Blogs from Vava'u, Tonga, Oceania - page 3

Tonga I am still unable to include pictures: in the interim I will plublish some commentary and add the pictures once we return home. The original schedule was one day of sailing to Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. The captain informed us that a large storm was battering the Cook Islands and that we would be detouring away from that area and that our next port of call would be Vavau, Tonga. What he didn’t mention is that this is the typhoon season in the South Pacific. Well after 3!/2 days we finally arrived. The seas were definitely choppy and we found out that Mare has a stronger stomach than yours truly. At night I would try to imagine that we were being rocked to sleep. The only difference being ... read more

Well this post has taken much longer than expected to get up here. I'll keep the text short and leave you to the photos. Vava'u was the treat of the trip. I got to bike through jungle trails, swim with humpback whales, go diving and lounge around on the beach. This island is off the tourist track and I really enjoyed it. I've enrolled in a gym boot camp as part of a marketing stunt for my office.... it's breaking my balls. Up at 5:30 to crawl around on my stomach through muddy fields and pack around a pack filled with 20 pounds of sand. It's tough going to work and trying to focus after such an excercise routine.... I could really use some sleep. I write this just after midnight... as my sleeping patter is ... read more

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.... read more

Tonga - unique among Pacific nations - never completely lost its indigenous governance. The archipelagos of "The Friendly Islands" were united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. Tonga became a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in 1900; it withdrew from the protectorate and joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. Tonga remains the only monarchy in the Pacific. Tonga has a land area of about 750 square km, which makes it a bit smaller than metropolitan Melbourne. It’s 115,000 people live on 36 of its 169 islands. Tongans are huge, friendly and poor. With GDP growing at the same speed as the population, kids constantly snacking on junk food, and everyone smiling, it’s unlikely anything in Tonga will change in the foreseeable future. So why Tonga? Following the Keusgen boys’ sailing trip to ... read more