The Kingdom of Tonga has appeared reluctant to follow its Pacific neighbours in competing for the tourist dollar. But that’s about to change, as INNES LOGAN discovers.
You know Tonga has yet to become a full-on tourist destination as soon as you join the check-in at Auckland airport. Catch a flight to Nadi, Rarotonga or even Apia, and you’ll be sharing it with holidaymakers and businesspeople of all nationalities as well, of course, as the locals. But on this particular early morning flight the passengers are overwhelmingly Tongan. They’re either heading home, visiting family and, from the size of the packages they’re bringing on board, feeding them well, too. I’m part of a group generously being flown to the Kingdom for a whistle-stop one-day promotional tour, courtesy of Pacific Blue and the Tonga Visitors Bureau.
Tongatapu is where two-thirds of Tonga’s population of approximately 102,000 live. It is the largest of the Kingdom’s 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Tongatapu is also the home of the capital, Nuku’alofa, Tonga’s only urban and commercial centre, and our first destination.
It’s my first visit to Tonga. What strikes me about Tongatapu is how flat it is. Our first stop is the Billfish Bar & Restaurant on the waterfront, owned and run by the husband and wife team of John and Liz Sullivan. John is a regular columnist for SPASIFIK and they distribute our publication in selected outlets in town. It’s the most popular drinking spot in Tonga, a real institution. They generously provide a lunch for the party before we head across to the Pangaimotu Island Resort, just a kilometre across the water from the main wharf. The resort is owned and operated by Earl Emberson, who arrived on the site 35 years ago and has lived there ever since. It’s convenient and sheltered for cruising yachts, has a shipwreck which is home to numerous fish species just off the golden sands beach and we are arrived at the perfect time for a swim. Tongan-born Charles Riechelmann, who played 10 matches for the All Blacks in 1997 and now runs a trucking company in Auckland, was smart enough to bring something to swim in, as was Niu FM’s Sela Alo.
We head back to the mainland, where Sandra from the Tonga Visitors Bureau take us to catch a glimpse of the Royal Palace overlooking the water. Next is the luxurious Black Pearl Hotel, then the flying fox village of Kolovai in the north-west corner of Tongatapu. No, it’s not Tonga’s own extreme adventure ride. We are directed to large trees that are full of fruit bats (flying fox) hanging from almost every branch. Dusk approaches and they are preparing to spread their wings in search of the hot-bloodied fruit that feeds them. Their physical appearance may strike horror to many, but their graceful gliding is sheer poetry in motion.There’s just enough daylight to head across the island to Mapu’a’a Vaea (the Chief’s Whistle) at Houma, home of the most spectacular blow holes I’ve seen. Looking along the south-west coast all one could see is the mist of spray as waves crashed a coral wall riddled with cracks, allowing water to spurt through then explode upwards like a geyser.
Night has fallen. We’re hosted by the Bureau at the National Cultural Centre on the outskirts of town, with dinner and enjoyable entertainment (apart from when I’m on stage) by a group of local performers. It’s time for a quick
gathering at the Billfish, which lives up to its reputation, and Shooters bar down the road before we head back to the airport for Auckland.Time didn’t allow us to visit the Ha’amonga ‘a Maui – the Stonehenge of the South Pacific built more than 1000 years ago, or Tongatapu’s surfing strip at Ha’atafu Beach. Added to that the poster display of the stunning locations in Vava’u Group of islands further north provided by Kololiana ‘Otuangu Naufhu (General Seecretary of the Tonga Tourist Assocation) and Ruby Ma’afu (Manager Pacific Travel Marketing Ltd) leaves me now aware of how unspoilt and undiscovered Tonga is as a tourist destination. It also leaves me keen to return for more.
• SPASIFIK would like to thank Pacific Blue and the Tonga Visitors Bureau
