You can find less expensive places like the Chinese food place on the water front where I got a full meal 3 dish dinner for about $20 TOP that was very good.

For reasonable accommodations I recommend the “Pacific Bed and Breakfast” at Maufanga in Tongatapu. Phone: 676-871-8676 (e-mail: info@pacificbedandbreakfast.com . Website: [ www.Pacificbedandbreakfast.com ] Ask for Colin Hardwick, a nice Australian man who will serve you “Brakie” (breakfast) in the morning. For $60 TOP a night you cant beat it. It comes with a common kitchen for cooking your own meals if you wish. This saves money for a family on a budget as you can buy your food in the open market just down the road or along the waterfront road and then take it back and eat fresh organic food for a change. The bathroom and shower is shared between the rooms but there is one upstairs and one down stairs so I never found it to be a problem. This B&B is not to far from the Billfish bar and grill which had pretty good food, reasonable beer and a nice atmosphere. It was near the ferry terminal and city docks so if you are taking the ferry to Vava’u, you are not far away. Farther down the road along the water front is the open air fish market where I saw fresh squid, octopus, tropical fish, clams crab and muscles. All along the road are small vendors selling tapioca roots, coconuts, bananas, tomato, cabbage and other assorted veggies. They will stay out from 10 in the morning till 10 at night waiting for someone to buy their home grown produce.

In town, they have a large open air market that you don’t want to miss. About a 30 min. walk from the B&B. There, you will find all sorts of interesting local stuff (food arts and crafts). In the stores in town are mostly imported items are from Asia, China to be sure and most of it is inexpensive plastic and clothing items. You find quite a bit of imported Chinese noodles and packaged food items. For instance, it is a treat here to open a package of top ramen noodles and pour the seasoning packet over the dry noodles and eat it right out of the bag. Since this is the case, every store or market has various types of packaged ramen noodles.

If you are planning on flying to Vava’u from the capital, you had better book ahead of time as the planes are usually booked solid. The local island hopper airline is called Chathams Pacific. You can book on-line where you will automatically be billed in Tongan dollars when you use your credit card. (automatic exchange rate service) The web site is: www.Chathamspacific.com You would be well advised to book your tickets when you buy your other flights unless you intend to take the local ferry that eats up a good 20 hours of your vacation each way. If you wait to purchase your tickets when you get here, you may find every flight booked solid!

The ferry is $88 TOP per person. The office to buy your passage is in town in a hidden upper room that you will never find unless you have help from someone who knows where it is. Any taxi driver will take you there. Here is the web site with the schedules for the ferries: [ www.tongaholiday.com/?page_id=284 ] scroll down to the second listing of fares and times to Vava’u.

Try to get on the newest ferry. Be prepared to sleep on the hard deck or floor. Unfortunately, when I arrived in Tonga it turned out to be the King’s birthday so the ferry I was counting on taking did not leave as advertised. So I ended up taking one of the old privately run ferries called the “Pulupaki” I was told by a local that it is similar to the one that sank drowning over 50 people not long ago. This older boat also does not have any security for the luggage (which I found out) and has a history of “lost” baggage. The new ferry has a locked and secure hold and is no doubt far more seaworthy. The Pulupaki is an old Japanese transport ship that in my opinion as a US Coastguard licensed captain has surpassed its safe working life long ago. If inspected by the Coastguard this boat would be shut down in an instant. But, we are a long way away from the US and the boat still floats and hasn’t sunk yet so it is still in use. Again, not fancy just functional. We departed at 9:00pm where over 200 people showed up at the docks. Only about 120 actually boarded the ferry, the rest were there seeing the others off as you would a family member who is taking off on a cruise ship vacation. Getting on the ship is a squeeze since it’s first come first serve for the prime spots to flop down. I ended up sleeping on the upper deck in between the folds of my poncho. It is a sight to see people lying around anywhere they could squeeze. Most took grass mats with them for this purpose. In the inner room, it was wall to wall people like some giant sleepover in your uncles den. Tongans think nothing of lying beside (or on) a perfect stranger. Again, they act like one big related family.

