Tonga - Vava'u Group

The Kingdom of Tonga is an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands (of which 52 are inhabited) scattered over 700,000 square kilometres of ocean. Tonga also became known as the Friendly Islands because of the friendly reception accorded to Captain James Cook on his first visit there in 1773. Apart from being the only sovereign monarchy among the island nations of the Pacific, Tonga is also the only island nation in the region to have avoided formal colonisation.

It is contrary to Tongan culture and etiquette to criticize the monarchy, but we were aware that the king then, Taufa’ahau (King George Tupou IV), was not as popular as he might have liked. He was elderly at that time and his son and heir was also not terribly popular. We heard, very much on the grapevine, that the crown princess was much better liked and the people considered her a better option. This was not to be, of course, and I read in Wikipedia that the prince was made King George Tupou V in 2006, though democracy is on the march and most of the power is scheduled to transfer to government this year.

On 7 September (actually the 6th but Tonga cheat with the Date Line to be the same as Fiji) we arrived on the north coast of Vava’u island just at sunset. Our electronic charts were not terribly accurate in this part of the world, so rather than continue in the dark, we stopped and anchored in a large uninhabited bay, not actually designated for anchoring according to our chart. The water was very deep and calm and we were all alone. Playing Scrabble after dinner we suddenly heard this whooshy sigh right outside. Somewhat nervous, but excited, we crept quietly up the companionway and there it was again – a whale breathing right next to the boat! It was a pitch black night and we couldn’t see a thing, but we could hear him. Lovely.

The next day we moved round to the port of Neiafu. Upon arrival we had to tie up on the main wharf, terrifyingly close to all manner of enormous ships, and then plod into the departments of Quarantine and Agriculture, both of whom wanted to be paid so I left Mike with them and rushed off and found a cash machine to withdraw money, and then on to Customs and Immigration, which were free. Then we returned to our boat and waited for the Quarantine men to come and check our boat (nothing was confiscated) and only then could we go off and anchor.

Neaifu was a large, crowded, but not particularly nice anchorage. However it was very friendly and we bumped into various good old friends – Petima, Aliesha, Solvesta, Globitou, Moose, and made several new friends.

It was Dick’s birthday so he and Pam organised a Tongan Feast and generously invited us all to celebrate.  This whole event was really good fun with crafts to buy and children dancing. The Tongan girls dance very differently from the Polynesians – whereas the Polynesians gracefully sway their entire bodies, the Tongan girls remain still and do it all with their arms and hands, equally gracefully.

We drank rum and chilled coconut juice served in the shell and beers.  The food, cooked outside in a trench called an Umu oven, was delicious – all we could eat, and then some.

The Umu oven. From left: Duncan, Dick, Pam, Pierre Philippe, Nicole, Katrine, me, Ruedi, Pieter and Colin.

The food was presented in small portions on banana leaves and as fast as we ate, they would replenish the stock. Mike and Colin got a little competitive about how many empty leaves they could stock up! Mike won, needless to say.

Me, Nicole, Jocelyne and Mike

At the end of the feast there was a kava ceremony - the communal drinking of a beverage made from the peppery kava plant – not alcoholic, but in some way narcotic – along with music.

The Kava Ceremony

Tonga is a beautiful country and enjoys a very temperate climate. The hump-backed whales come to the Vava’u group at this time of year to breed, so we were lucky. It is also the land of pigs in my mind, as there were pigs running around everywhere just like domestic dogs, and so cute looking. They made excellent eating, of course! The island of Vava’u and others in the group sprawl over the ocean with many dozens of lovely bays in which to anchor and explore, so we remained in the area for some weeks and had a gorgeous time. We met lots of friendly new yachts and met up with our old friends on Hi C’s and also Freelance, with whom we had transited the Panama Canal. We saw wild horses and did some great snorkelling in a beautiful cave.



I began to get a bit desperate to actually see a whale reasonably close up, and then it finally happened. We’d anchored Forever in one of a series of small bays called The Blue Lagoon and then jumped into the dinghy to go exploring. Suddenly we spotted the spout of a whale through a gap in the bay leading out to the open sea so Mike throttled up and sped out there, cutting the engine before getting too close as we didn’t want to spook them. There seemed to be three of them, at least one quite small and one very large (whom I took to be the Mummy). They dived slowly in and out of the water, giving that lovely whooshy sigh as they surface and take breath. It was awesome, so much so that I forgot to get the camera out of my bag. Mike paddled awfully close and would have gone closer but I squawked in fright. They were really huge - Mike says at least 40 foot long. It was rather scary as they’d slide under the water and I’d be wondering if they were going to come up again right underneath our fragile little rubber dinghy. I was terrified they would do that tail whacking thing next to us as which would surely have knocked us into the water and there were no other boats to come to our rescue. It’s not that they want to do you any harm, but they are so very BIG. There were people who got in the water and swam with the whales (you could go on a ‘Swimming with Whales’ tour), but I was nervous because this was a mother with a baby – and we all know how nervy they can be. Mike wasn’t scared at all and thought I was a big wuss.


The weather was pleasant and warm and the sailing good. Tonga was much cheaper than the Societies had been which was a relief for all of us cruisers and on the strength of it we bought me a pretty t-shirt. Missing the delicious French baguettes, I practised my bread making and got quite good at it. Finally, after three years on the boat, Mike got the cockpit shower working. I was delighted, Mike less so, as he thought I used too much water!