The Kingdom of Tonga is one of the few island groups in the South Pacific never colonizied by a Western country. It is very traditional, with a strong group of nobles who are bound to the king. It also is very religious, with the king also being the head of the Methodist Church in Tonga. This is our last island group populated by Polynesians. We found the people incredibly friendly, open and warm, and we were glad we spent over two weeks here.
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Leslie is cheerful, even on night watches! Caught just before dawn on the way to Tonga.
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During the eight plus days of passage from French Polynesia to Vava’u, Tonga, we had good sailing for the first three-quarters. However the last few days were light air, with showers, then constant rain. This dawn on the day we finished in Vava’u was ominous and heralded more grey skies and rain.
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The grey early morning entry to Vava’u could not discourage the crew of ARAGORN. Everyone aboard immediately fell in love with the place, with hundreds of islets, rocks, coves and anchorages. The rocky shores were somewhat reminiscent of Maine, except for the palm trees, and eighty degree water!
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This is Neiafu, the main anchorage and town in Vava’u. Home of charter bases for both the Moorings and Sunsail, several services and restaurants are yachtie-oriented. As the regional capital for Vava’u Group, it also has vacation residences for the King of Tonga and his family. For all of that, Tonga is a traditional and not-too-developed (and not-too-wealthy) country. Most families do subsistence farming in addition to some commercial activities. The modern Tongan culture is strongly based on the Methodist church, with the king being the head-of-church as well as the head-of-state. No work is done on Sundays. The Tongans were the friendliest people we have met to date.
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There are boatmen in all parts of the world. Here Miki (left) and another boatmen paddle out to a yacht to try to provide fruit, bread, carvings, shells and other local handicrafts. The propulsion style here is somewhat unique: one oar, used as a paddle, while sitting in the bow of the boat. Some naval architect will tell us this trim minimizes wetted surface… Notice right-hand boatman is ignoring the outboard – it may or may not work.
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Our favorite boatman, Miki, started showing up each morning for a cup of coffee. Tongans are like that … if you develop a friendship, they drop in, just like the “old days” in the US. Here Miki also shows off a Tapa cloth, used by Tongans for everything from wall coverings to wearing them for weddings. Tapas are the traditional gifts at any big social event.
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“Hanging out at the Friendly Island Bookshop.” This Rockwellian scene shows the typical Saturday afternoon crowd in downtown Neiafu. Some of the boys are still wearing their formal skirts (lava-lava, or sulu), complete with the very traditional mat wrap around the waist. Others wear the shirt of their favorite rugby team, or some Nike knockoff.
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We were lucky enough to have our elder daughter, Sloane, come visit us on her summer break from medical school. Sloane and Leslie hired kayaks so they could do a bit of exploring and upper body strengthening while at anchorages.
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Here are the athletes, caught on the way home after a hard workout. Leslie looks good for just turning 50.
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Some of our readers got a message from Sloane to send her birthday cards for Leslie, which she could then ferry down to Tonga, surprising Leslie with all the greetings. (Sloane is so thoughtful.) Leslie loved all the cards, and stuck them all to our main bulkhead in the salon, so she could always see them. Thank you all who sent cards to Sloane!
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For Leslie’s Birthday Dinner, we and the crew on seven or eight other boats went to an entertaining dinner at La Paella, a restaurant perched at the top of a hill on an island not far from Neiafu. (Ask us about the adventure getting there, with half gales, no water for dinghies at low tide, taxis not knowing where to go, etc.) The husband of the couple running the restaurant also was the entertainment – the guitar player. The hat and cape match the Spanish origins of the music … but the tee shirt and shorts don’t quite carry the theme beyond a Tongan island. He had a lot of enthusiasm, and, as all the patrons acted as a rhythm section, fun was had by all.
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Leslie at 50, at the restaurant. She still looks not a day over 39
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One of the high points of our visit to Tonga was the friendship we built with Una, a young Tongan woman, and her family. After chatting with Una in her family’s handicraft store, Leslie and the rest of us were “adopted” by their family. They invited us to Sunday dinner after a service at their church, and always made sure that we had anything we needed. It was wonderful to get so close to the Tongans, who have hearts about as big as their island. Here is Una and her younger half-sister, Angela, photographed on the way to church in their village with Leslie.
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This is the Methodist Church in Pangaimotu, Una’s family’s village. Services here, as in most of Polynesia, were marked by lots of hymns sung in four-part harmony, with no lead instruments, no music score, and, frequently, no hymn books … all done from memory and natural musical sense. The services are a bit looser too, reflecting the Polynesian way of life, with many people coming in after services start, and a lot of comings and goings.
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After services, Una’s family served us a traditional Tongan feast dinner, made in a umu (underground oven), and consisting of yams, sweet potatoes, fish cooked in leaves, corned beef cooked in leaf, the Tongan version of possion cru’, New Zealand sausages, clams, and served with fruit juice. We were served first, before the family, and we were urged to take home what we could not eat (there was more than we could ever have eaten). Of course, the family ate what we could not, and then some friends from the village participated too.
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Una here poses with her step-father, mother Mary, step-sister Angela, Una, and step-brother David. Their house is still under construction, but, as they are poor, it will take a few years. However, they do have a block wall house, versus the wooden walls in their old house, which was blown away during a recent cyclone! Window and doors are not major priorities in Vava’u as the temperature does not require heating, the bugs are not too bad, and malaria does not exist. Angela holds the beach ball/globe we gave her.
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While we were in Neiafu, they were hosting a week-long Methodist Church conference, with 1500 delegates – Tongans who lived abroad, but came home for an annual conference. The conference fed these 1500 people four meals a day, with the noon and 5:00 pm meals being major feasts. Those two featured crabs or lobsters, suckling pig, corned beef, raw fish, cooked fish, baked fish, yams, sweet potatoes, fruit, fruit juice, candy, chicken, beef, etc. We were invited to join two of those meals by different people from different villages, each local village being responsible for one meal during the conference. The amount of food presented was a matter of pride for each village, as well as the presentation. This day, Pangaimotu, Una’s village, was responsible for the food, and is setting up for the dinner
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Leslie and the rest of us made new friends sitting at the long tables with Tongans who lived elsewhere in the world. Most have left to find more gainful employment, in order to send money home. Again, the uneaten food was all used in the following order: take-home by the guests, eaten at the tables by locals who made it or worked at the conference, and then taken back to the villagers who prepared it. By the end, nothing went to waste, and we, as guests, never went wanting.
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