The ferry passage was a long affair, stopping twice in the night where launch boats on-loaded people set for smaller islands. Then we stopped at Ha’apai island and offloaded some containers after a long wait as the rear cargo door would not open and had to be pried open with metal bars and feet. This is where it was thought my bag may have ended up. No one knows for sure. We left the Capital at 9:00pm and did not get to Neiafu in Vava’u until 5:00pm the following day. On arrival in Neiafu, I was greeted by a local businessman by the name of Salesi Paea (phone number: 676-874-0000. E-mail address: vavautours@yahoo.com) If you have a problem, if you need to go somewhere, if you need lodging, if you need logistic help with a shipping container, imports, building requirements and whatever else you think you may need including transportation while in Vava’u, this is your man.

He is president of the tourist association in Neiafu where he takes his responsibility vary seriously. When he found out my bag was missing, he went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure I got it back. He contacted the shipping company, he filed a complaint, he contacted the police, he lodged a formal charge against the shipping owner, threatening to go to the newspapers exposing the companies lax security. He had me list all the contents of my bag and then took the time to type out that list and forwarded it to the ferry company owners. He made sure everything was done to get my bag back. As I said earlier, even Lord Fulivai made some calls on my behalf. In the end, I got my bag back somehow. Thanks to Salesi and Lord Fulivai!

Salesi’s Backpacker style accommodations. He had 2 more of these buildings.

Anyway, I ended up staying at Salesi Paea’s apartment house (above) at the top of the hill in Neiafu. Nice view form the balcony. Not far to town. Full kitchen, TV and clean bed. The only thing that was an inconvenience was the hot water situation. Salesi did not have the propane hooked up so I took cold showers which was not bad really. The price was right ($50.00 TOP per night) Salesi’s service more than made up for the brisk showers I can tell you!

If you are looking for something more expensive, Salesi’s brother owns the fanciest hotel in town where the beds go for up to $200.00 per night and up. The resorts charge this much and more. The only other affordable place I was able to find in town was the Adventure Backpackers Lodge at 1 Main Road. You can see many reviews on the Internet by a Google search where most people rate them as a good value. They offer dorm-style rooms for $30 TOP per night, private room, $89.00 TOP and up. Phone: (676) 70955. E-Mail: avbakpak@yahoo.com

Salesi can help you get with one of the locals who lives in Hunga for a ride to and from the Island of Hunga. This will be about a 1-3/4 hour ride in a narrow wooden launch powered by a small outboard motor. Be mindful that you will not see one life jacket anywhere. So, you may want to bring your own. The going rate is anywhere from $10 to $20 TOP for a ride to the Island. I was told $5.00 but I think that is what the locals pay to chip in for gas. I would give them a min. of $10 as fuel is vary expensive here and these are poor people. You catch the ride in front of the market.

You can also rent boats by the day if you wish, the least expensive being $150.00 TOP per day and up. As I wanted to spend the night on Hunga, I decided to ride along with the local villagers on a launch that is owned by a Hungan willing to take extra passengers to and from the island.

[8 'Cocomo Village' lots acquired in the last month !]

Ocean-View Hunga Island, Vava'u, Tonga 'Cocomo Village' Lots for Only US$4,950. Each - JOIN US !

Sections 'A' "SOLD OUT" - ONLY 19 Lots Remain Available in Sections 'B' [JUST 2 LOTS] and 'C' !

Retire or 'second-home' in 'Paradise' instead of suffering a lowering standard-of-living in the U.S. with ever-increasing forms of taxation to pay for the politicians' boondoggles !

1. FINANCING AVAILABLE UNTIL 31 DEC. '11 ONLY - EASY 3.8% FINANCING ON 2 OR MORE LOTS WITH JUST $1,110. DOWN ON EACH LOT OR 10% DEPOSIT OPTION GOOD FOR 90 DAYS ! 2. If one suspects the worst, which can be war and war can be nuclear, then get out of the Northern Hemisphere. 3. When you understand that, go to the Southern Hemisphere and there a few choices....to eliminate. Places where the treacherous drug culture gangs have thrived, like Central & South America and South Africa. 4. Remaining are AU, NZ and a couple more sisters of the US & EU Illuminati, and US operated SP island nations, which will be in the same boat as USA mainland. 5. Safest move - Independent island nations like Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu, with nothing of major interest to the acquiring and controlling nation()s. 6. Vanuatu has Malaria, so that's out. 7. Fiji has had a military coup. 8. TONGA is not only the first choice for all the reasons, including, you can actually afford to live there; TONGA is the only choice after elimination !

