It is our last day on Tonga. We have enjoyed the festivities for the king's birthday over the last few days: the Miss Heilala dancing was impressive although with 13 contestants it did go on a while; the military parade was quite small-scale as you would expect for a small kingdom, but the French came along to boost numbers and had some parachutists float down to good effect. The King surveyed his troops from an open-top Land Rover (he arrived in a London taxi, which was a little strange), and the marching band made a good noise. The float parade was more entertaining than the military parade had been with lots of traditional costumes on show; there was even a pig being roasted on one of the floats. In the evening there was a block party, with lots of barbecues and snack stalls, as well as a few stages with (mainly) religious groups playing live music. Tonight we are going to a buffet and cultural show at the International Dateline Hotel, a big hotel on the waterfront. Tomorrow we fly out to the Cook Islands and cross the international dateline which will be very confusing - we arrive the day before we leave!