DAY 14 (30 June 2023): TONGA Tongatapu (East). Villages: Lapaha, Talasiu, Niutoua, Haveluliku, Fatumu, Lavengatonga, Fuaamotu.

I discovered two things on my first full night in Tonga. It’s cool enough for a sheet and forget about sleeping even if you have the sheet on you. Why ? Those swarms of stray dogs howling and barking all night !!! Not even the Blu-Tac could give me a proper night's sleep in time for my 112th UN Country run so tomorrow night would see me add my award-winning noise canceling Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphones to sit on top of the Blu-Tac and play rain falling... a sure way to sleep !!!

 

The following morning was brilliant. Brilliant sunshine. Brilliant temperature. Brilliant run. Running reveals details you can't see in a car. Such as, a church and graveyard every few kilometres. The graveyards here are beautifully decorated with flowers with huge billboard size posters of loved ones and even lights at night !!! There is only one main road in and out of the city and it's packed with cars. Got back to the guesthouse and boy was I glad to see water running again at the guesthouse.

 

After a quick shower I was one my way to see the entire East side of the island. I visited the following attractions: Captain Cook's Landing Place, Paepae o Tele'a (Monument & Terraced Tombs), Ha'amonga 'a Maui Trilithon, Anahulu Cave & Beach, Oholei Beach, Hina Cave, Makeu Retreat (Beach View), Fefe Ho Loto Golden Sands Beach, The Cliffs Overlook (3 spots), Halafuoleva (Veitongo) Beach. My favourite was easily The Cliffs Overlook  including the Land Bridge or Arch. The swell was huge and massive waves lashed the coastline with water rising over my head – that’s 50m above sea level !!!

 

As I completed my first big drive of the island, I quickly realised that Tonga is as flat as Niue but without a dense a forest – just lots of agricultural fields with trees spread out. The one thing that Tonga has in common with Niue are the coral reefs that surround both islands. Tonga also has a lagoon whereas Niue does not. Niue doesn't even have lakes or rivers. Like Niue, there are no land animals or wildlife on Tonga. There is also no car waving in Tonga. Thank goodness for that because my arm would have had RSI by the end of the day !!!.

As I drove past the middle of the island I realised why Tonga had survived COVID and the Tsunami of 2022. The rich red-black volcanic soil made it easy to grow plants. Tarot and cassava on the roadside everywhere. This was confirmed in my interviews when I asked what happened after the tsunami and everyone replied that there was plenty of plants and fish to sustain the island.

 

The best stretch of swimming water so far was at the southern tip of the eastern side of the island - I made plans to come back here for my two kilometre swim. My driving confirmed one other thing. The seventh day Adventist Church was number one here with more of these churches than any other denomination. The other thing that I  discovered is that half the Tongans here are actually thin as opposed about what we're led to believe by our Tongan football players back in Australia. The coastal road down the eastern side of the island is terrible. It was once sealed but is now covered in dirt and full of potholes thanks to the tsunami.

 

Always glad to get home in one piece to a trickling shower albeit hot and a nice glass of chardonnay – enjoy the images of the east side of Tongatapu…

DAYS 12-13 (28-29 June 2023): TONGA Tongatapu, Nukualofa

Welcome to Tonga, my 117^th Visit and 112^th Run UN Country (Total of 193) !!!

 

Tonga, officially “The Kingdom of Tonga”, is a Polynesian country and an archipelago. The country has 171 islands (45 are inhabited). Its total surface area is about 750 km2 (5.2% the size of Tazzie), scattered over 700,000 km2 of Pacific Ocean. It is 608km east of Niue, 1,989km north of Auckland and 3,579km from Sydney. Tonga has a population of 106,858 - 70% of whom reside on the main island of Tongatapu that I visited. Even though Tonga is a member of The British Commonwealth.