We did it! He did it! She did it! They did it! You can too! This is how to and even a little of why in there as well.

To make this change from your homeland in the Northern Hemisphere, where most of us lived and endured, you need to go south and west, cross over the equator and then you can breathe deeply again. It is actually that simple. People run off to paradise all the time when they take a holiday to Tahiti or Fiji or even that lovely little island group called 'Tonga'. They pack a suitcase and get on a plane and fly to where life thrives. 12 hours more or less from most places up there will have you in a whole new world, but like driving from San Jose California to Portland Oregon, (630 miles) it just takes a little travel time. At least when flying you do nOt have to stop for gas and meals are served while someone else drives. Not too bad really.

Now, if you want to live here in paradise; 'just do it', to get Nike about it. After you arrive, just stick a stick in the ground and declare the place your home, and then stay there. That is accomplished by not using your return ticket. So, moving to the South Pacific is as easy as taking a holiday/vacation and merely continuing on with that experience. I know; there is a little more to it, but only as much you want to make of it.

To be fair know that different countries require different things of you to allow you to legally take up residence for more than 6 months at a time. Some countries, Fiji and Tonga, require that you fly out after you have been in the country for 6 months, but you can fly right back in the next day and go for another six months and repeat that every six months, if you prefer to do that over securing a residency visa. Some people live like that and have no problem just flying out to a nearby island country, say from Tonga to Fiji or Fiji to Tonga and back. That takes about an hour and twenty minutes of your time each way. The cost varies but generally $450-$500 USD or so for the round trip.

The other way to become a more permanent resident and not have to ever fly out again is to apply for a residency visa, which is renewable and, conditionally, good forever. Tonga seems to be the easiest to qualify for such a residency. They have basically two kinds of residency visas, one is working/business and the other is nonworking/retired. The nonworking visa requirements are simple, just show an assured income of $10,000 Tongan dollars, or about $6000 USD/CA/AU in annual income. Most retirement or disability incomes suffice. Sometimes they will just accept a bank account that looks bigger than theirs.

The other visa offered in Tonga is a working/business visa where to qualify for that you need to invest $50K Tongan dollars or about half of that at $28,000 USD. Not a lot of money to invest in a business, but some businesses are cheap to set up and operate in Tonga. For example; there is a catamaran tour boat for sale there for $29,000. Buying the boat qualifies you for the business visa and residency. People have just moved out and bought a boat or a home as a business and then use it for business. Using these two countries as an example, you can see that getting the legal right to reside is not too difficult. Of course, if you just arrived with your suitcase and decided to stay as a more permanent resident, you would have to work out with your homeland banks how to wire transfer those sums over. Best to arrange that before flying out and that usually means selling everything and getting liquid. There is a visa application process, but not worth getting into since opening a bank account these days in most banks can be ridiculously more complex. You do need a health certificate for the visa, probably not for opening a new bank account—not yet.

I could make a bigger deal of this move to paradise, but it isn’t really necessary. After you live here you see how simple it was to achieve, then frequently you think you are still not far enough away from that crumbling tower up there. Looking back is always easier than looking ahead. Of course, there are issues in any move of what to do with your stuff. The best solution generally is: just sell it and all of it. The cost of shipping what is valuable has to be weighed against replacing it. Cars for example, talking about used ones, are cheaper to buy in paradise than the cost to ship yours and then yours probably has the steering wheel on the wrong side. Nearly useless in any place where the English have been. Anyway, it is fitting that driving on the other side of the world would be on the other side of the road. Don’t worry about adapting to the switch over, even the Tongans drive on the wrong side of the road. At least they go slow and with both hands on the wheel and one foot on the gas and the other on the brake.

Household goods are all available in these island countries. Most of the electric power is 220-240 volt, so 110 v appliances don’t work without a voltage drop device. Sell the old stuff and take the cash with you and buy new or used gear in the land where you intend to live. Everyone has their favorite things they can’t live without, so ship them, but sure enough you actually can live without most of these things because for some reason living suddenly becomes the most important thing and things lose their cling. Kind of like going to Heaven, you don’t even need shoes anymore. Thongs and a pair of Crocs or even the $10. Croc replicas are good enough to go to the opera in. 'What opera' ? The wife just said with a little displeasure. [Nothing is perfect]. I told her I was writing about the phantom opera in Tonga. OK, so some things we are missing, but the local native gigs make up for it and are quite an experience. If these shows were ever taken on the road to London, NY or San Francisco, they might be a bigger hit than the played out Phantom of the Opera. I know, nobody really liked that one - they just pretended. The point I am making is; you can’t have everything, but some things you will never miss while living here that you can’t live without back home today. TV is one of them.

