The Mapu’a ‘a Vaea Blowholes on Tongatapu
Nuku’alofa was practically closed for Easter
Continuing with our 2003 Pacific island hopping, we arrived in Tonga. Sadly, our Tonga travel coincided with Easter and Nuku’alofa was closed most of the time. The capital city was tiny and appeared run down. The hotels (even the good ones) were pretty tattered, as well. The abscence of people and life in the streets, make such things much more noticeable, of course.
Tonga, or Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga, is the only monarchy in the Pacific. A constitutional monarchy in theory, a bit more feudal in reality. Or at least the reality in 2003. The then king, Taufa’ahau Tupou IV was once famous for being the world’s heaviest monarch. Taufa’ahau died in 2006, and was succeeded by his son, George Tupou V.
The Palace at Nuku’alofa
The Tongan kings’ graves
On Easter Sunday, we happened to be in church – nothing else was going on – when the royal family joined the congregation. No fuss, which was nice. Tongans all came in their Sunday best, including the ta’ovala – a mat woven from coarse pandanus leaves, tied around the waist with a rope. It must have been 35° C that day and the mats looked heavy and hot.
Is my religion better than yours…?
Tongans we met, kept referring to the country’s “dark ages”, when speaking of the time before missionaries arrived. This saddened me. Missionaries often do wonderful work – feed children, take care of the sick, teach useful skills, build schools and doubtless many other acts of charity. But the idea that anyone has the right to claim their religion is better than yours, I find very hard to digest. (I do say this with a twinge of regret, remembering my mum’s uncle – a missionary of 50 years – telling us children exciting and wonderful stories from the Congo.)
Nuku’alofa Market
At Cafe Escape
On our last day, Nuku’alofa came to life. The market opened and the streets were more lively. All in all, though, we concluded that while Nuku’alofa is a great name for a city (try saying it 10 times quickly), it’s perhaps not our favourite.
Captain Cook called Tonga the Friendly Islands
We journeyed around the rest of Tongatapu island and saw some interesting archaeological spots, including the Mu’a pyramid tombs and the mysterious Ha’amonga’a Maui Trilithon. Along the coast were some absolutely gorgeous spots, like the volcanic Mapu’a ‘a Vaca Blowholes (top photo).
We only saw Tongatapu, but the little kingdom comprises 169 islands and is a superb scuba diving destination. Captain Cook called it the Friendly Islands.
Playing at the beach at Tongatapu
I’ll probably return to Tonga if an opportunity happens to come my way – just not anytime around a religious holiday.
Wherever you’ve traveled, your words and photos keep adding places to my list of things to do !
How exciting, all these places you’ve visited in the Pacific. I was once in Nouvelle Caledonie for a challenge. did you go to nouvelle Caledonie as well?
@ Mike – Thanks! Polynesia isn’t too too far from your part of the world, btw.
@ Marie – Wasn’t by any chance the Gitanes race, was it? A friend of mine did that in Nouvelle Caledonie. But that was years and years ago. We didn’t manage to fit in NC on our trip back then. So many Pacific islands, so little time 🙂 Next time I’m in the area I want to visit NC and Vanuatu.
That’s the palace? Adorable. Love that naked kid in the tree too.
I found the exact same thing on Aitutaki in the Cook Islands with regards to the “Dark Ages” before the missionaries. I was a bit frustrated by it, as well, particularly coming from someone you would have thought would be reasonably enlightened – the island’s high-school Physics teacher.
But then maybe that’s the way it goes in places that are so much more inwards-focused than us, who are seeking to see as much of the world as they can. In a much smaller world, where the basics of life that we take for granted may not be so basic, maybe Christianity still represents a “new enlightenment” over an even more basic way of life. Or maybe the facilities and services the missionaries brought have been etched so deeply into cultural/collective memories – for the same reason.
Either way, I’d LOVE to get back to the South Pacific and explore more. Maybe one day…
Cheers,
Jon
(my post on Aitutaki: http://beatingthehumdrum.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/aitutaki-end-of-the-road/ )
How interesting (and a little sad) that Cook Islanders see it the wame way. I thought perhaps it was only Tonga (I discussed it with Samoans and Fijians, too, but they didn’t seem to share the view.) Haven’t been to the Cook Islands yet, so look forward to reading your article.