The Kingdom of Tonga in the Southern Pacific Ocean consists of 169 island scattered on 700,000 sqkm [1]. Not only Tonga but all the island nations of the South Pacific will satisfy your romantic dreams, but they are prone to disaster at the same time. The submarine volcano Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai shook the Pacific and triggered a tsunami with waves up to 15 meters high, which caused severe destruction in Tonga. [2] Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai lies about 70 km north to northwest of Nuku'alofa (the capital of Tonga) on Tongatapu (the main island).
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| Blowholes - won't work with a tsunami |
I've visited Tonga in 1994. I have already written in German about parts of this journey [3]. I have written about drinking Kava on Vava'u [4] and a giant cockroach there [5]. And now I've taken some extracts from my old travelogue to show you together with some of my old photographs to allow you to compare these with what you see now in the news. I have checked place names against the Lonely Planet guide book I had used in 1994 [6].
26.11.1994
I reached Nuku'alofa at noon and after finding a room at the Beach House, I went through the town. Went to the movies in the evening (The Next Karate Kid and True Lies [actually I've watched this movie about a week ago again]).
27.11. 1994
During the night there had been a heavy downpour. In the morning the sky was still overcast with as few raindrops. I had booked a tour around the island and Stan picked me up at 09:00 a.m.
1. Stop: lagoon.
2. Stop: the point, where Captain Cook had landed, but the tree isn't there anymore (near Holonga [1]).
3. Stop: tombs of the former kings near Mu'a (Lapaha Langi Tombs).
4. Stop: Ha'amonga 'a Maui Trilithon (near Niutoua), a trilithic gate, each stone weighing about 40 tons, which have been brought from Uvea. Onward along small villages and land with scarce settlements.
5. Stop: a normal grave. Then passing the Mormon temple at Liahona.
7. Stop: Kolovai and the flying foxes.
8. Stop: Good Samaritan Inn (western end of Tongatapu). All Malt Royal Premium Beer at the beach. Slight sunburn.
9. Stop: Wesleyan Church.
10. Stop: Royal Palace.
28.11.1994
Researching what to do next. One option would have been Captain Cooks Resort on 'Uoleva. Back then the old copra shacks were rented out. Before showering with a bucket from the well you had to water the pigs, because else the would lick the water off your body. The owner comes every in the morning from Pangai.
I decided to go to Vava'u.
The day had been sunny and I had lots of places to go to: the bank, Air New Zealand, the dock to get a ticket for the ferry (Orange Vomit), Royal Tongan Airlines to fly back; and I remember enjoying to talk with the two ladies there as they and I didn't have much to do.
The rest of the day I've spent wisely - at the wharf.
29.11.1994
Relaxing.
Evening at the Cultural Center.
30.11.1994
Bad rain.
I boarded the ferry to Vava'u.
I've reached Neiafu on Vava'u around half past ten. It was raining, still ... and heavy. I was soaked and tried to find a hotel as I didn't have any arrangement. The Paradise Hotel and the Vava'u Guest House didn't have vacancies. I've found a small guest house, which had opened only three months earlier - the Hamana Lake Guest House.
The weather is improving. I went to Maitutau and then to Mt. Talau (131 m). There I've met Charles and some other guys from the Peace Corps, who cleared an overgrown path and wanted to cut a new viewpoint. So I took another path, which was treacherous after the rain. I found some viewpoints and once I climbed tree for a view.
I visited some other viewpoints in the afternoon. One could see the islands: 'Oloua, Mafana, 'Ofu and the smallest island there could be. Again passing the church and then on the track to Fangatongo Primary School I stumbled into a group of people including some Catholic (or Wesleyan?) priests. Maybe there had been a festival as the king had been on the island.
I've spent the evening kava drinking. Makisi, the minister, had been studying with Reverent Jovili in Suwa (Fiji), whom I had met five or six years earlier on Truk (Northern Pacific, Micronesia).
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| Totally sufficient - bad if it changed much. |
03.12.1994
I've missed the king the next day, I've only heard the salute. I went again to Mt. Talau. At noon I went to the airport, then only a shed. And flew on a DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter back to Nuku'alofa. And also back to the Beach House.
04.12.1994
Went to Pangaimotu by ferry and have been alone on the beach. I watched blue starfish, crabs and other colorful sea live in the shallow water or on the beach.
05.12.1994
Heavy rain in the morning but afterwards sunny again. Then another shower and sunshine again. Went to the wharf.
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| Fishmarket at the wharf |
06.12.1994
Went on to Samoa and crossed the dateline. which meant that I had been back to the 5th of December. Wow, I'm a time traveler!
Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonga
[2] https://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/vulkan-auf-tonga-wir-sind-noch-nicht-ueber-den-berg-1.5512278 Some people doubt the 15 m high tsunami, but remember that the bang of the eruption could be heard in New Zealand (2300 km away [https://www.stern.de/panorama/weltgeschehen/vulkanausbruch-auf-tonga-sorgt-fuer-oelpest-in-peru-31548256.html]) and in Peru (about 10,000 km away) an oil spill has been linked to the high waves caused by the tsunami.
[3] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2021/10/polynesische-impressionen-eine-reise-in.html
[4] Drinking Kava on Vava'u https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2020/09/drinking-kava-on-vavau.html
[5] Cockroaches https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2017/07/cockroaches.html
[6] Deanna Swaney: Tonga, a travel survival kit. Lonely Planet, Hawthorn (Australia) 1990. ISBN: 0-86442-077-3.
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