Steve and Cathy's Blog

This journey we are on has been interesting and enlightening in a thousand different ways.  Not only are we visiting some of the world’s greatest cities, but we are also visiting some relatively unknown … no, let’s rephrase that … very unknownplaces … at least unknown to us in the United States.  And some of these smaller places provide the biggest surprises and most cherished memories.  Tonga very well might be one of them.

Have you ever heard of Tonga?  We hadn’t, and so we arrive here around 8:00am after witnessing yet another beautiful sunrise with absolutely no preconceptions or anticipations as to what we will discover.

Our excursion, Oholei Beach & Hina Cave, is set to begin at 9:45am, and we chose it because it had the words “beach resort” and “traditional Tongan feast and dance performance” in the tour description.

We get a very nice welcome as soon as we get down to Deck 4 to disembark.  There are people there at a desk giving out information and maps of the main island we are on, Tongatapu, and the city, Nuku’alofa.  We walk down the pier and already people are saying hello and setting up tent shops to sell all manner of souvenirs.  So already we see that Insignia’s arrival is somewhat of an event.

We find Bus 2 and board. Now this will be the first tour we have been on where the bus is not air-conditioned.  But the windows do open and the heat is not too bad.

We meet our guide Dan, a big guy with a very big smile. He explains that we will have two stops: 1) a visit to the Blow Holes (or Mapu ‘a Vaea, which means Whisper Vaea in Tongan) on the southwest coast of the island and 2) several hours at Oholei Beach and Resort that includes lunch, after which we will return to the ship via a drive through several villages and the city of Nuku’alofa.

There is also no PA system, so Dan’s narration will be brief and will be mostly in response to questions. So here is some basic information about Tonga that we got from Dan and from Wikipedia:

• The country is an archipelago of 169 islands running for 500 miles in a north-south direction. The land itself is only 290 square miles, but these islands are interspersed in 270,000 square miles.  Here is how to picture these statistics: The country occupies an area the size of Texas.
• 107,122 people live in Tonga on 36 inhabited islands, with 70% of them living on Tongatapu where we are today.
• Tonga is a constitutional monarchy. This is a kingdom, and there is a king, King George Tupou VI, the latest in a line of kings stretching back over a hundred years.  It was an absolute monarchy until 2010, when, after significant agitation, the king relented and legislative reforms were instituted that give the common people some self-government.  It is the only kingdom in the Pacific.
• Interestingly, Tonga has never relinquished its sovereignty to a foreign power, one of the few countries in the world that can make that claim.
• One of the ways that they were able to avoid that was by becoming a British “protected state” from 1900 through 1970 through a Treaty of Friendship. Britain handled their foreign affairs and, by virtue of that, other colonial powers at the time kept their hands off.
• It was named the “Friendly Islands” because of the warm reception Captain James Cook got when he landed here in 1773. As we will see, they continue to warrant that description.
• It becomes clear very quickly that the Christian religion in all its forms is taken seriously in Tonga. Very seriously.  Dan tells us that there are churches of many Protestant and evangelical configurations, as well as Roman Catholic churches, and that 20% of the island’s citizens are Mormons.  There are churches everywhere we go, including a large Mormon one with a high school.

• The official languages are Tongan and English. Both languages are taught in school.
• Education is free, and, while a majority go to the public schools, there are several church-related ones. The University of the South Pacific has a branch here.
• The economy is almost entirely agricultural, with yams, tapioca and grapefruit the principal export crops. They are working hard to develop a tourist industry (you see evidence of that all over).
• The country is visited by cyclones regularly. In fact, it was slammed by Tropical Cyclone Gita on February 12^thof this year, and the evidence of the damage is everywhere we go.  Dan is very low key about his description, but we read that winds of up to 150 mph were recorded, and that it was the worst storm to hit in 60 years.  119 homes were destroyed, and a majority of the fruit trees and other crops were also ruined.  Their Parliament Building was leveled.
• The national sports are rugby, soccer and cricket. Tonga does participate in the Olympics and does quite well given their size.
• Some of our fellow guests ask the darndest questions. I do not recall how on earth this subject came up, but Dan tells us that you are only allowed to be married three times on Tonga, one person at a time.

