Sunsets and beach bonfires

Having spent a week in beautiful Vava'u snorkeling with whales, exploring secluded beaches and much more, we caught a flight to Ha'apai on 1st August. Ha'apai is a group of islands halfway between Tongatapu and Vava'u. Driving through the main town Pangai makes Neiafu, the main town on Vava'u, feel busy and buzzing with life. This isn't the only contrast to Vava'u.

Bonfire on the beach of Uoleva island.

The islands of Ha'apai are, with just a few volcanic exceptions, all low-lying atolls with nothing even resembling the 100-200 metre high "mountain tops" on Vava'u. The shorelines are also as different as the sun and the moon: on Ha'apai broad golden beaches separate the jungle from the edge of the water. This makes Ha'apai the very image of a Pacific paradise.

There is one island where all your preconceptions and expectations will only be met by perfection, and that is Uoleva. This crown jewel is southwest of the main island Lifuka, where the airport and Pangai are located. Uoleva comes very close to being uninhabited; there are just about four permanent inhabitants. They own and run the three "resorts" which are the only buildings on the island. Though called "resorts", these facilities are quite rudimentary and should not be mistaken for anything even close to the stereotypical image of resorts. For instance, Daiana Resort where we stayed and which we reckon has the best location, consisted of four traditional Tongan huts called fale, and a main house built from scrap wood. During a storm in April, all but one of the huts had blown away, which tells of the flimsiness of these buildings.

Our fale at Daiana Resort on Uoleva.

So what makes Uoleva the place to visit on Ha'apai? Well, the isolation, tranquility and lack of electricity awakens the Robinson Crusoe in you. Watching the dying sun disappear next to the distant slopes of volcanic Tofua, while sitting by a beach bonfire, stirs your inner Dylan Thomas. ..."And death shall have no dominion"...

What a sunset!

For the adventurous there is the three hour walk around the island and climbing a coconut tree to fetch your own refreshment. Naturally you have to do the test of every truly independent traveller: opening a coconut with just the tools of nature. Would you survive, stranded without fresh water?

Why climb a vertical coconut tree when there are easier subjects?

Read a book, improve your tan, and when it gets too hot for you, go for a swim in the crystal clear water or snorkel in the nearby reef. Uoleva, and Ha'apai in general, is much about not doing anything, or at least doing it in a very leisurely manner. So it shouldn't have come as a great surprise to us that Tongatapu felt like an ant-hill when we got back on 5th August, but it did. And when we arrived in Sydney with its four million inhabitants on 11th August, it felt like the centre of the world.

We ♥ Tonga.

To summarize our time on Tonga, we'd like to say that it's a wonderful destination, but you have to get away from the main island Tongatapu. For budget travellers like us this can be a strain on the purse, however, it's well worth it. Unfortunately Tonga is no longer the super cheap backpacker paradise it was just 5 to 10 years ago. Indeed, just since 2006 prices have almost doubled as more and more tourists flock to the kingdom. Despite of this, Tonga still retains the unpolished image of the developing country it is. It has a lot of problems, most visible the environmental ones, but being such a positive and welcoming people, no doubt things will improve. It is not hard to see why Captain James Cook, upon leaving Tonga in the 18th century, named them the Friendly Islands.

For that's what they are.

More pictures available in the image gallery.

Life is a breach... and then you dive!

We have safely arrived in Sydney and look forward to exploring Australia's biggest city during the days to come. So far it looks massive, almost indigestible after tiny Tonga, so let's return to our three week holiday in the South Pacific:

The Vava'u group lies about 315 km north of Tongatapu (the capital island of Tonga) and consists of about 40 rocky islands densely covered by tropical trees and plants. We arrived on the main island - also called Vava'u - by airplane on Saturday 25th July. There is much to see and do on Vava'u and we ended up staying there a week, accommodated in the main town of Neiafu.

The harbour of Neiafu: the Port of Refuge.

