Tonga 2005 Trip Debrief.

The trip started like all others. Beers in the departure lounge. Twelve of us were heading off to resound in the wonders that Tonga had to offer. We were to endure, two ordinary movies on our four hour flight to Tonga, followed by the obligatory painful line of immigration, and then it was a quick trip into town to find our illustrious hotel. After finding our rooms, (some of us wish we hadn’t), we headed back down stairs to the world famous Tongan karaoke bar. We hadn’t realized that Tonga was stuck in a 1960’s time warp. Well in no uncertain terms, we rocked the house down, renditions of waterloo, and uptown girl are still talked about today.

Early then next morning, and I mean, very early the next morning, we collectively struggled onto our domestic flight up to our final destination of Vava’u. Once arriving in this tropical paradise, we were transported to our hilltop hotel. Thank God, I arranged a rest day on the first day. As the sun was shining down and we gently sipped the local beers in the swimming pool, we gazed down on the magnificent harbor and witnessed three whales frolicking in front of our hotel. We could have sat there all week, and we would have been happy. The excitement grew as what would lay ahead over the next ten days. After a successful first day of doing absolutely nothing, we decided to get wet and see what Tonga had to offer in the underwater department. Warm water, excellent visibility, 40m+, hard coral, soft corals, sharks, rays, turtles, and many more greeted us on many, if not all dives, whilst all along we dived with the ever present whales songs ringing in our ears. Unbelievable! As people snapped away, memory sticks were being devoured like there was no tomorrow.

With the days diving at an end, a quick trip into town, followed by a sleep, and then a quick swim in the pool. Everyone was eager for the following day’s whale snorkeling day. With such a big day, and an even bigger dinner under our belts, we hit the hay early, ready for some close encounters of the humpback kind. The following morning couldn’t come soon enough for a lot of us, the whale watch boat picked us up from the hotel wharf, a quick briefing before we left, and then it was all eyes peeled for any sign of life. After an incredibly short time, (half of us hadn’t even had a chance to get into our wetsuits) our first whales of the day were sighted. A mother and calf, along with their male escort were found sleepily at the surface. The first group of four quietly slipped over the side, into the azure blue waters and snorkeled over to them.

This process repeated itself over the next nine hours, during which we were witness to the antics of the calf showing off, breaching numerous times, until mum and dad had enough of him showing off, and decided to show him how it is done properly. Having two fully grown adult humpback whales breaching simultaneously just meters from the boat is something you cannot explain. I am still kicking myself, as I had only put the video camera down, just seconds before the spectacle. During the day, we had the pleasure of visiting one of the prettiest islands in the vava’u group, where we had lunch waiting for us. A chance to get dry, stop swaying, and enjoy a cuisine styled lunch on a deck, which overlooked the whitest sand, and the bluest waters imaginable. Pure and utter indulgence, we didn’t want to leave, but we knew we were in for more whales.

We were scheduled to have the following day off as a rest day, however, the majority of the group decided against that and booked a further two dives to fully savor what Tonga had to offer. They arrived back at the hotel that afternoon, with smiles from ear to ears. I didn’t want to be told. During our stay in vava’u, we heard about the Mexican restaurant’s taco Tuesday deals. $1 per taco, many of us thought, you beauty, let’s get amongst it, after ordering our four or five taco’s, we were disappointed some what when the taco’s arrived to find that the approximate size of each taco, was the equivalent of a 20 cent piece. More orders were placed, and hundreds of dollars later we were finally full….cheap night indeed. With luck being on our side for the trip, we were enthused to find that the Miss Tongan beauty pageant was being held whilst were in town. This pageant is only open to the Tongan males who are brought up as females. Long story, ask me about it in the shop when you see me next. This night turned out to be one of the funniest nights in my life. You have not seen anything like it before. Big Tongan males, in fishnet stockings, bras, high heels, you had to be there. Very very funny.

As the week slowly progressed, dives slowly ticked down and whale encounters slowly ticked up, our ten days were slowly coming to an end.  A celebratory dinner was planned. I think more planning went into this dinner than a NASA space launch. It went something like this, arrange with the other groups staying in our hotels when it would suit them to have a big one, book a bus big enough to get us to the other side of the island, have a boat waiting for us to transfer us across the lagoon and hopefully pray that the carrier pigeon we let go earlier in the day made it across to the restaurant letting them know we were coming. Thankfully it did. A big night was had be all, Mick finally got the jist of this drinking caper, Glennn (no I have not spelt his name wrong), and Ben bongoed their night away, Tanya, tried to fatten up the locals, Janelle proceeded to break a few chairs in between dancing to the local Spanish band. Getting back to the hotel was the reverse process only in the dark this time. Mick couldn’t wait for the boat, and decided to swim for it, he soon realized that was a bad mistake and waited with the rest of us. Our last day spent in Vava’u was made up of many different pursuits, some paddled, some wandered, some shopped, some drank, and some slept, most felt sad they were leaving. Our airplane tickets were burning a hole in our pockets, so we reluctantly packed our belongings and disapprovingly made our way to the airport. After landing in the capital. We alighted and headed out to see what the big island had to offer. Our three hour tour took us to natural stone land arches, blowholes, kings’ palaces and tombs, markets, CPT cooks landing place, ancient tombs and many more. Throw lunch in there somewhere along the line, and the day was quiet a busy one.

The final night’s celebration eclipsed all of those that we had previous. An exceptional meal in an exceptional restaurant. A resounding success if anyone were quoted. Meals were devoured, drinks were ordered and sheepishly we left this pleasant environ. Our last hurdle of the trip was to get to the airport the next morning. Everyone up – check. Bags packed – check. Checkouts complete – check. Bus to the airport – ah, bus to the airport anyone? Who ever said it was all fun and games lied. A bus was procured, and the airport waited longingly. Ben, Glennn (no I have not spelt his name wrong) and Mick, loved Tonga so much they didn’t want to leave, in fact they wanted to save the effort and just leave their bags there for next time. With all things said and done, I wish to thank all those who took time out; to enjoy all of what Tonga had to offer. Ben and Jason, Mick and Glennn (no I have not spelt his name wrong), Guy and Marco, Janelle and Michelle, Debbie and Trina. I hope to all see you here next year.    Pictures