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 [View Full Entry]

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Malo, Well I am back in the land of the long white cloud now, or should that be long grey rain cloud. This is my final installment on Tonga. Just off the coast of Tongatapu is the island of 'Eua, it is a quick 10 minute flight across and easily visited in a day trip. 'Eua is amazing in that it is completely different from Tongatapu, and yet is so close. It is a hilly volcanic island, in contrast to the completely flat, highly cultivated Tongatapu. The flight over to 'Eua was great because we flew over a pod of 5 [View Full Entry]

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At the start of our winter Moo & I escaped to warm Tonga, not knowing if it was ugly, beautiful, kind or aggressive or what it might be in attitude, but we were keen for it because it was our same old love for exploring new places. After our flight we were picked up by Toni from his (Toni’s) Guesthouse to get be taken for our first night experience there and… it was an amazingly attractive place to stay, a bit pricey ($15 /night) but the first one so no probs. We went for a bit of a walk around the [View Full Entry]

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Malo, The highlight of my visit to the Kingdom of Tonga has been my trip up to Vava'u, the northern group of Islands, about 180 nautical miles further north of Tongatapu. Dad is managing a new airline - Chathams Pacific, the friendly islands airline - which flies domesticaly throughout Tonga. I of course needed to inspect these services, so took a trip up to Vava'u for 3 nights. Vava'u is a sailers paradise; with a group of islands, deep water ways, a sheltered and protected harbour called the Port of Refuge, and crystal clear blue water. I would describe it to [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Well we have arrived at our final destination in the Pacific. We are in Tonga and it is absolutly amazing. We will have about 6 days here and then we head off for NZ our final detination. The pictures included are of the society islands. [View Full Entry]

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Maolo e Lei lei, zoals ze hier in Tonga zouden zeggen! Ondertussen breng ik mijn laatste dagen door in 'The kingdom of Tonga' dat zomaar eventjes bestaat uit 171 eilandjes, waarvan ik er zelf, drie bezocht heb. Nogmaal om de verwarring tegen te gaan: ik ben NIET (meer) in NIEUW-ZEELAND en ook NIET in AUSTRALIE! Tonga is een land op zich, in de pacific! ( dichtbij Frans Polynesie, Fiji, Nieuw-Caledonie,...) Toen we aankwamen, werden we aan de luchthaven onmiddellijk opgehaald door Toni. Een 60+ Brit, die hier ondertussen al 18 jaar woont, volledig verbitterd en doordrongen van zwartga [View Full Entry]

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We've all heard about whalewatching from boats or shore, and a few companies are now offering the possibility of actually swimming and snorkeling with whales in the wild. Is this a good thing? Some whalewatching operators in the Kingdom of Tonga, South Pacific islands, advertise the possibility of swimming and snorkeling with humpback whales during the cetacean's annual migration from July to October. This activity sounds appealing, yet there are a number of things to consider. To drop clients off within snorkeling distance of a whale, the swim boats must come closer than the 30 meters l [View Full Entry]

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Photos from our Tonga trip in June 2007. Travelled with family members for Marco's daughter's wedding in Eua. A great place for a family trip, lots of adventure in the rainforest with 4wds and not overrun with tourists. Recommended places to stay - on Eua - Hideaway resort and on Tongatapu - Heilala Holiday Lodge. [View Full Entry]

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En we waren gebleven bij de vlucht naar Tonga… was een goeie vlucht, hoewel we niemand kunnen aanraden met Air New Zealand te vliegen… nix ten nadele van de stewards aan boord, maar er zijn er gewoon te weinig om een goede service te verlenen. Zo kreeg Jacq haar maaltijd redelijk vroeg (vegetarische maaltijd worden altijd als 1e geserveerd) en moest ik ruim anderhalf uur wachten.. lekker gezellig als je samen wat wilt eten. Maar goed, verder alles prima hoor. Om 10 uur ‘s ochtends kwamen we aan in Nuka’alofa, de hoofdstad van Tonga. Was gelijk een wereld van verschil& [View Full Entry]

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