Neiafu is located in the Port of Refuge, a splendid protected harbour which attracts more than a hundred yachts year round. We even saw an anchored catamaran flying a Finnish flag, but weren't able to figure out whose it was. Fridays are a good day to head to one of the waterfront cafes, bars or restaurants to watch the traditional yacht race in the harbour at 5 pm (the Giggling Whale has the best view of the harbour). The half an hour race is short enough to stay interesting even to laymen, but still long enough to provide a thrilling competition. Of course it's all just for fun and every participating sailing boat gets a price. Naturally the best price falls to the looser: a bottle of rum.

A Friday afternoon spent watching the yachts in the harbour, the 5 o'clock race, and knocking back an Ikale.

Neiafu doesn't have any beaches, however, there are plenty scattered around the main island as well as on the numerous smaller islands. We got mesmerized by the secluded beach next to 'Utula'aina Point in the far north of Vava'u Island. We hired bicycles twice and biked the 12-odd kilometres to the breathtaking lookout above the Point, before descending to the adjacent beach for some excellent sunbathing.

The best part with the beach was the fact that we were there all alone - for a few hours we had our private corner of paradise (conveniently forgetting about the mosquitoes).

'Utula'aina Point.

Neiafu also provided us with an interesting cultural experience: watching a fakaleiti show. Fakaleiti - or just leiti (meaning lady) - are men dressing and behaving as women. These drag queens live all over Tonga, but the group on Vava'u only puts on the show from July to September. The show was all about entertainment. The mock-singing fakaleiti imitated famous female artists and acted outrageously femininely. Their body language and facial expressions were spot on. The audience, us included, roared with laughter. The locals probably found the traditional Tongan and Polynesian dances more hilarious than us foreigners, but it was still terrific.

The main attraction of Vava'u, and the reason we wanted to go there, is whale watching. From July to November Humpback whales come to the warm waters of Vava'u to breed. There were just five people in our group on the six hour tour, not including the two Tongan guides. On the way to the western part of Vava'u we quite quickly spotted a Humpback on a collision course with us. It was swimming very fast and dived almost straight under us. Soon afterward we lost track of it. For me seeing this first Humpback whale was a completely different experience than watching the Sperm whales in Kaikoura, NZ. Whereas the Sperm whales just floated motionless on the surface preparing for the next lengthy dive (they were feeding), the Humpback whale was swimming like a huge dolphin (lacking a dorsal fin) and didn't dive for more than about 30 seconds before surfacing again for one single breath.

Two Humpbacks in a group of three that we saw later in the afternoon.

An hour later we spotted a mother and a calf swimming at a slower speed. It was fascinating to watch their synchronous progress through the undulating sea and we were thrilled to see one of them breach (whale terminology for jumping)! Unfortunately it was so unexpected (and rare!) that we didn't have our cameras ready, but trust us when we say it was a wonderful sight. At the time our boat was on a parallel course with the whales, and the one breaching showed off by turning away from us so we saw its white belly before it landed with a huge splash. The level of excitement among us immediately increased a notch.

The highlight of the tour came about an hour later, following the sight of a flying fish - easily mistaken for a bird - swooshing over the ever changing aquatic landscape.

Another whale watching vessel reported that there were three Humpbacks - two adults and a calf - swimming lazily in the shallow coastal water. Our skipper turned our boat around and approached the three gentle giants once the other boat moved away. Here we were able to parttake in an activity which is only possible in two places on this Earth, Vava'u and the Dominican Republic.

Swimming with Humpback whales.

Having donned snorkeling equipment, the skipper dropped us in the water about 30-50 metres in front of the approaching whales. Seeing the whales in their natural element was simply indescribable. Just watching surfacing whales pales in comparison. We could see over 30 metres in the crystal clear water and had fabulous views of the three Humpbacks as they swept past. What beautiful creatures they are, and how gracefully they move. They were almost close enough for us to touch them, or so it seemed. Smaller fish could clearly be seen hugging the sides of the whales, cleaning them from barnacles and other ocean parasites attached to their skin.

The two adult Humpbacks lazily swimming away.

When the whales had passed us, we swam back to the boat for another run. All in all the skipper dropped us in the water about five times, so we had lots of time to watch the whales, who weren't bothered at all by the tiny creatures peering at them. After the last run, when the whales surfaced to exhale and draw breath, the biggest of them put on a show for us by repeatedly slapping the surface with its flukes (lobtailing), generating great splashes. It then turned on its side and did the same with the exposed flipper. It was like it was applauding us.

