The Kingdom of Tonga

Monday 22 July

It’s the last of our early morning flights this morning: we’re up at 3.30 to make our transfer to the airport.  It’s a bit foggy in Auckland this morning, so pretty much all the flights are delayed.  It’s 2 and a half hours or so up to the Kingdom of Tonga and we land with barely enough time to screech through the achingly slow immigration queue, snatch our bags and pile into a taxi for the domestic terminal.  We’re connecting straight up to Vava’u with Tonga’s brand new airline: Real Tonga.  Now there’s a story.  Internal flights used to be handled safely and efficiently by Chathams Pacific.  We’d booked our flights with them when we got the news that the government had decided to chuck out Chathams and install their own airline: Real Tonga.  It took a bit of a pfaff to get our tickets: we booked directly with Real Tonga and paid way back in February, but didn’t manage to squeeze confirmation of our flights out of them until about 10 days before we flew.  In a way, that was the least of our worries.  After putting Chathams out of business Real Tonga realized that it didn’t actually have any planes.  They accepted one dodgy plane off the Chinese and bought another old plane of Air Vanuatu.  New Zealand, the US and the UK all raised safety concerns about the new airline, so I’m fully prepared for a white-knuckle ride.  My fears are not in the least allayed when we arrive at the domestic airport to find that the flight schedule is written up on a whiteboard and all boarding cards are hand-written.  In the end, we needn’t have worried.  We’re not on the dodgy Air Vanuatu or Chinese plane.  Instead we’re on an old Convair 580 – she was built in 1953, making her 60 years old this year.

She lumbers and creaks a bit up the runway but she does, eventually, get us up, up and away.  She flies us smoothly and safely over some of the South Pacific’s most spectacular aerial views. 

In under an hour we’re touching down in Vava’u.  We’re loaded into an even creakier taxi and start the drive into town.  Dogs, chickens and pigs roam the streets freely: I love it already. 

We’re staying at the Port Wine Guest House in a beautiful wooden room.  Tai and his family make us feel right at home.  Nick sets about making friends with the local dogs whilst I fail miserably at making friends with the local piggies.

We’re knackered after our early start this morning and don’t have the energy for more than a quick unpack and a stroll through town.  We have the use of the kitchen, but unless we fancy tinned spaghetti on toast the supermarkets aren’t bursting with meal opportunities.  Luckily it’s fairly inexpensive here and it doesn’t take long to find a harbor-front bar for some local beers and cheap, good eats. 

We have a big day tomorrow, so we crash out early.

Tuesday 23 July

Tonga is one of the few places in the world where you can swim with humpback whales.  It’s pretty much the only reason we’ve come here and most of our trip has been planned around being here at the right time.  We’re booked on a whale trip today and the excitement is almost too much for me.  We’re going out with Dolphin Pacific: the same guys who took the BBC Life team out to film humpbacks.  We get down to the docks early and get loaded onto a boat together with our guides Ali and Tavida.  We make one stop to pick up the remaining 6 passengers and then we head out into Vava’u’s sheltered waters.  Every winter humpbacks come here to mate and calve.

Before too long we spot some whales in a little bay. The whales are either extremely playful or they’re just not interested in us at all, because wherever we are they are not. We cruise slowly from one side of the bay to the other, hoping they’ll relax in our presence or show a bit of interest in us, but it’s not happening.  We leave them in peace and head off in search of more whales.  Boy, do we find them.  Our guides tell us that we’ve stumbled upon a heat run in progress.  This is where a group of male whales compete and vie for a female’s attention.  There are 5-8 whales in the water around us, slapping fins and tails and generally doing a good job of making themselves look impressive.  All attention is on the female and they really couldn’t care less whether we’re there or not, which is good for us.  Just watching from the boat is a treat in itself as the whales get closer and closer. 

We pull up in front of the whales and drop some snorkelers into the water – only 4 are allowed in at a time, so we’re split into two groups.  We’re not too sure what to expect but before we know it we’re in the water and huge humpbacks are gliding just below us.  They’re passed us all too quickly and the boat swings round to load us up again.

We leapfrog around them for a while – getting in front, dropping snorkelers in, letting them swim passed and then doing it all again.  I get 3 swims with the whales and Nick 4 – each time they’ve got progressively closer as they’ve got used to our presence.  It’s such a dreamlike experience that as soon as I get out of the water into the boat the details start to go all hazy, but I’m happy and over-awed.

We let the whales swim off and we shelter behind a reef on the edged of a little island for lunch.  We have a quick sandwich then take a short swim over the reef to the island.

Before we know it, it’s time to be pushing on.  We’re searching for whales again this afternoon but with less luck.  We see the occasional plume or fin and our guide drops in to hear them singing faintly, but we can’t get near enough to get in with them again.

All too soon we’re out of time and making our way for dry land.  On the way back we spot these industrious piggies fishing for their dinner on the beach at low tide.

Exhausted and exhilarated we warm up with hot showers and then find another waterfront bar for some food.  Our beers are served with an interesting snack: roasted fresh coconut.  Strips of fresh coconut are roasted until the edges start to blacken.  It really brings out the nutty flavour, but keeps the centre juicy.  It’s delicious served with some sweet chili sauce.

Janet adds: we’d read mixed things about Tonga and nothing overly positive, but it’s one of my favourite places.  The people are friendly, sincere and funny, the scenery is spectacular and the wildlife is out of this world.

