The Kingdom of Tonga... the Pacific’s Only Monarchy
Malo e leilei (hello) and welcome to Tonga. Dubbed the "Friendly Islands" by Captain James Cook, Tonga is unique among Pacific nations because it never completely lost its indigenous rule nor its distinctive culture. The islands of the Tongan archipelago were united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. Tonga became a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in 1900. It withdrew from the protectorate and joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970 and remains a monarchy even today. According to Lonely Planet, 1806 was the last year a missionary ended up in a Tongan cooking pot… most reassuring.
King toupou VI
Tonga Facts....
Capital: Nuku'alofa
Population: ~115,000 (est 2006)
Area: 288 sq miles
High point: Kao, an extinct volcano in the Ha'apai Group (3,380 ft)
Low point: Pacific Ocean
Language(s): Tongan, English
Currency: pa'anga otherwise known as the $TOP. (100 seniti = 1 pa'anga) $TOP1 = US$ 0.47 (2009)
Time: +13 GMT
Government: Constitutional monarchy
Guides: Lonely Planet Samoa & Tonga, Ken's Comprehensive Cruising Guide to the Kingdom of Tonga & Moorings' A Cruising Guide to the Kingdom of Tonga were the most useful to us.
The archipelago of Tonga, dubbed the "Friendly Islands" by Captain James Cook, consists of 169 islands, with only 36 inhabited. There are four main island groups including the low-lying Tongatapu group, the volcanic/ coral Ha'apai group; the flat coral islands of the Vava'u group and the volcanic Niuas group in the far north.
Our quick departure from Niue due to a tsunami warning gave us an early morning start for the short ~248 mile run to Tonga. Light winds and a greatly reduced (but still in tact) mainsail had us arriving at the back of the pack, but arriving nonetheless. We had lost 24 hours (one day forward) by crossing the International Dateline which juts east to accommodate all of Tonga's islands. Because of its location just inside the international
dateline, Tonga is the first place in the world to greet each new day and each new year.
Check-in was easy and relatively quick at the crowded Quarantine Dock where we were visited by Customs/Immigration, Health & Quarantine and paid TOP$123 for entrance fees.
Neiafu, Vava'u
18S39.76/ 173W58.98
The apostrophe in many Tongan names is a way of converting the spoken Tongan language into an English readable form. Vava'u is pronounced Vah-VAH-oo with a tiny hesitation between the VAH and the oo.
After several rolly anchorages over the past months, it was so wonderful to pick up a mooring in a calm, peaceful harbor. We both slept like babies on our first night in Tonga. By the way, According to Lonely Planet, 1806 was the last year a missionary ended up in a Tongan cooking pot.
There are several dinghy docks in town. One small vessel dock inside a breakwater on the west side of town near the Customs Dock was the closest to the fresh market.
One of our first stops ashore was to the Visitor's Center of Vava'u. We picked up a few brochures and got an overview of the town as well as looking at some local crafts displayed there.
The post office was a pretty, colonial-looking building with gingerbreading, columns and, oh yeah, stamps! A Post card to the USA... TOP$0.70... quite the bargain.
St. Joseph's Catholic Church on the hill above the town was well-kept and stately. On Sundays, its bells and harmonious singing could be heard in the anchorage.
Pigs roam, unfettered, everywhere. We asked how owners retrieved their pigs. we were told us that each pig learns their owner’s voice and a unique call and they come when called. Part of Tongan wealth is measured in the number of pigs owned. PIG FM is even the name of the local radio station.
Most Tongans wear their traditional dress (men & women) which includes a long wraparound skirt or sarong and a pandanus waistmat called a ta'ovala. even the school kids' uniforms are in keeping with local traditional dress.
Kupesi is the fine art of Tongan cultural design. It is very specific to the Tongans and differs from the kupesi of the Fijians or the Maori. we commissioned Viliami Vaenuku (above) to turn our Nine of Cups logo into Tongan art.
And what a fine job he did!
Carvings in ox bone were beautiful in so many intricate designs. Each design represents something in the Tongan culture such as family to
the left. Above, Nalu who carved this piece
we had the distinct honor to meet Leonati Fakatava, master carver to the King. We bought two of his carved bone pieces which were exquisite. Above, he poses with his grandson.
Matamaka, Vava'u 18S42.46 /174W04.22
A chart supplied by "The Moorings", the charter boat folks, has detailed descriptions of the numerous anchorages in Vava'u.
A view of the little bay at Matamaka taken on the hill by the village school.
Main Street in the village is only a dirt footpath. There is no electricity here other than that provided by individual generators and solar panels. There is no running water and there are no vehicles. Life is simple.
