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…
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