Tongan tales

Last June I was fortunate to be asked to help facilitate a workshop is the Pacific Island Kingdom of Tonga.  This weekend I pulled out two sets of photos from that trip for a layout.  Each story had a lot of photos so I was looking at appropriate designs.  The Rinda set the weekly challenge as ‘use lots of photos’ and use them on a double spread.  So I went ahead and did both.  You can see how other people approached this challenge by clicking the logo in the left column.

Layered template was from Laura, and I made some alternations to it.  The chipboard letters were free from Holliewood Studios called chipper alphas – again I modified them.

Journalling reads - We asked the minibus driver to take us out and about to  get a feel for life in  Tonga.  I snapped out the window in the belief that some of the photos would be in focus.  I was please d to find that I had a good range of the typical sights.

One thing  that we really noticed was the highly decorated graves with flags and lights and flowers and they are big and prominent. In some of the villages there were flags and bunting.  The driver told us this was because they were in the ‘tidiest village’ contest and judging had been the previous day. The vegetation was lush with lots of coconut,  taro and banana.  The pigs all looked healthy too. When we got a glimpse of the sea it was a beautiful colour and looked so enticing with the amazing soft sand. What I didn’t get in the photos was all the churches and the smiling, waving people.’

I always like to take photos out of the window when driving around a new place.  I set the camera on sport mode and just take lots and lots of photos in the hope that some will come out OK.  I have got some great photos this way on a number of trips.

The second layout is a double spread

the design was one I saw and liked in a magazine.  All elements come from within the software.

Journaling reads - As soon as we heard that Fiji was playing Tonga on the weekend at the end of our workshops we organised to go along.   Rugby is a much a  passion in the Pacific nations as it is in Australia and New Zealand so we knew it would be a likely game and an appreciative crowd.

It ended up that our party comprised three Australians, me from NZ, two Tongans, a Cook islander and a Fijian. Looking around the crowd was a good mix of visitors and locals too and the full age range from babes in arms to elders.

it was a lovely sunny afternoon and everyone was ina good mood, greeting friends, enjoying the snacks and having a look to see who was there.

Both teams performed a  traditional challenge at the start which really set the energy flowing.  Then the game got underway.  An interesting contrast of the solid, robust Tongans and the wiry, tall Fijians.  The game was open with lots of ball in hand and passing, as it tend s to be in this part of the world.  There was a long period of play before there were any throw ins or scrums.  The crowd showed appreciation for all good periods of play, regardless of who had the ball.  Admittedly cheering was louder and more prolonged  when Tonga scored.

Who won? Fiji scored the most points, but as they say
“rugby was the winner on the day”

I’m pleased that both, in different ways, tell a story with lots of pictures but do not feel too crowded.  Are you someone who avoids layouts with lots of photos or do you use this approach a lot?