This anti-TV talk could take me hours and pages, but yes, they have satellite TV in these islands and you can have it, all you want, but the distraction outside window of what nature is showing, the ocean scene, the whales passing by below or natives in canoes fetching your dinner, tends to distract us from what some faked up bizarre life situation is playing on the Tube. Who wants to watch Discovery Channel’s featuring of new killer weapons with life like gelatin filled dummies set up to take a bullet hit as entertainment? When you get out from under the TV ether you will not be interested in the demented '1984' TV news either. Sports may be another thing, but I have seen a room full of people at the Vava'u yacht club assemble there especially to watch “the game” and within a few minutes, few are paying attention. One avid fan said; 'You know, since living out here, I have lost some interest in beaming into the screen watching guys running around throwing or kicking a ball at each other. However, I can see now how confined prisoners would certainly be into it'. Are we prisoners in our homelands and just don’t get it?

I just heard you say: what about my home back home, my job, my, my well even family? I agree; flying back home everyday would be like commuting to work by car from Portland to San Jose, not practical. So, you have to quit your job, if you are unlucky enough to have one. Most don’t these days, or not for long, so we hear. If you can conjure up enough cash to meet the annual requirements for the visa, you can live so cheap that you do NOt need a job. Some people live off of what grows in their back yard. No one ever starved in these islands. Actually, quite to the obvious contrary, indeed. For hundreds of years and way before money was introduced out here, and way before imported corned beef was brought in, people lived quite well and actually, frankly and unwittingly, lived much better, much healthier. People live fine in paradise that have never had any money. In fact, there is an interesting correlation; the less money you have the better your health and life, if health is the core key to a good life. So, if you canNOt sell your home, back home, do what so many wisely have, just leave it. If you can’t convert it into useful cash, what good is it? Don’t feel sorry for the bank(sters), just in case that was a consideration. You can have any kind and size of home you want in the islands, just a matter of money is all. Labor is cheap, materials are more expensive. The offset is a plus here which manifests in cheaper houses.

In the islands you can live very well with little more than a traditional bure, or fale as these grass huts are called along the beach. Grass huts work pretty well actually, and they have some very fancy ones. Some of the highest priced hotels use them as guest cottages, so you could suffer like their guests too, and they pay thousands for the experience. Granted, the gold fixtures and fancy extras are part of the hotel experience, but what does a toilet cost? To build a grass house can be cheap. Ask any native how much they paid a thousand years ago, even a hundred, even Fifty. Zero is the price then and now, if you learn how.

I am trying to knock the chocks out from under your tires, you know, those blocks that keep wheels from moving. Most blocks are in the mind, so just change your mind is the simple answer. Granted, there is one area that has a tremendous tie around our mind that one cannot just sell off and renew at the other end of the trail. Family, friends and especially your own kids and maybe grandkids—they are living weight to your fate. They have a hold on us and bind us to our status quo. The only valid excuse for your moving a bit further might be; you will set up a place for them in paradise too. So when the time comes, just fly to where our parents and grandparents have historically always held the homestead.

When I have asked some folks when was the last time you were physically together with your loved ones, many say, well, years, in some cases. When I ask how far away they live, most say over 600 miles. My point is: if they didn’t see them because the drive of 600 miles took too long, then they can justify the move to paradise because it takes about the same time to travel there or back, that being all day, same as driving the 600 miles. Yes, it costs more to fly, but at least you can do it. What you save in living expenses might allow two trips per year. Check this out.