Our wonderful hostess, Fa'aki and two of her six children, Tani and Latai (sleeping). Taking photos here was easy. Everyone asks to be photographed and the subject matter is always beautiful.
We visited the school which was quite modern thanks to a building grant from the E.U. There are two teachers. Moses, above, teaches the primary grades (1-3) and John teaches grades 4-6.
This photo is one of my favorites.
Much of their daily life is spent in chores revolving around the preparation of pandanus palm leaves or parts to make tapas or mats. Tapa cloth has long been an important part of Tongan culture.
Weavers above were making a room sized mat as a gift for an upcoming wedding. They last up to 20 years according to Fa'aki and will take these women months to make.
Tapa is made by beating long narrow strips from the inner bark of the paper Mulberry tree with a mallet. The sheets are painted in traditional patterns and designs.
David fixed a solar panel for Moses, the teacher, and got an invitation to a kava party.
Walking through the village, Fa'aki pointed out kava drying on a large raised platform.
Kava parties are only for men, but we women had plenty to do. That's the chief facing us. the kava cups (coconut shells) were given to the men. David said it tasted like a weak, bitter tea and numbed his lips and mouth.
Once the villagers learned that David could repair things like generators and solar panels, he was in high demand. We solicited the help of fellow cruisers from Yohelah and Gannet who cheerfully volunteered to work on the repair projects. It was a community affair. People were queued up... some arrived on horseback from the other side of the island with items to be repaired. Everyone watched intently as the "the doctors" diagnosed problems. If it was fixable, a collective sigh went up from the crowd with smiles and thumbs up. If not, "oh well" and they moved on to the next repair. We were paid in bananas, lettuce, coconuts and genuine smiles of thanks. The men earned their feast! They spent two very full days ashore making repairs. The final count: 30 solar panels, 4 generators, a telephone, a digital camera, 2 VCRs, 3 TVs, 1 DVD player, a weed whacker and who knows what else... lost count.
Watching repairs was a community affair.
Afterwards, We were all invited to the village feast. Oh, my! While the men drank lip-numbing kava, the women worked frantically to put out a huge feast. Above, a friend of Fa'aki was serving up food. We sat on the floor on huge mats and ate...and ate...and ate.
After the feast, Marcie did a tarot reading on "Cups". Successful repairs were in everyone's future!
In Tonga, a white person is referred to as a palangi . Literally translated, this means people from the sky. When Cook first arrived in Tonga on tall ships, the people thought the masts went up to the sky. Since only white men came off the ship, the word came into use to mean all white people. It was common to hear people say "Ask the palangi" or "Give it to the palangi.". We're told that when Tongans try to scare their kids, they say the palangis will get them!
Hunga, Vava'u 18S41.56 /174W07.75
We left Matamaka for a couple of days to attend a birthday party for a friend at Hunga.
The chartplotter was a bit off from actuality as you can see. Our waypoints were good, but you'd never know it! The entrance to Hunga was literally between the proverbial "rock (to port) and a hard place (reef to starboard). It was also rather shallow (10') for our 7' draft, but we made it without difficulty.
Claire (far left) of Manaroa 3, aka the birthday girl, watches as her daughters, Kathryn and Anita light the candles on her cake. If you’ll remember, it was Clare who had helped with our sail repairs at Suwarrow Atoll.
Graham of Red Herring was also celebrating a birthday and had no qualms about trying on his new coconut bra..
Nukunamo Island, Hapa'ai - 19S42.71 / 174W17.01
Though we would have liked to stay longer in Tonga's Vava'u Group, we felt it was time to start making our way south. We only had a few days to spend in the Hapa'ai Group, but wanted to make the most of them.
The Hapa’ai islands are low-lying, sandy and offer good beachcoming and shelling. Nukunamo offered a sweeping beach on one side and reef on the other.
The center of the island was thick with palms and huge banyan trees, mostly impenetrable.
A golden Pacific plover posed nicely for the camera.
Tofanga Island, Hapa'ai - 19S57.45 / 174W28.35
Tofanga was about 20 miles away... a leisurely motor-sail in light winds. It was such a narrow island that in a couple of steps you could walk from one side of the island to the other. Huge sand spits formed at low tide and part of the shore had hardened into sandstone
Lesser crested sea terns greeted us on the beach at our arrival.
