Tongatapu, Tonga
The capital island is all-in-all not as cool as Vava’u. But hey, it ain’t bad and they got the awesome fried rice we mentioned in our last post, not to mention the royal estate.
And goats! Goats they’ve got.
Tonga’s 3rd Gender
Vava’u, Tonga
…cont from previous post
So yes church. Any discussion of Tonga would be incomplete without church. Did you notice the flag? Go back and take a look. We’ll wait
Now what is the one identifiable symbol on the Tonga flag?
Yes, Tonga is a Christian nation.
Tonga has BACON!
Vava’u, Tonga
What would a real Polynesian country have?
Well, pigs. They have a lot of pigs.
And unlike their fellow Polynesian countries, corrupted as they are by European influences, Tonga actually uses their pigs for their highest truest purpose:
Tonga has bacon!
No, not euro/Canadian inferior bacon. Real bacon. Bacon bacon. The only actual freaking pig product that deserves the title of bacon and that’s freaking bacon!
Welcome to the Kingdom
Vava’u, Tonga
Of all the different nations of the South Pacific Tonga is unique in that it is the only one to have never lost self-governance. While every other nation out here has at one time or another (and most are currently) subject to the protection / governance / colonization of a foreign power, Tonga has always remained their own country. They can trace their monarchy back to its founding and the different chiefs of islands before that. Considering there was an age of time where colonization was what the West pretty much DID, it is impressive simply that Tonga is, in fact, always and still Tongan.
What it also means is that if you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you blended modern times with ancient Polynesian culture all you need do is look at Tonga for your answer.
No Flux Capacitor required!
Talking to you from…
THE FUTURE! (cue Sci Fi music – dun dun duuuuuunnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!)
Those of you that have been following along may remember that Tiffany and Greg earned the most auspicious title of “Trusty Shellbacks” by participating in an equator line crossing ceremony a few months back. What you may NOT know is that “Trusty Shellback” is only the most well-known of a plethora of unofficial awards that celebrate assorted feats of nautical daring-do. For example, both of us also hold the “Order of the Spanish Main” for sailing in the Caribbean. (No Black Pearls, though there were some drug runners) and Greg holds the coveted “Order of the Ditch” for successfully navigating thorough the Panama Canal and is also a “Plank Owner”.
There are certificates for all kinds of feats from circumnavigating the globe (Order of Magellan) to sailing in the Arctic Circle (Blue Nose) to crossing the Equator & Prime Meridian at the same time (Emerald Shellback). But the reason this matters today is that today, or, more accurately for you, tomorrow is that day, whichever it is, is the day we cross the International Date Line and become members of the Empire of the Golden Dragon!
Continue reading “No Flux Capacitor required!”
Related posts:
A Bad Place to Sink…
At sea enroute Tonga
All that was left to do in Niue was to go shopping to restock our boat for the voyage to the next island chain. We have found that the simple day to day things, like shopping, can often provide keen insight into the difference between the island way of life and our own.
We get underway a bit sobered this time. You see, the reason we had the opportunity to help the whale research team is because the boat that originally volunteered capsized when it was sailing to Niue from the islands of Tonga. The crew was rescued but the boat is still out there – upside down, unlit and floating just above the waterline. This is the exact same patch of ocean we are sailing over right now. Continue reading “A Bad Place to Sink…”
Whale Sex
Alofi, Niue
Did we say the Humpback whales woke us up with their singing? Well, if that’s not enough to get us roused and play then they get a little more insistent by rubbing themselves against the hulls of the ships at anchor! While they didn’t do this to our boat, other people in the anchorage reported it happening to them. Tiffany was even startled one evening out on the deck while we were moored when a whale blew off the stern of the boat. It was pitch black and unfortunately we couldn’t see it. Our current captain never being one to pass up an opportunity to play with whales, we “volunteered” to help out a visiting whale research team by taking them out for the day. The fact that we benefited from being able to use their gear to listen to whale songs and track down the whales ourselves was purely coincidental.
We learned that the researches were primarily interested in pictures of the whales’ humps and the undersides of their tails.
Then we swam under the island!
Alofi, Niue
Let’s start our exploration of what is arguably the most beautiful island in the South Pacific with the diving. Hey, you know what? Let’s start with just the freaking snorkeling, because it was that good! The water here is crystal clear and no, not what you’re imagining – it’s better. By more than a little. You have not seen water this clear in your lifetime. Ever. Seriously.
One of the advantages to having almost no one on the island a tiny tourist industry is that there is almost no pollution. Not having a coral reef encircling the island means that what little runoff there is gets immediately swept out to sea. Continue reading “Then we swam under the island!”
Island of the Dead
Alofi, Niue
Here’s the sad truth about Niue: there are more dead people here than living residents of the island. Like we said, Air New Zealand runs a weekly flight out to Niue year round and it wouldn’t surprise me if they made that flight at a loss. So this is good right? Niue is connected to the world! Not exactly as all around good as you might think. You see, the advent of regular air travel decimated the Niuean population and not through disease but by mass exodus. Remember how we said there were more Niueans living in Auckland than on Niue and that all Niueans have dual citizenship? Well, most young people want the quality education and job opportunities that Niue’s sponsor country of New Zealand provides and really, can you blame them? Since there is now a weekly flight out, a lot of people leave and only return to visit families on holidays or just to occasionally check up on the family house. Speaking of homes, the majority of residences in the villages & businesses are abandoned or at least not lived in and squatting tourists are a big problem for the local law enforcement.
For some other Polynesian countries, like the Cooks and The Society Islands, air travel may take some of their youth but it also gives back in the form of tourism. This has not happened on Niue and the island remains mostly unvisited.
Water Access
Niue
Ok, nothing to do with anything but come on, it’s awesome. You stop, there are coconuts, what more could you possibly want?!
So the thing about Niue is that the entire structure of the island is so very different from the other islands we’ve seen so far. It doesn’t fit into the mold of Darwin’s Theory of Atoll formation (which if you remember from this entry the island forms from a volcano and then as it slowly sinks and erodes, it is surrounded by a coral reef until there’s nothing left except for a lagoon in the middle of a coral reef). As we mentioned earlier, this particular island is an elevated atoll. So it used to be a lagoon surrounded by coral, but the lagoon is now more than 30 feet above sea level and a narrow skirt of coral creates tide pools around the island.
The locals have adapted to this by finding various paths down to the coral shallows, using natural chasms and caves to lead them out to the open water.
And being as lugging your canoe straight up a massive wall of coral would not be the ideal end to a long day of fishing they also had to find ways to store their canoes.
And yes, in case you were wondering – those rocks are very sharp. They’re made from dead coral, and are very jagged. Think razor blades. Great for defense, suck for sea access. As the ocean crashed over them, they don’t get worn down, they break off into new jagged peaks.
Tiffany managed to scrape herself pretty badly on one of them…