Cost of living: We have had a home in both Fiji and Tonga and at the same time. In both places, if you are using solar panels, electric power has no monthly bill. In Fiji, without solar, we pay up to FJD $70 or in US dollars about $40 USD per month in electric and we waste the stuff. The water bill in USD is under $3. per month, the phone is what you make it but considering you will be calling home regularly, like we do, ours is about US$55. each month. Gas for the propane oven and hot water heater is about US$25. each month. House and land taxes are ZERO in Fiji. In Tonga, figure one dollar per day. Car insurance is $65. per year or choose a boat instead of a car ! House insurance is 1% of insured value. Food is wild and free from the yard and from the purposeful garden; we just had to buy the seeds. We buy the fresh fish, the best at about $1.50 per pound. The open native market has about everything the garden has and much more. Some things are so cheap, like bananas, that even though we grow them, we still buy them at the market. We have hundreds of free coconuts, but they are up the tree, (called the tree of life and for good reasons—in WWII, they used the coconut water in lieu of blood plasma) so for about 60 cents each, we can buy them husked and ready to drink or eat. There are some tasty foods native to the islands that have local names that sound like Monsanto pesticides, but they are over the moon tasty, and with no chemicals. We use passion fruit vines as a decorative cover for a water tank and the fresh fruit is the bonus.

Imported goods are what cost real money. Most of it you can actually live without, well, except ketchup. Vermont made pure maple syrup is another vice. So, you pay double maybe. Use it sparingly and savor what is imported and most likely unhealthy. The saying: too much of a good thing is not good for you, certainly applies to many of these high priced packaged goods. Food and healthy diet 'R US' is how to see the additional benefit of living in paradise. So many people have healing stories about throwing out the big pharma medicines in lieu of some strange leaves and teas. To put it bluntly, you are not going to get genuinely healthy food in our homelands, just not possible given what has transpired over the years there. Even if you live on the farm, something is messed, GMO food being one big factor. The soil is played out, or the radioactive fallout from Japan in the soil is played in. A book could be written about that situation, but in the islands, no fallout, no GMO, no depleted soil or generally, not any pesticides either. (2714 words).

OK, so I hit my number-of-words limit but there is so much more. Look for 'Page Two' and the rest of the story coming soon; meanwhile, get on with selling out of what is going down and buying in [Vava'u, Tonga] what is moving up.

As ever, Robert Bryce"

This is an invitation for you to join us. We have room for just a few more, and you will be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to get a Residency Visa ! Investing in your own or any business for just a minimum of $26,000. USD earns you a Business vVisa. A retirement (non-working) Visa requires only $5,500 USD in ANNUAL assured income to qualify. Where in the world is it easier than residing in Tonga?

Like the foot soldier that made it to the safe bunker, we are home-free, or free from home, as it might more accurately be restated. We are now in full control over our lives here in paradise. We are self-sufficient. We do not rely on any system in the hands of others that might fail us. We provide our own electric power, water and even food and lots of it. We are insulated from the worst that might come to pass and yet, in the event of the best of all of what the world might actually render up, we would still chose this paradise to live and prosper.

We lack nothing that was vital or important back home. We have stores, building supplies, restaurants, hotels and even a mini shopping mall. Some of us have been here for many years. Even back when the world was a better place; this was still the best place. In our paradise, not much has changed. We live a life that is depicted as what Heaven is like. Fruit, none forbidden, with gardens of free food, tropical forests, blue skies, azure seas and white sandy beaches, and just like in Heaven, no serpents, snakes, wild animals nor any critters that can harm us. We have no snakes, dragons or deadly anything in our Heavenly haven. Not many places in the world can boast of being able to allow an unattended child to roam freely about and never fear anything will harm child or adult, for there is nigh or nothing so inclined in this paradise. We are like you, some of us from near and some from afar: Canada, London, Malibu, New York, California and Austria, Germany, Italy, AU, NZ and Norway, Mexico and even South America. The reasons why we live in this remarkable place run very deep and might take many pages to thoroughly explain, but for the sake of those who have little time or penchant, I will recap the driving forces.

We live in the Vavau Island Group, one of the four island groups in the Kingdom of Tonga and the one that wins in about every category that people use to chose a new place to live on the planet. We will get into these reasons, choices and why Vavau, but first, we might want to set the stage for why some of these choices even need to be considered. The reasons for any of us to move from our homelands range from urgent to why bother. Vavau remains the logical choice regardless of the reasons of urgency or complacency. I have found that the people who study the world situation in depth, some with hundreds of hours of research, tend to believe that we are headed for a worldwide crisis—save for a very few ports of refuge. There are few places on earth that are impervious to these concerns, warranted or not, and the aptly named 'Port of Refuge' of Vavau Tonga is one.

