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| The Maasdam docked at the pier in Naku'alofa |
It is a small world ... I bumped into a guest and her husband who remembered me from when we were on the sister ship, MS Noordam. We had been on a tour together and later during that cruise Paul and I invited her and her husband to dinner as well as another Australian couple. They are now sailing with the Maasdam for its Pacific Explorer Cruise. It was lovely to see them again.
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| Royal Palace |
We arrived docked at Naku'alofa having run a wee bit late because of a strong current. Needless to say, customs and immigration were late and they also took ages to clear the ship. It turns out that yesterday was a public holiday so I guess some of the officials were either hung over or didn't really feel like getting out of bed for work to clear a ship. Grrrr....
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| Royal Tombs |
When I arrived at the bus for my assigned tour the driver told me it was full. Our guide told me to get in but again the driver said the bus was full. I decided to climb aboard anyway and did find an empty seat beside a guest. We were soon underway, the bus engine making quite a racket and the brakes sounding as if they would fail on us. I clung on to the edge of my seat and hoped for the best. As the tour got underway the brakes sorted themselves out. I guess they were either rusty or dusty and needed a bit of a workout. Luseana did her best to make herself heard above the noise but it was difficult for her. Being a hot day with no air-conditioning on the bus I was glad that the windows were all open as was the bus door. It let in a nice breeze as we travelled along.
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| Traditional dancing at Ancient Tonga |
We stopped for a photographs at the entrance of the Royal Palace which is now only used on ceremonial occasions. The building looked Victorian and was apparently shipped from New Zealand and assembled in Nuku'alofa in 1867. We also visited the Royal Tombs (final resting place of King George Tupou I and his descendants) but once again it was a photographic stop outside a locked gate - it would be disrespectful to go inside to wander around the tombs.
At Ancient Tonga, a family run business, we saw how kava is made and there was a kava ceremony too to welcome us. There were demonstrations of dancing, music, drying thin reed-like leaves to weave mats, ‘cloth’, hats, baskets, etc.; a nice demonstration of how the tapa or bark cloth is made, and much more. Volunteer guests were wrapped in traditional clothing and an explanation was given as to what they were. One chap was wrapped up in a wedding dress which was lighter than it should be because the staff member used 3 layers instead of 5 layers of finely woven mats. Refreshments were served – fruit and tasting of a traditional meal. We also had time to wander around a typical village fale (house), the walls of which, in parts, was lined with tapa cloth.
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| No flying foxes seen in this tree. Only a beehive! |
Next were the blowholes (Mapu 'a vaea or "Chief's Whistles") which were quite different. The coastline was quite rocky but in a few places the coral was formed into terraces, worn away by waves. Within the terraces small holes had worn through and the wave action pushing water up from below and through the holes caused the blow hole reaction - 4, 5 or more going off at the same time. In other places blowholes were larger. I tried to take some photographs of the blowholes but I don't think they did the scenario any justice.
On the way back to port we stopped to see flying foxes but we didn't see them. Unfortunately children in the area were letting off fire crackers and Luseana thought the noise probably frightened them off. We saw a beehive though, in the tree!
It was good to get back to the ship and the cool of the air-conditioned cabin.
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| Route to our next destination: Neiafu, Vava U. |
The ship has raised her anchor and we are heading towards Neiafu on the island of Vava U, another Tongan island.
PHOTOGRAPHS
At Ancient Tonga, a family run business, we saw how kava is made and there was a kava ceremony too to welcome us. There were demonstrations of dancing, music, drying thin reed-like leaves to weave mats, ‘cloth’, hats, baskets, etc.; a nice demonstration of how the tapa or bark cloth is made, and much more. Volunteer guests were wrapped in traditional clothing and an explanation was given as to what they were. One chap was wrapped up in a wedding dress which was lighter than it should be because the staff member used 3 layers instead of 5 layers of finely woven mats. Refreshments were served – fruit and tasting of a traditional meal. We also had time to wander around a typical village fale (house), the walls of which, in parts, was lined with tapa cloth.
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