We arrive at the Blow Holes, and the first bus to do so.  We are allotted twenty minutes to observe this interesting phenomenon.  The surf along this 3-mile stretch of coast here is quite heavy, and the waves crash into volcanic rock riddled with holes, forcing the water straight up in geysers.

I could have watched this for hours.  Instead, I used the “Sports” setting on my camera to take rapid-fire series of photos of the waves crashing against the rock and the water spurting up through the blow holes.  I am going to try an experiment: below are two series of four  pictures.  If you rapidly go from one to another, you will hopefully see how it looked to us.

By the time we are set to board our bus, the place is loaded with tour buses and vans. After twenty minutes, most of us, having obeyed Dan’s request to return to the bus on time, wait and wait, while he goes out and rounds up around six of our clueless and inconsiderate tour colleagues who evidently think they’re on a private tour. Finally everyone is aboard and we head for our next stop.

There are three busloads of Oceania guests that arrive around 12:30pm at Oholei Beach Restaurant and Resort on the southeastern shore of the island.  Dan says that we will be here until 4:00pm.  We all get off, walk down a dark covered walkway and then down a set of twenty-five or thirty concrete stairs to the beautiful white sand beach.  We walk about two hundred feet to a one-story pavilion where we will have lunch.

Now when we Americans hear the word resort, we have a certain image of five-star luxury with waiters hurrying about carrying drinks, dozens of beach chairs sheltered with multi-colored umbrellas, open air restaurants, swimming pools and calypso bands.

None of that is in sight here.  The hand-painted sign probably should have been the initial clue that we were in for a resort experience very different than the picture I just described.  Now Cathy and I are proud to tell you that already we liked Tonga just based on the people we saw waving as we drove by and what Dan had been telling us about life there.  So our mind was open and we were determined to enjoy whatever came our way here.

But we have been with these fellow Oceania passengers for several months now, and we know very well that they are accustomed to – and feel richly deserving of – nothing but travel-brochure extravagance.  We enter a large dark cave-like room and quickly find a table – a wooden table covered with large leaves and with hand-made wooden benches – with two of our friends and sit down to watch them.  While many people say nothing, you can just tell that they are, well, appalled. For them, this is just plain primitive, and they can’t imagine being dragged to such a place and, by God, Destination Services that set up this tour will hear from us!  I am loving every damn minute of this.

The place is funky with a capital F.  As I said, the tables are homemade; the building itself is built out of the stone cliff and is very dark.  The floor is sand, the bathrooms are clean but very, very basic and very dark, and the place is open to the weather.  You can tell immediately that it is a home-made family enterprise and that we are in for an interesting afternoon.

Soon there is music playing – live music.  It is a mixture of country western, 50s and early 60s soft rock and Polynesian. Bottles of water are being distributed by the staff of very attractive young men and women.  We are welcomed by the owner, Simana Kami, and he tells us that there is an underground oven called an “umu” on the beach where lamb, chicken and cassava are being cooked, and that there will be music throughout the meal, which is a buffet of authentic Tongan cuisine.  Lunch will be served in about half an hour.

So Cathy and I decide to go swimming, because we are two of the few guests that packed their swim clothes, somehow sensing in the word “Beach” in the title of the excursion that there might be this opportunity.  We venture down to the water.  On the way, another couple that is similarly prepared is coming back from a swim and offer us their water shoes, which they suggest we will need.  Cathy accepts their generous offer.

The water is crystal clear, warm and very, very relaxing.  The beach is protected by a reef, so the surf is not at all an issue. After about twenty minutes, we feel refreshed and are ready to return to the restaurant.  There is a single tree offering the only shelter on the beach, and we chat with Paul and Sherry who are there enjoying a cocktail while watching the water.  Right next to them, one of the bus tour guides is taking a snooze.

We arrive back at the restaurant pavilion just as it is announced that lamb and chicken is being served by the “umu” to anyone interested in seeing how it is done and enjoying an appetizer before lunch.  We are there!  There is a crowd of guests surrounding the pit taking pictures and listening to owner Simana describe the process.  When the meat is ready, we get in line, are handed a large leaf for a plate and are served pieces of meat and cassava on a leaf.  There appears to be corn and something else being cooked there as well.