The folks who have studied the world situation see a looming worldwide meltdown on the horizon in spite of what most of our smiling leaders are telling their nervous herds and flocks. Cowboys have been deceiving cattle since they invented slaughterhouses. Mesmerizing and reassuring voices of exalted ones whom we trust singing 'Home on the Range', keep us grazing right into the stockyard. Those who are aware of the phenomenon claim that this time we have a disaster on our horizon that is unlike anything endured ever before and it is caused by something we have never experienced before. The matter being, in part, something to do with having tapped out both economic and human growth with populations that reached the limit of what earth can support. The huge demanding consumption by our cities and countries of our 6-billion (and growing) termites are eating the place up. They say we are hitting the walls of the limits of what the earth can tolerate in its loss of its vital resources. This combined with a similar situation in the monetary system which is wholly dependent upon enormous growth; we are set up for a multiple car-train wreck. It is a little like the guy who jumped off the Empire State Building, as he passed the 23rd floor, he remarked aloud that everything was just fine, save for it being a bit windy. The termite colony that finally eats the entire house loses it all on the same day too. A rude awakening is in store, they assure us.

Those who have taken the time to study what we have done to ourselves offer another analogy, that being; the effects of exponential progression which can be related to rampant population growth. Using a football stadium as the visual, they say to best understand how population growth and diminishing food resources can sneak up on us like a hungry thief in the night. Picture the illustration of how just one drop of water placed in the stadium, allowing it to double every minute until it grows such that it overflows the highest seats of the stadium. It takes the stadium awhile to fill up to five feet of water below, and from that five foot level, in just seven minutes the water will be over the high seats. The point being, we are approaching the five foot level in the stadium of life and we humans cannot comprehend the thing we have done to ourselves. Nor can we comprehend the speed at which it can happen that we hit the walls of resources. We are wrecking the place, evidence the Gulf oil volcano. At some point the acceleration of it occurs so rapidly, like an atomic explosion, which will be too late to do anything about it in the time left as it explodes in our faces.

The first to get hit hard will be the cities since they are wholly reliant upon everything delivered and provided by people and systems they have no idea of who they are. The students of this phenomenon tell us that all of the big world leaders have their hideouts and safe havens all lined up. They have their own lifeboats, but what about you?

We have a little haven in the Grand South Pacific and ever separate from the continuing perils and conflicts of the 'Nordstrom Hemisphere'. We are safely secure in our tropical isle as if in a magical castle with a big moat around it. We don’t know what to believe for certain either, but in any event, we are about as secure here as one could be on this assuredly changing planet. The worst case scenario might just be an enhanced version of 'Chicken Little' where the sky is falling. In keeping with the fairy tales, we chose this place for less vile reasons, more like for Alice in Wonderland experiences of living in a fun and amusing place that can laugh at the serious world on the other side. The virtues of Vavau need to be laid out in order that you might be able to make comparisons.

Assuming the worst, Vavau is out of harms way from about anything man or nature could fling our way. The island group is rising, not sinking, and is protected by a huge reef and island system that keeps us in a safe and secure lake-like environment in the middle of the ocean. Some of the island cliffs are barriers are over 600 feet high. Tsunami that if you can. On the brighter side, we have all of the attributes of the first choice in lifestyle living. Start with the air: you can’t see it, which can be scary at first since it doesn’t appear to be there. No soot, smog, dust nor chemical pollutants to remind you it is at hand. So you breathe deeper naturally and, remarkably, the body responds. The water is as soft and pure as rainwater falling through clean air; for that is where we get our most potable essence of life, from the see-through, blue sky. The grass is truly greener. The earth is naturally rich and has not been depleted nor artificially recharged with chemicals that synthetically stimulate what results in fake food. When you eat a home-grown tomato from Tonga, you taste it and feel it working like Popeye did with his spinach. Real food is a wholly another study and how that is part of what is having us loving it here. Fish: imagine the kind that are not running on oil or eating it so we can too. Clean, unpolluted and vital are the expected in these crystalline waters where you can see 100 feet deep. This is just another thing to get used to when you come from the polluted bays where you cannot see anything but the surface of the water. I remember feeling a sensation akin to a fear of heights when I first looked down into the water while stepping from the boat to the deep-water dock. I could see to the bottom as clearly as through the air. It was like living in an artificial world, but it was real.

