The Friendly Island
When and Where: 01/2023 – Nuku’alofa
62nd Country Visited; 1st Oceania Country
Visited
Interesting Facts:
·
The capital, Nuku’alofa is translated into
English as “abode of love” or “Love Shack”
·
Tonga is monarchy governed by King Taufa’ahau
Tupou IV.
·
Tonga is the only Pacific island nation not to
be colonized.
·
There are currently 21 Tongans that play in
the NFL.
Today was an adventure! A few ladies on the cruise rented a car and
self-toured Tonga. Unlike French
Polynesia, the Kingdom of Tonga is flat and the infrastructure is poor. Nuku’alofa, the capital, is a small town and there
wasn’t much to see other than the King’s Royal Palace. Prior to meeting up with the ladies, I walked
over to the subdued red and white palace.
I was surprised I was able to get as close as I did, as security wasn’t
present, or at least not visible.
Walking back to the port area, I met up with one of the ladies and soon
after, the second lady arrived with the rental car along with another guy from
the cruise. I wasn’t about to drive as I’m
not good at driving on the left side of the road. To complicate things, the road conditions
were poor in the rural areas. We weren’t
able to go fast due to an abundance of potholes, stray dogs and wild pigs.
Once we were on our way, I sat back
and took in the experience of Tonga. Our
first stop was the Captain Cook Landing Site, which was little more than a sign
post noting the location. We stopped for
pictures before proceeding to Mala’ekula, the Royal Tongan burial ground. Not much to see at the burial ground other
than a marker and a burial mound. Next
up, we visited Ha’amunga’a Maui, or what is referred to as the Tongan
Stonehenge by locals. Similar to the
pyramids of Egypt, it is not evident how this rock formation came to be. Thus far, the tourist sites were boring, but my
cruise mates were a lot of fun and our spirit of adventure prevailed. We all took turns trying to navigate an old
school road map and minimalistic road signs, which led us down some of the
worst roads I’ve ever ridden. Eventually
we used Google maps to get around.
I was very curious about the next
stop. The two women had been to Tonga several
months ago and bragged about cave swimming in the Anahulu Caves. If you had asked me before the cruise if I would
ever go cave swimming, I would have said “No way”. Not to be outdone by the ladies, I agreed to
try it. We arrive at the cave, pay an
entrance fee in US dollars and proceed into the cave. I continued to be a bit skeptical, but
proceeded with caution. The cave was
dark and the steps down to the water were slick. As we
entered, we heard loud splashes. A
little further in, we saw young men jumping from high above into the
water. Well I knew I wasn’t doing
that. We finally arrived at the
water. One of the two women jumped in
and called the water “refreshing”. To
me, refreshing is 85 Fahrenheit. Anyway,
I sat by our valuables while the others swam.
Eventually, I was relieved of my duties and it was my turn to go
swimming. As I approached the later, I
realize it's about eight foot down from the step off the ledge. There was no going back. I jumped into the water and the temperature
took my breath away. I struggled to swim
and not look foolish. Two young Tongan
girls were laughing at me. One of the
girls kept talking about the earthquake in Tonga two days ago. Needless to say, my swim time was brief. But the experience was exhilarating. I’m so glad I didn’t chicken out.
After, we proceeded around the
island and back to downtown Nuku’alofa.
There wasn’t much else to see other than an infamous three-headed coconut
tree. Back in Nuku’alofa, I separated
from the crew and went to buy postage stamps.
After walking about downtown, I stumbled upon a barber shop. I needed a haircut, so I popped into the open
air barber shop. When I arrived at the shop, the barbers had Polynesian rap blaring from the speakers.
One of the barbers had me sit in his chair while the other barber scrambled
to change the music to Contemporary Christian music. I’m not sure if they were playing the music
for me, or because of me. Either way, it
was comical. My mistake of the day was
asking for a slight beard trim. By
slight, I showed him that I wanted roughly ¼ to ½ inch off the sides. Needless to say, he cut most of it off and my
beard is the shortest it’s been in at least 6 or 7 years.
So that’s my Tongan adventure. It wasn’t my favorite destination, but the
adventure made it worthwhile!
Royal Palace, Nuku'alofa
At the "Tongan Stonehenge"
Cave swimming (or floating) with Tongan girls
Anahulu Beach (in my Eagles swag)
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