Welcome to Tonga, my 117th Visit and 112th 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…
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