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Blogs from Tongatapu, Tonga, Oceania
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May 29th 2012
29th May ‘12 – 2nd June ‘12 The Kingdom of Tonga! We landed at Nuku’alofa airport at 10.30pm and were led to the duty free shop – turns out this is the cheapest duty free in the whole of the South Pacific so after the ridiculous price in Sydney, which meant I didn’t buy any I dived in to get some cigarettes. We were met by a lovely guy called Peter (with an unfortunate cauliflower growth by his mouth) who was our lift to Toni’s Guesthouse where we were going to stay. As the ATM at the airport was out of order he stopped at one for us and also took us to a local shop where we were allowed behind the barred window counter to choose some food and drinks. The guesthouse is made up ... read more
May 10th 2012
26.04.2012 Nach einem guten Flug kamen wir in Tonga an. Dort haben wir zwei Wochen relaxt und das gute Wetter genossen. Am 10.05. ging unser Flug zurück nach Auckland.... read more
The Kingdom of Tonga - where the Streets have no name
Published: April 25th 2012Oceania » Tonga » Tongatapu
April 8th 2012
After and awesome week discovering Sydney and it’s closeby countryside was finally heading off to Tonga. Caught early transfer to airport in case things went wrong and was way too early to checkin so had to sit around playing computer for a few hours. Man checked me into window seats for both flights though J Then finally checked in and issue with luggage, whether I had to pick it up in Aukland or could check it straight through. Finally checked straight through and went into AirNZ lounge. Very nice having dinner and a couple of rums, which with the electrical storm outside that delayed our flight was highly valued. Only had cheap seats so couldn’t watch movies and didn’t need to eat with the lounge pass anyway. Listened to Toby Keith’s Clancy’s Tavern and Brad Paisley’s ... read more
January 20th 2012
Secret? Not really. Strange? Yes, decidedly. We visited two of Tonga’s island groups. Tongatapu, which houses the capital, Nuku’alofa, and Ha’apai, a few hundred miles to the north, and decades in the past. Tapu gives us the word taboo – the only Tongan word to make its way into English. Tonga meanwhile, means south. So Secret South it is. If the Tongans were solely responsible for their tourism, this is perhaps how it would remain. The few elements of tourist infrastructure that we saw tended to be run by foreigners, mainly Europeans. By their own admission, Tongans are not great business people. They’re not particularly keen on the beach either, meaning on our visits we usually had the sea and sand to ourselves, along with the aquatic life. So untouched are some of the waters, that ... read more
February 8th 2011
I was compliaing in Bali how it's overrun by tourist. Now I'm complaining about lack of tourist infrastructure here. Those who do try to provide services for tourist, nice one, it must be a difficult business!... read more
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THE KINGDOM OF TONGA AND THE INTERNATIONAL DATELINE
Published: February 8th 2011Oceania » Tonga » Tongatapu
February 5th 2011
En route from Tahiti to Tonga we crossed the 180˚ meridian of longitude which is called the International Date Line. When it is crossed going west a day is lost in the process. When it is crossed going east then the same day is repeated. As we are steaming west, we lost Feb 2. Our date on the ship jumped from Feb 1 to Feb 3 overnight. We had no Wednesday, no Groundhog Day, and people who celebrate their birthdays or anniversaries on Feb 2 had to have the party on another day. Those of us who are continuing on around the world will gain that day back hour by hour as we pass through the time zones on our westerly way to Europe. Those that are flying home from New Zealand will arrive in the ... read more
March 8th 2010
Schaut noch jemand ausser Sandra hier rein? Ich weiss, ich schreibe nicht viel, aber ich wuerde gerne mal eine Resonaz bekommen und dann evtl. mal wieder mehr schreiben.... ... read more
June 20th 2009
Never have I been so comfortably happy to drive extremely slowly down a perfectly straight and decently paved rural road or to see a cockroach in my bathroom. Why do you ask? Because these are both things I associate with being in a nice warm island nation where time just goes a little slower. So if you haven't guessed I'm in Tonga. Getting to the final legs of the trip. So far Tonga seems pretty good. I'm kinda really exhausted though, after awkward flight hours and being used to going to bed at 10pm. But today was good. I got into town and contacted Sitiveni (Steven), the builder whom Colin Philp recommended I contact out here. And, I found out that he's starting a build of a traditional 4 or 5 man canoe on Monday. So ... read more
August 16th 2008
This is part one of two parts documenting my recent holiday in Tonga. I'll let the photos tell the story - so you'll need to open the photo - sorry - also note that there is more than one page of photos... so to see them all you'll need to go to page two. We left auckland on Saturday afternoon for Tongatapu Island for a two night stay, howerver had no reservations for accomodation on the island. We hadn't wanted to stay so long on the main island but had no choice as on Sundays nearly everything including the airports. We arrived on Tongatapu and put our faith in the hands of a doggy looking cab driver that promised us accomodation, we just had to get in his van and take a ride into town.... so ... read more
July 27th 2008
Malo It is just over a week since I arrived in the Kingdom of Tonga, and I have had some great adventures already. My first stop was on the Island of Tongatapu, in the city of Nuku'alofa, where Dad is living. Tonga has its own unique culture again from the other Polynesian islands that I have visited, and a lot of that is based around the fact that Tonga is an absolute Monarchy. The city of Nuku'alofa and the island of Tongatapu have been buzzing since I arrived with the preparations for the upcoming Coronation of King George Tupou V. On every street there are banners being raised, red and white flags decorating all of the houses, a paintbrush in the hand of every second Tongan and more balloons than a Christmas parade. There has been ... read more