Pangaimotu Island / Nuku'alofa- 21S07.51 / 175W09.82
Once again, urged on by a "schedule" (a rather dirty word to cruisers), we continued our southward trek to Nuku'alofa... Tonga's capital city. We anchored off Big Mama's Yacht Club at Pangaimotu, a nearby island. Since we were checking in only from Vava'u, we didn't need to bring the boat
into the Customs Dock. Big Mama's offers a ferry service back and forth across the bay to Nuku. We arrived late Saturday, so check-in did not occur till Monday morning.
Big Mama's Yacht Club owned by Ana & Earl Emberson is a laid-back, South Pacific sort of place with a great ambiance including fresh hibiscus on the tables, hanging hands of bananas and beach sand covered floors. A great place to kick back and relax.
Small fruit and veggie stands lined the street opposite the Nuku'alofa dock. The produce was wonderful and inexpensive. Small, sweet pineapples and watermelons were just coming into season and we stocked up.
The Talamahu Market is a two-story affair and supposedly the largest in the Kingdom. It's crammed full of crafts, fresh veggies and fruits on the inside and flea market-type goods all around the perimeter outside.
Pandanus drying at the Talamahu Market.
Taufa'ahau Road sports most of the touristy shops, information kiosks and cafes. Tonga is one of the ~90 countries in the world today without a McDonalds!
The flying buttresses of the Free Church of tonga... one of many churches in downtown nuku'alofa.
Cruising friends introduced us via e-mail to an ex-Peace Corps friend, Mary McCoy, who lived in Nuku'alofa. When we said we were in town, Mary went out of her way to give us more information about Nuku'alofa and Tonga. Above, she models her waistmat, ta'ovala.
After lunch, we felt like old friends. Mary
still lived in her Peace Corps Tongan hut,
but had made several upgrades. One thing
that bothered her, however was the fact
that the water pump for her running water had to be plugged and unplugged in the building next door. What a hassle! David promised to make it a bit easier for her.
We met Mary at the dinghy dock in Nuku'alofa the next morning. Before beginning work, she fixed us blueberry waffles with real maple syrup at her home, then , we headed out to the local hardware store where David bought the parts necessary for the job. He had to run wire from one building to the next, through the rafters in Mary's house and then into Mary's kitchen and then hook up the wiring on both ends to switches and outlets. No ladder was
available, so David was up on top of chairs, tables, chairs on top of tables, inside, outside, up, down... but at last, success and Mary pushed the switch and voila, water from her kitchen tap. She was elated. We were thrilled.
One thing we learned: Tongans are never direct. The sign above literally says: "Don't eat curry"; what it means...don't litter here. Tongans eat their curry in takeaway containers and are prone to discarding the containers on the ground. Thanks, Mary, for this little nugget of knowledge.
She presented us with an autographed copy of her book, Making Sense of Tonga (which we intended to buy, so a double pleasure). She and her Tongan business partner, Drew, were presenting a session on the role of "rank" in tongan hierarchical society and invited us to stay. It was well done and explained a lot of what we had already seen and experienced, but hadn't understood. In fact, we'd recommend it as an easy, informative read if you plan to visit Tonga.
ISBN 978-982-98001-2-1
Big Mama’s Annual End of Season Cruising Party
What a thrill! Big Mama made Betsy from s/Y Qayak who was celebrating her birthday and me her guests of honor. Ana spared no expense on the party. As her guests of honor, she had special dresses made for us in a Tongan print. We waited patiently as we were "dressed" with our ta'ovala and ornate kei keis, an even bigger honor as they were from Ana's family and used only for special occasions.
We felt like royalty as we sat on "thrones" covered with enormous pieces of tapa. It was almost overwhelming. Here we sat for the evening, our food brought to us and chatting with Big Mama. A band played and when they tired a DJ provided non-stop music. We drank, we ate, we danced till the wee morning hours.
The feast was laid out on an outrigger and defies
description. There were roast pigs, Tongan
veggies and specialties, salads. Earl urged
everyone to eat as much as they possibly could
Faka Tonga (the Tongan way). In total there were over 40 boats represented and over 100 people. What a party! She had generously invited "all sailboats in the Kingdom of Tonga" to be
her guests for the evening and she got a pretty good turnout. Her final parting gift to every yacht was a woven palm basket with fresh fruits and veggies for the trip to New Zealand. Wow!
Then the party and the merry-marking was over and it was time to think about moving on. Sailors move with the winds and the seasons and sadly, it was time to leave Tonga. Our weather window appeared and we needed to take advantage of it. We left Tonga on 1 November, headed to Opua,
New Zealand. Arrival in New Zealand would end our crossing of the Pacific and our cruising season for 2009. Having planned for it for so long, it seemed almost unreal that it was over so quickly.
Join us next in New Zealand… Land of the Long White Cloud!