On our way back to Neiafu in the afternoon, we stopped for snorkeling at Swallows' Cave. It was a fun and fascinating extra to a perfect day out on the sea.

Up to the surface for a breath.

For both of us, snorkeling with the Humpbacks was probably the most amazing experience in our lives. We were very lucky to be able to swim with them this early in the season, because the calves are usually too small for the guides to let people in the water with them. Furthermore, fortune favoured us with the company of a young lady with an underwater camera. It is only thanks to her that we are able to show you these wonderful underwater pictures of our encounter with the Humpbacks.

For the picture gallery, go here.

Malo e lelei!

For well over two weeks now we have had the pleasure of enjoying the tropical weather of the Pacific Island Kingdom Tonga. Tonga consists of four island groups perched just next to the international date line southeast of Fiji. Tonga is "the place where time begins" - the first country in the world to greet the new day.

Yay! Three weeks on Tonga ahead!

We are currently on the southernmost group of islands, on the island of Tongatapu (meaning 'Sacred South') where the capital lies. Of the 102,000 people inhabiting Tonga, about 70,000 live on Tongatapu. The capital city Nuku'alofa (meaning 'Abode of Love') has a population of 22,000, so it's quite a "metropolis" compared to the rest of the settlements across the islands. We're staying at Toni's Guest House about 5 km from the city. Avid fans of Madventures might remember this as Riku's and Tunna's choice of accommodation too.

We have not spent all of the past 18 days on Tongatapu though. As a matter of fact, we have been island-hopping for 12 days and didn't get back to the capital until yesterday. A narration of our adventures on the northern island groups of Vava'u and Ha'apai will, however, have to wait, since this blog post will focus on our first impressions of Tonga and our first five days on Tongatapu.

The first thing that struck me in the airplane when we were arrived on Monday 20 July, was the realisation that Tongatapu is pretty much a flat island. The contrast to Rarotonga, the main island of the Cook Islands, is vast in this respect (despite the word "tonga" appearing in the name, there is no territorial or political connection between the two). Looking out the car window on our way from the airport to Toni's Guest House made it clear that Tonga is still very much a developing country.

People worked by hand in the fields and plantations that we drove by (most of the island is cultivated). The roads were quite deteriorated. Very few cars looked like from this century and the prevailing models were trailer trucks at the back of which a dangerous amount of people sat bulging over the edges. Dogs lay sleeping in the sunshine and pigs foraged the undergrowth. Rubbish lay everywhere. The houses were mostly rundown or very rudimentary, some little more than shacks. Paint was peeling and concrete crumbling. The atmosphere was a bit alien, used to the Western way of life as I am, but the feeling was great. Tonga looked like and seemed to offer exactly what we had hoped for after 10 months in NZ. A bit of excitement and danger at last!

Street market.

As always when arriving in a new environment, it takes some time to get used to how everything works. That's why we were very happy to adopt the Tongan speed of life as fast as possible and not rush to this and that attraction immediately ("island time" you know). In spite of this, we still saw most of what is worth seeing on Tongatapu during those first five days. The main reason was Toni's island tour. During the course of the full day tour we circled the whole island in Toni's van and listened to his sarcastic British humour in between his very professional commenting on the places we visited.

We saw the impressive blowholes going on for miles and miles along the coastline; the fishing pigs of Talafo'ou; the South Pacific's version of Stonehenge; a cave fit to be a pirate captain's lair; a dramatic coralline limestone archway; plantations of just about everything you can by at the local market; and many many churches of several different (mostly Christian) faiths. Toni pointed out each and every Mormon church we passed, so that whenever we would look upon a Mormon church somewhere in the world in the future, we would recognise it for what it was (they all look the same) and thus forever be reminded of his tour. Not a bad tactic we reckon.

Our island tour group by the Trilithon; the South Pacific's Stonehenge.

