It’s going to be hard to sell Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofi. First off the warship which refused to let us in yesterday also refuses to leave on time this morning so we are delayed getting berthed and cleared by immigration.
Economically, too many things have got in the way of this country, not the least of which was the Covid nightmare, more recently a tsunami crippled this island community in 2022 and both combined make recovery a long and torturous process.
First a quick bit of history. Tonga is a group of 171 islands scattered all over the South Pacific across a very large but sparse area. It’s a kingdom not unlike Britain although with only 100,000 peoples in total it’s organisation is a little more simplistic. Until very recently the king was absolute but that changed in 2010. They have never been conquered either (if one excludes Christianity) although they did ask us to be their protector in order to ensure this, and of course consequently Tonga is now a member of the Commonwealth, but otherwise fiercely independent.
We may have chosen badly, but we decided to stick to a walk around the capital, which was fascinating and enlightening but not necessarily the most photogenic experience. In the first instance we enjoy a local dancing reception, before walking along the northern shore, experience a few minutes of joyous gospel, and on to a cultural centre, then head south and return through the industrial centre of the town.
Once back in town we find schools, college, royal tomb, the palace, a destroyed cathedral (I did wonder if this is tsunami or not but now know it was caused by Cyclone Ghita in 2018) and countless other churches.
Maybe we should have done a tour, but then we might have missed the immersive reality. Either way, It’s enough in the heat and humidity so we return to our home to relax in the pool and on deck.
Meanwhile Odyssey is getting a proper scrubbing to ensure she passes the strict regulations New Zealand and later Australia demands in terms of not bringing bio-contamination over from other places.
The sail-away is going to be by CD Robert, so we strategically position ourselves in the pool for this event, where he sings many fabulous musical numbers, a few in duet with Amber.
Later we sneak in an extra TK Grill booking and head off there to enjoy lobster and tuna tartare, shared beef rib, shared chocolate cake.
Captain has announced another stargazing session on deck 11, so we head up there, by which time we’ve missed the turn so head back to the bar instead.