Back at our table, we eat while the music plays.  We have never seen a place quite like this and are enjoying it immensely.  Steve wants to take more photographs, and leaves for about fifteen minutes.  When he returns, it looks like the lunch buffet is almost ready.

First, Simana welcomes us once again – profusely.  For the next twenty minutes, we listen to him as he tells us of the history of the Oholei Beach Resort.  It was started by his father back in the 1960s, who built it by himself.  It was doing well until his mother developed kidney issues and the entire family had to move to Australia in the 1980s so that Mom could get dialysis.  The place was shut down, and the family lived in the Sydney area for almost twenty years. Mom eventually passed and Simana had a dream of moving back to Tonga and reopening his father’s masterpiece.

He did just that in 2006, and found it overgrown with vegetation and desperately in need of repair.  He set about rebuilding it, with help from family members and his wife.  We can tell that he has put his heart into it, and a big heart it is.  The man loves to talk and tell his story, and who can blame him.  He introduces his wife, and spends another few minutes telling us how important she is to his life, etc.

He is really on a roll now as he launches into saying grace before we eat.  The man has a preacher’s voice and fervor, and invokes the name of Jesus Christ over and over.  I lean over to Cathy and whisper “Destination Services is really in for it.”  We find it extremely touching if not a little awkward. Finally, with his voice cracking with emotion, he ends the prayer and once more thanks us for coming to Oholei Resort and tells us how much it means to him.  It is a very touching and heartfelt moment.

We watch everyone head for the huge buffet.  Cathy will describe. Several forms of South Pacific carbs: breadfruit, cassava, yams, potatoes, fish poached in coconut milk (fabulous), baked stuffed clams, baked chicken, fruit, salad, all served buffet style. Our plates were sawed in half bamboo.

After lunch we all move to Hina Cave which is attached to and part of the resort.  It is a large grotto attached to the cliffs, and is a fabulous place for a show.  Of course there is some lighting, but most of the light comes from a large hole in the top of the cave.  Simana is, of course, the master of ceremonies.

We are treated to several native Polynesian dance numbers performed by his gorgeous staff.  In between numbers, he introduces us to some of them.  Then he introduces several of the men, two of whom perform a dance waving sticks with fire on both ends.  Their dances are spectacular, especially because they are being viewed in this dark grotto accompanied by live drumming and music.  The performance ends with one more heartfelt Thank You from Simana and a standing ovation for the performers.

As far as we are concerned, thisis what travel is all about. A unique performance in a unique place hosted by a unique personality in a beautiful location full of interesting, humble people.  We will never forget it.  Never.

But alas, it is time to return to the ship.  We hop on our buses and are on our way.  We are passing through several small villages as well as the capital town Nuku’alofa.  Everywhere we go, people recognize the tour buses and wave and call out “Hello” or “Thank you for coming.”  The traffic at this point is heavy, but we don’t really care. For one thing, there are more photo opportunities.  Steve especially wants to capture pictures of the unusual cemeteries that are everywhere here because of how they are decorated.

It is also right at the time when school is letting out, and, as in every country where we have been, the students are dressed in uniforms.  The Tongan people, like all Polynesians, and beautiful and handsome people, and it is a delight to see the young people.  They too see the buses and we exchange waves with dozens of them. Again we experience the very best of what travel can provide – real human interaction, albeit brief, that we will have as a memory forever.

We arrive at the pier. Cathy is ready to get on the ship. Steve wants to peruse the stalls that have been set up there to provide last minute souvenirs.  As he has seen all day, the Tongans could not be more friendly and gracious, even as he just walks past their shop.  Happily they are doing a brisk business, as Dan has told us earlier in the day that cruise ships only call here once or twice a month.  We have a feeling that statistic will change, and we are lucky to see the Tonga of 2018.

In a couple of hours, the sun begins to set, and Insigniaeases away from the pier.  Twelve hours ago, Tonga was a dot on the map.  No longer.  Now we know it as 107,122 actual human beings in a beautiful tropical island.  We are privileged to have been here.