Church and school go hand in hand on Tonga. The Mormons have the best teachers and the best facilities, the latter perceived even by us. This has led many Tongans to convert to Mormon for the benefit of their children. Consequently, it's not surprising that there is fierce competition between the faiths. Toni told us of the madness going on when perfectly good buildings are torn down and millions of dollars are spent on building something bigger and fancier to outshine the churches of the neighbouring congregations. It seems very wrong when many live in less than adequate dwellings while the houses of God are modern and their lawns would make a PGA tour Green Keeper proud. Hypocrisy, that's what it is.

But enough of religion.

The autumn and winter in NZ meant destruction for our southern hemisphere tans, but fortunately there are many golden beaches on which to remedy the situation. Thus we spent one whole day just sunbathing on a small islet called Pangaimotu, located 20 minutes from the Nuku'alofa harbour.

Knocking back an Ikale after a relaxing day on the Pangaimotu beach.

After a day in the sun, nothing tastes better than a cold beer. There is one local brewery in the Kingdom, imaginatively named the Royal Brewery, producing a decent lager called Ikale Gold (Ikale being the name of the national rugby team). Naturally we had to visit the brewery. The Brewmaster showed us around and despite him being a bit closemouthed (they don't seem to get many visitors) we managed to spark up a conversation through our questions. Swedish Pripps Bryggerier set up the brewery in 1987, but nowadays it is in Aussie ownership.

Last but not least, we had the pleasure of enjoying some real Tongan food, drink and dancing culture during those first days here. We've drunk kava, which is made from the kava pepper shrub. The drink is intoxicating, nonetheless alcohol-free. The ground-up root of the plant is mixed with water and then filtered. The resulting murky water looks like dirty dishwashing water. It is without a doubt an acquired taste, a bit peppery, spicy... eh, who am I kidding? It's not very tasty, alright? Drinkable hits the nail I reckon, but just barely.

Kava has many health benefits if you're not a heavy user. It is also anaesthetic and analgesic. Unfortunately we had to drink many coconut cups of the liquid in order to feel any kind of effect. After 3½ hours of steady drinking we didn't feel more than tipsy, however, the effect doesn't seem to wear off as fast as with alcohol once you stop. The next day Giigan was fine, but I felt hung-over (darn!). Needless to say, I didn't feel like the experience ever needed a repetition. It's just not worth it for the sake of drinking that ugly looking water.

A bowl of kava and the coconut cups you drink it from.

Our traditional Tongan food and dance experience was just as interesting as the kava ceremony, albeit a lot more enjoyable from a hedonistic point of view. We participated in an island night at 'Oholei Beach. The setting was very cozy and tropical with coconut trees lit by coloured spotlights swaying in the ocean breeze and the soothing sound of waves rolling over us. We were glad to see that there were at least as many Tongans as tourists spending the Friday night in this fashion. At first we enjoyed a Tongan feast while listening to Tongan live music. We ate yam, taro, kumala (all similar to potatoes and sweet potatoes), raw fish salad, barbequed pork, seaweed, curry chicken and many other Tongan dishes I can't even begin to describe. It was all very tasty. Most of the dishes had been prepared in the traditional earth-oven called umu (the same as on the Cook Islands).

Afterward we went into the adjacent pirate's lair cave that we had visited on Toni's island tour and watched a show of traditional Tongan dance and music. It was interesting to notice that the female dances are all very chaste, elegant and slow, contrary to other Polynesian dances (e.g. hula-hula). A curious custom involves members of the audience walking up on stage in the middle of the show in order to put a one or two dollar note inside the clothes of a performer (or several). This is a sign of appreciation and praise.

We probably won't do anything in particular during the remaining four days on Tongatapu, and instead start preparing for the next leg of our journey: Australia. We might go kayaking, but that's about it. Finally, we'll reveal to you that the islands of Vava'u and Ha'apai, which we'll tell you about in the subsequent postings, were where we had the best time on Tonga. It is our opinion that coming all the way to Tongatapu without going to the outer island groups is a grievous mistake. That is where the true charm of the Kingdom lies.

Thanks to an unforeseen fault in the login system at the internet cafe, giving us unlimited bandwidth, we are able to offer you this exclusive image gallery of Tongatapu while we are still here. Please appreciate it, as it is only due to our great patience (sustained by a few cold Ikale) that the pictures have been successfully transfered over the painfully slow connection!