Anything this beautiful back home would have had to been fake; something from a theme park. In Vavau we live in natures own naturally made theme park. The entire island group is like a huge resort, the world’s largest perhaps, within find numerous restaurants, hotels, accommodation choices and supplies to build your own resort or home as you might see fit.

So what about building a home here and living happily ever after? Got to live somewhere; might as well be Paradise. Building a home is something you can hire out with confidence. You just need to select a good place to have that home. How about in a community of like minded folks who enjoy the neighborhood environment with maybe a house next door, even if you can’t see it through your own private jungle? On the island of Hunga in the Vavau lake-like water wonderland there is a community of about 70 home-sites offered very recently, with probably a few left by the time you are done reading this. The sites are on a 1,000 acre island within the great reef protected inter-island waterway, about 12 miles from the main island where the main town and airport, hospital and suppliers are located. There is a large deep-water lagoon where boats are insulated from the sea outside, safe to moor there year-round.

The name of the new community underway is 'Cocomo Village'. This month they tell me the price will go from $3,850 to $4,950 USD. Anyway, at twice the price that is certainly a bargain. And the view is absolutely spectacular, if you can imagine looking safely from the lofty height of 150 feet out to the open ocean below with the big island of 'Late' before you in the distance. The sunset is right there with nothing in the way of your watching that golden ball slowly drop into the sea. The scene is quite inspiring. During the whale season, pods of Humpbacks swim to Vavau and frolic right below 'Cocomo Village', the newest eco-development in Tonga. The huge but docile Humpbacks put on their show of spy hopping by leaping high into the air and hang there with their massive tail flukes treading water till they fall back into the sea with a huge splash. This is how they look around and over waves. It is in the Vavau waters that the Humpback whales migrate each year to bear their young. A mother and child sight to behold, and you can even swim with them in Vavau - imagine that! These islands are the magnificent Humpbacks safe-haven choice too. When in doubt, do what the whales do. 'Cocomo Village' is a 'whale' of an idea !

For more on Vavau and in particular the 'Cocomo Village', visit our other web site. You will be glad you did.

As ever,

Robert Bryce Cocomo Village

Vava'u enjoys a tropical climate with average daily temperatures of 29 C in January and 24 C in June. The weather is warm and generally sunny throughout the year. November to April, the weather is more humid and thunder-storms are more frequent, but the water is warmer for swimming & snorkeling and there is still excellent visibility for diving, and quieter winds for sailing. Ha'apai Island Group is generally the same but 1 degree C cooler than Vava'u. Tongatapu Island Group is 3 degrees C cooler than Vava'u and not as humid.

Traditionally this is referred to as cyclone season but only one cyclone has touched down in Tonga in the last 10 years. During the winter months, the weather is settled with temperatures ranging from about 23-27 C. From May to September, southeast trade winds range from 15-25 knots. During the summer months, northeast winds of 10-20 knots are the norm.

'As a Sovereign Individual, you know your personal liberties are under constant siege and that your government will stop at nothing to get its hands on your private information and control your wealth. Every time I think: 'I have seen it all', something happens to honest, hardworking citizens like you that make me want to fight even harder to find a way out.

And OUT might be the only way to go, before it is too late, with injustices like these:

Just last week, House Democrats passed a bill eliminating certain tax benefits for independent professionals and small business owners. Now, millions of us -- lawyers, doctors, writers, athletes and entrepreneurs. -- will have to pay FICA taxes on all our income, including dividends. (This is a HUGE tax increase.)

This tax comes on top of a new requirement (part of the new healthcare law) that requires businesses to report all sales transactions exceeding $600 to the IRS. (Talk about a costly paperwork nightmare!)

Meanwhile, the Obama administration is trying to force many 'safe haven' countries to change THEIR privacy laws, demanding that they surrender the names and data of their U.S. customers. (This week, when the Swiss parliament rejected such a 'deal'; the U.S. IRS promised 'to pursue all legal options available' to get its hands on thiS, perhaps your sensitive information.)

Our lawmakers and leaders are more determined than ever to strip us of our liberties and our hard-earned and quickly devaluing dollars. And that makes it more important than ever to fight back: OR TO GET OUT while the gettin’s as good as it will ever get. Bob Bauman, Sovereign Society 14 June 2010 Secure Liberties OFFSHORE before they are lost !