We spent today in Tonga where we took a tour of the Island in an air conditioned bus. Quite a treat after the very old school bus we were on in Samoa. I feel like my words are so inadequate to describe the beauty of what we are seeing and the cultures we are experiencing.
Tonga is very different from Samoa. The differences in topography are quote startling. Samoa is quite mountainous, with sharp jagged peaks jutting up everywhere. Tonga, on the other hand, is COMPLETELY flat. There are NO hills or mountains. Additionally, in Samoa I felt a strong sense of quiet, peace, and gentleness. Competition didn't appear to be a significant part of their culture (although the high school students take their sports events quite seriously :) Samoans seemed to be grateful for everything that has been given to them. They talked a lot about the missionary who brought them fabric to cover their bodies (instead of the leaves they were wearing), taught them the alphabet and how to read and write, and shared his Christian faith with them. On our tour in Tonga, I asked our guide if there was a curfew on the Island, since we had learned that in Samoa all young people must be home by 9:00p.m. (7 nights a week) and all residents must stay in their house after 10:00p.m. Our Tongan guide snapped back quickly and said NO! Here in Tonga we are free to go wherever we want, whenever we want, and with whomever we want!!! The Samoans feel that the curfew works well for them but I quickly learned it would be tolerated in Tonga!!! Although Tongans are gracious, warm and friendly, there is an underlying feeling of great pride in their country, or kingdom, as our guide called it. Perhaps the strong, independent, and more rugged spirit I'm sensing is due to the fact that Tonga is the only Pacific Island that has never been colonized by a foreign power. They are very proud of their accomplishment. They are the last remaining Polynesian monarchy. The royal family traces its descent from ancient ruling chiefs.
It was raining the entire day we were here but we didn't let it stop us. Our driver and tour guide were determined to show off all of their Islands' sites to us and we went along happily. We made a stop at the Royal Palace, although it is vacant until after the coronation of the new king next month. We then drove to an area in which "flying foxes" abound. The foxes are really bats with fox-like heads, live in large communal groups and feed primarily on fruit at night. These bats were hanging upside down all over a large casuarinas tree. The bats were quite an unusual sight for a Southern California girl raised at the beach! Next, we stopped at the shore to spend some time watching the blowholes. Water shoots up through the blowholes to reach heights of 60 feet. It is quite a magnificent sight. There are too many of them to count but when the tide is high it is quite breathtaking. Next, we made a brief photo stop at the place where Captain James Cook landed in 1777. He was the explorer who labelled Tonga as the Friendly Islands (there are about 170 small Islands that make up Tonga, but only 45 of them are inhabited). We continued on our tour to the Ha'amonga Trilithon, which is known as the Stonehenge of the South Pacific. This structure, which consists of two upright coral stones about 15 feet high, topped by a horizontal connecting stone about 20 feet long. It is believed to be erected about 1200AD, but no one knows for certain what purposed it served. Our final stop was at a cultural heritage museum where we leaned how to make and decorate tapa cloth, watch Island dancers and pet huge turtles. Unfortunately, we were running very late on our tour and needed to return to the ship so we needed to make our visit a brief one. Back at the pier, as we left our tour bus and walked to where our ship was docked, we were greeted and entertained by traditional dancers and a local band.
All of our passengers were on board and we were prepared to sail when the Captain announced that we would remain tied to the dock until the wind at sea calmed a bit, which he anticipated to be very soon. He told us that the winds were bordering on a tropical depression and he wouldn't sail until he was sure it was safe. Although the Captain thought that we would be delayed about 30 minutes, we did not sail for another two hours. Guess I can say goodbye to the glassy sea for awhile! It will be interesting to see if we experience any extra rocking and rolling as we sail!!! So far, although it feels a little bumpy, I certainly wouldn't consider it to be rough seas. Just a little extra swaying back and forth :)
Now, we're off to New Zealand. It will take us about 2-1/2 days to get there. Although yesterday was Wednesday, January 22nd for us, today is Friday, January 24th. We passed the International Date Line so we missed the 23rd and went straight to Friday! Very weird feeling We've been behind L.A. 2-3 hours the entire trip and all of a sudden we're a day ahead of them.
Well, FINALLY that's all for today. I'll write again from New Zealand.