 

Tonga was first inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by the Lapita civilization, Tonga's Polynesian settlers gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They were quick to establish a powerful Kingdom and at one stage conquered and controlled parts of the Solomon Islands, all of New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa and Niue and even parts of modern-day French Polynesia (Tahiti) !!! Tonga became renowned for its economic, ethnic, and cultural influence over the Pacific, which remained strong until the first Europeans' discovery of the islands in 1616 by Dutchman Willem Schouten.

From 1900 to 1970, Tonga had British protected-state status in which the United Kingdom looked after Tonga's foreign affairs under a Treaty of Friendship, but Tonga never relinquished its sovereignty to any foreign power. In 1970 Tonga ended the treaty to join the Commonwealth and become an independent country with full UN Membership.

 

Ten fun facts on Tonga:

1.       Tonga is the only monarchy in Oceania with a succession of 40+ Kings since the 10th century.

2.       Tonga is the only Pacific country that has never been colonised.

3.       Tonga holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s heaviest monarch. King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV weighed an extraordinary 209kg (460 lb) at his heaviest. He managed to lose 40% of this weight and became a health role model for the general public. He died at the age of 88 in 2006.

4.       Tonga is the second country after Kiribati to experience the sun rising and celebrate New Years’ Day.

5.       Tonga is home to a ‘disappearing island’, a tiny coral reef, which sinks and rises again due to ongoing volcanic activity. It is currently hidden.

6.       Tonga’s Niuafo’ou island was once known as ‘Tin Can Island’, thanks to a strong swimmer, who swam out to the island to retrieve the British post left there in biscuit tins. This continued until 1931, when the postal swimmer was taken by a shark.

7.       Tonga is the number one spot in the world for humpback whales, which swim 4,800km from Antarctica to breed here every year from June to October.

8.       Tonga has the world’s largest number of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) per capita. Everything closes on the Sundays and even most recreational activities such as swimming are prohibited.

9.       Tonga is so religious that the crime rate here is officially zero.

10.  Tonga is famous for its blowhole called Mapu’a ‘a Vaea (Chief’s Whistles). Stretching 5 km across the coastline, each hole can spurt water up to 30 metres in the air.

 

I stuffed up flying from Niue to Tonga via Auckland. When I booked I thought Niue and Tonga were both on the NZ side of the International Date Line. Tonga is but Niue is not. What this meant is that my flight from Niue to Auckland arrived 1730 Wed 17 June but the flight from Auckland to Tonga left 1700 Wed 17 June. I thought my Niue to Auckland arrived 1730 Tue 17 June – the same day I left Niue but you loos a whole day going across the Date Line from east to west. Lucky I discovered my error whilst still in Oz and I was able to get a flight from Auckland to Tonga via Fiji but it cost me $900 more – what a ka-fa-fel !!!

 

The flight to Tonga via Nadi is ridiculous. You get to Nadi at 5pm and fly from there to Tonga at 10pm arriving at Tonga at 1am local time. Dumb. Lucky for me my host Toni was there to pick me up and it was straight to bed at his homestay in a big 4 bedroom house surrounded by smaller shed-like granny flats where I shared a WC and shower with another guest.

 

I woke at 9am to the sounds of several dogs barking and roosters crowing. The sun was out and the night was very cool. Toni’s guest house is 5km from the centre of Nukualofa (Pop 21,880), the Capital of Tonga. My first day in Tonga was dedicated to the Capital. My hire care was delivered one hour late at 11am and I headed straight into town. I visited the following attractions: Royal Tombs, Free Church of Tonga, Basilica of St Anthony of Padua, Royal Palace of Tonga, War Memorial, Prime Ministers Office, St Georges Palace, Talamahu Markets, Turtle Sanctuary, Ancient Tonga, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Tongan National Centre. My favourite was the St Georges Palace, which is the Parliament. It is a modern building finished in 2018 and resembles a big hotel. The front boasts a statue of the first King of Tonga and the Royal Palace is across a big empty park next to it. Weird because there is nothing in this park but a huge expanse of grass. The centre is small, tired and run down. I drove to other parts of the city and it borders on third world with terrible roads, many stray dogs and unkept and decaying buildings – this was caused by a huge volcanic eruption in 2020 which caused a tsunami which damaged many buildings that could not be repaired because insurance did not cover tsunamis !!! One of them was the Catholic Cathedral of The Immaculate Conception – a magnificent building of stained glass and pitched roofing – all broken and unrepaired. The island I was on, Tongatapu is very flat and green - I would know more tomorrow as I start to tour every inch of it. One thing is noticeable immediately. Churches. Lots of them. Every km. Just like Samoa. A lot of excitement and colour was evident in the city centre - the Kings Birthday celebrations would start this weekend ahead of the 4 July Public Holiday. The Royal Purple and Green ribbons everywhere, even on fences and buildings.