Wednesday 24 July

We haven’t got any big plans for today, so just take it easy.  Mount Talau sits just outside of town and promises great views from the top so we decide to spend the morning climbing that.  The road out of town goes from tarmac, to dirt and then peters out into a rough track lined with citrus trees laden with fruit.  From here it’s a short but steep climb up to the top.  From the top we do indeed get great views back over Neiafu, the main town, and the Port of Refuge. 

Once we’ve clambered down we take a slow stroll through town, wandering the backstreets to see if we’ve missed anything.  It is only a little place and there’s not much to see, but it does have some beautiful buildings.

We find a little café for lunch and then head back to our room.  Most of the afternoon is spent relaxing and taking care of a few odd jobs.  Five o’clock is happy hour time so we make sure we’re back out for five. 

Janet adds: I’m settling into this lifestyle quite nicely – if only I could get some piggies of my own and somehow stop Nick from eating them.

Thursday 25 June

Before we arrived we booked two days of whale watching just to be safe.  Today is day two.  We had such a good day on Tuesday that there’s no pressure on today to deliver, but we’re optimistic as we get loaded up and head out.  We’re with the same company today but on a different boat, with Claudia guiding and Patella skippering. 

Everyone is out on deck with their eyes peeled for whales. 

Luckily our skipper can multi-task and doesn’t need more than a foot to keep the boat going.

Before too long we find a mother with her calf in a little sheltered bay.  We hang out with them for a while, but they don’t seem to want to play with us so we leave them be.  Not long after someone spots a triple breach on the horizon.  We blast over there but these whales aren’t interested in playing either.

News comes over the radio that the other boat has found a ‘friendly’ whale.  We head over just as they’re pulling their swimmers out.  We jump in as quickly as we can but unfortunately the whale is diving and we just catch a glimpse of his tail as he disappears into the depths.  The second group has more success and manages to stay with the whale for a while, so we get another go.

He’s down as we jump in, but we can just about make him out.  He’s singing loudly and the clicks and whistles echo all about us. When we’re right above him we can even feel his song vibrating through us.  We wait ever so patiently and quietly and then there he comes: rising up from the deep he comes closer and closer until we’re eyeball to eyeball with him. 

I think he’s checking us out as much as we’re checking him out.  Once he sees enough he heads back down into the deep.

We pile back onto the boat exhilarated and go off to find some lunch.  We moor just off a beautiful coral reef for some sandwiches and a quick snorkel.

After lunch we’re back in search of whales.  We try to find our singer again, but get waylaid by various other whales that keep popping up. 

At one stage we’re not sure which direction to go in – even some pilot whales have turned up to join in the fun.  Two humpbacks are coming our way and we hop in.  Suddenly they’re rising out of the depths towards us again – this time so close I’m afraid to breath. 

They surface just next to me and Nick, my hero, even manages to snap a photo.

It’s more than I could possibly have wished for, but we still get one more swim today.  This time as we drop in we’ve landed right in-between two whales.  They’re coming towards us fast and for the briefest moment we’re not sure what to do. There’s no need to panic though: they know exactly where we are and come on either side of us.  We end up sandwiched between them.  It’s sensory overload and we don’t know where to look. 

Then it’s all over.  They’re gone and it’s time for us to get our boat back to shore. 

Janet adds: beyond words.

Friday 26 June

It’s our last full day today and we didn’t have anything planned.  We thought about cycling round the island but couldn’t source any bikes.  The whole time we’ve been here we’ve been admiring a beautiful, wooden boat in the harbour. 

We’ve seen her out sailing and then some people staying at the same guest house as us mentioned that they’d had a day out on her and highly recommended it.  So at the last minute we find a phone number for Captain Dennis and call to book a trip.  It’ll be another day on the water for us, but this one at a far slower pace.  We’re not leaving until 10am, so we can take is easy this morning.

Dennis picks us up at the marina and ferries us over to the HM Salote.  His wife, Donna, is waiting on board, as is Isi – our snorkel guide for the day.  As it turns out we’re the only two guests, so it looks like it’s going to be a private sail for us today. 

The engines take us out of the harbour and then we open the sails and pick up the wind.  We sail out to Nuku island, our first stop for the day.  There’s some beautiful snorkeling just offshore and a crescent of white sand to warm up on afterwards. 

Isi finds, husks and cracks a coconut in shorter than it’s taken me to type this – we’re impressed.  By the time we’ve swum back to the boat Dennis has whipped up a meal fit for a king (or 4).

We fill our bellies then sail over to our next stop while our food digests.  We’re at Swallows Cave – a half-submerged cave.  It doesn’t look that impressive from the outside,

but once we snorkel in it’s just beautiful in the filtered light, with unbelievably clear water beneath us.

Our last stop for the day is at the Japenese Gardens – another snorkel spot full of bright fish and huge, candy-pink starfish. 

Back on board we relax with a beer and some banana bread as Dennis and Donna sail us back in.

We tidy ourselves up and head out for yet more food – we’re even in time to catch the end of the Friday afternoon harbour sailing race.

Saturday 27 June

We’re leaving today but we’re not flying until late this afternoon, so we’ve got the morning to relax.  We get our bags packed up and then take a walk into town to enjoy the bustle of the market.

We fill the rest of the time hanging out at our guest house or in town, until it’s time to get our taxi to the airport.  We’re flying back down to Tongatapu and then connecting on to Nadi, Fiji.