Vavaʻu, Tonga · March 2021Walking on water

We needed new front tyres for the quad bike, and tyres for the trailer. After a lot of searching on the island we had to give up. There were none to be had, new or old, and we didn't have the money to order any. We expected the old ones to last two or three months at the most.

They lasted eight or nine. For the last six, every trip was a slippery ride with almost no rubber left. We tried to keep faith, prayed, and kept driving.

Then the day came to pick up new tyres, and we found a couple of used car tyres for the trailer at a good price. We headed home on the old ones one last time. By then they were more like thin balloons.

Three kilometres from home, one of the trailer tyres finally popped. We decided to keep going and pray for the best. The engine was overheated when we got there, and the quad bike died, from a bad battery, just outside our house.

He made the tyres last exactly as long as they were needed.