Surprise! The white man drinks but doesn't fall over

Here's the final part of the tale that came from John Northcott's stay in the South Pacific's remote kingdom of Tonga.

To those of us quite removed from the cut-off life of the island community, John's story conveys much of the ways of people seemingly uninfluenced by non-stop soaps and other television negatives.

Did he enjoy his time on the island? He certainly did, he told me, and his story certainly seems to confirm it.

The remote island group had entertained Captain Cook and his crew back in the 18th Century, not once but several times, and lucky John got to see why.

Silver jewellery

John Northcott, a fellow Moonraker, migrated from Salisbury to Down Under some years ago.

He worked the New Zealand government for many years as a civil engineer, his old profession from back in Salisbury.

In a land famous for people turning their skills to many tasks other than their normal occupations, John put an old hobby to work and manufactured silver jewellery.

In recent years he has developed a full beard, so it was perhaps inevitable that he would find a considerable amount of seasonal work as Santa Claus.

In tougher times, John admits he worked as a plongeur for restaurants, though I suspect his natural talent would have found him much more in eaterie kitchens than emptying overfilled sinks.

With his personality and natural good looks, it's little surprise that the film industry Down Under chased him for character roles.
Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventuring book, Sailing to Purgatory, at
http://sailingtopurgatory.com/index.php/feeds/360-surprise-the-white-man-drinks-but-doesn-t-fall-over