 

After a big day I got back to the guesthouse for my first installment of drama. There was no running water. I had to drive 3km to another guesthouse owned by Toni to shower. That meant running from this other house tomorrow so I could clean up but lucky for me the water cam back just before bedtime !!!

 

Enjoy the images of Nukualofa, the Capital of Tonga…

DAYS 8-11 (24-27 June 2023): NIUE East Coast Villages South: Tamakautoga, Hakupu, Veli, Liku, Tautu. Villages North: Hikutavake, Toi, Mutalau, Puluhiki, Tautu.

Niue is truly a geological feast. Its caves and chasms more than compensate for its lack of long sandy beaches. There is much to see and photograph on the island as you have seen already and will see in this all-colour post.

 

The East Coast is not as prolific as the West – it wins hands down. The roads in the east are also much worse – full of potholes but slowly being filled and regarded by none other than the Chinese. Given there are no natural resources that the Chinese seek on the island, the deal is to fix the roads as long as Niue uses Chinese shipping to have their goods delivered from NZ. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

 

I visited the following attractions on the southern half of the East Coast: Anapala Chasm, Tuhia Sea Track, Togo Chasm, Hikulagi Sculpture Park, Tautu Beach. My favourite here was the Togo Chasm because of the changing landscape of the sea track walk and the jaw-dropping basalt pinnacles or columns at the end. The track starts with a dense, green, covered bush walk, which suddenly opens up to thousands of pointy basalt pinnacles and finishing with huge pounding waves on a rocky coast way below you. The pinnacles are unlike anything I have ever seen in my global travels. The only other place that came close to this collection of three phases (bush, pinnacles and waves) was the track to Cape Raoul in Tasmania and it was tiny compared to this. The Anapala Chasm was also a treat but very dark and scary as you descend down hundreds of steps to get to the fresh water chasm at the bottom – very little sunlight gets through here but the Galaxy S23 Ultra handled the low light like it had torches inside its lenses. The two Chasms are a MUST VISIT in the south-east.

 

I then visited the following attractions on the northern half of the East Coast: Hikutavake Sea Track & Pools (Snorkel), Matapa Chasm (Snorkel), Talava Arches (Snorkel), Highest Point 69m, Puluhiki Sea Track & Beach, Tautu Sea Track. The best of the north-east and of the entire island was the Talava Arches followed by the Matapa Chasm. Technically speaking these two geological masterpieces are in the north-west but they are such a treat and take so long to visit and photograph that I visited them on the last day (best till last and the forecasted best weather day) along with the other north eastern attractions.

 

The Talava Arch is a huge limestone arch just off the coast and dominates the scene. At low tide there are crystal clear lagoons revealing colourful coral and rocks tainted with green, purple, orange and red lichen – a photographer’s feast !!! This is the place that I flew Mini without GPS and completely manually for the first time. If I lost contact then it would land in the sea !!! Mission accomplished for footage that you will fall out of your seat on. The Matapa Chasm is the best place on the island to swim. A crystal clear deep blue corridor of almost fresh water straddling two huge cliffs to form a calm long rectangular pool of water equivalent to 4 Olympic pools placed two on two. This place is lightly salted since the water emerges from an underground cave and seeps into the ocean with limited backwash. If really desperate you could drink this water given the very light salt. The water was so cool and refreshing with fish and some coral to watch that I swam 2.8km in very large 30-lap circles without even realizing it !!! You simply have not seen Niue until you see Talava and Matapa.

 

The last big treat was visiting Avaiki Cave at low tide, first thing in the morning of my last day. I visited the cave and showed you photos in my West Coast post but when I visited then at low tide there were people in what I call “the magic pool” just around the corner from the main cave – this is the true attraction of this cave. At low tide, a beautiful milky blue pool is revealed inside the cave with purple and red lichen covered rocks surrounding it – so mesmerizing that you can stare at it for hours !!! Behold the images below.

 

26 June 2023 was my last morning in Niue, which I spent on a victory walk up and down the capital village of Alofi. The evening before, Masas and I celebrated our island stay with a few beers and wine at a local sushi restaurant – the only one open for food and grog on the island on a Saturday. The morning was glorious and I reflected on just how idyllic life is here. As you will see in the interviews, the locals love their life here even though things are expensive because they can fall back to the traditional fishing and cassava/taro growing which is plentiful. My favourite recollection of Niue will be the constant waving to each other as you walk or drive by – something that speaks loudly of the sense of community and friendship that defines this island.

 

I was told to leave the keys in the hire car when I drove to the airport for my 1445 flight back to Auckland and forward in time – I would loose an entire day !!! The flight to Auckland was very comfortable and I spent all of it preparing and actually sending this post. It is so convenient using internet on a flight.

 

It was good to see Auckland again, albeit much colder than Niue. I stocked up at Woolies. The next day would see my fly to Tonga via Fiji at 1pm. Why Fiji – more on that later…

 

PEOPLE POST SCRIPT:

Masa is short for Masamoto. Masa was born, raised and educated in Japan in Economics. He migrated to Pert in 1987 where he started a Diving Shop having dived in Japan and looking for opportunities elsewhere in the world to engage his passion for diving and make a living from it. He was married there, had two kids and divorced ending up in Tonga in 2006 to start a new life as a single and set up another Dive Shop. He then ended up in Sydney in 2015 where he got work with a courier company. He was laid off during COVID and is now looking for a return to diving shops, which explains his trip to Niue. He is looking for opportunities here and in Sri Lanka where diving and blue whale watching is very new. Masa has a wicked laugh and speaks with a very loud voice. He would not tell me his age but I reckon he is in his late sixties. He is very thin but complains about pain in his knees which I can see are quote arthritic – he claims from too much lifting of scuba gear in his many years of diving shops. We engaged in conversation every afternoon as I cleaned photos and he researched dive shops in Niue and Sri Lanka. Masa is a simple sole, a straight-talker and loves a chat over many beers and his Wild Turkey !!! I enjoyed his company and wished him well in what he calls “his last diving venture”… Look out for the two photos all the way at the end of Masa next to two HUGE Humpback Whales !!!

 

Ernie on the hand was a complete mystery. Masa told me that he was born and raised in the Philippines and is a public school teacher there. We never saw him. He hired a bicycle which he would take off on around 9am after I returned from my runs and by the time I got back from touring around 4-5pm the bicycle was parked inside and he was locked in his room. He never came out. Never saw or heard him go the toilet and he never came out for a drink (even water) or to cook. I have no idea how he survived. He must have brought back food/drink with him and stashed it in his room. Masa reckons he ate only bread and cheese. How strange. Not even a conversation while Masa and I were carrying on like headless chooks, loud and laughing just outside his door… I did see him on my first day riding along the north-west road and passed him a few times. Not sure what he thought of Niue since he ever spoke. A strange soul indeed.

 

Nothing strange about what you will now see – may your eyes feast on the natural geography of Niue… a place with a lot of potential…

 MASA - HUMPBACK MAN !!!