Greetings from a two day adventure in Tonga!
We spent the first of two Tonga days at the small town of Neifu on the island of Vava'u in Tonga. It is the second largest city in Tonga - with a population of 6000. Not a whole lot larger than the population of the ship. A very protected bay/harbour, and a 20 minute ferry from ship to shore.
We were booked on a tour this day. Not the greatest tour. It didn't help that it started an hour late, because they couldn't find the second bus. Or that the guide didn't talk above a mumble, and scarcely even that. or that the 4 hour tour lasted a bit less than 2hrs. 1st stop - at a cemetery/park (Pouono Park which is historically important because it is the location where the King established the first code of law, the Vava'u Code. The bus stopped exactly in front of the large tree in front of the park. The guide told us we could not get off the bus, but we could take photos (took a few repetitions, and the assistance of one of our party to amplify the message), but we couldn't take pictures because of the tree, and couldn't hear anything about why the park was important (mumble... king... mumble... king... park). Eventually, Jana looked it up online and read the description to the group.
Next stop was a church. Nothing interesting here, except a beehive in one of the windows.
Next stop was a natural fresh-water cave with swimming. Which was fine other than the fact that there was no swimming, and only 4 people could go in at once because there was no room. And the entrance/exit for folks up/down the 20 or so steps was single-lane.
Next scheduled stop - a vanilla farm - cancelled.
Next stop a beach resort, for a protected swim, where our group and a second tour group pretty much took the place over. If I were staying at the resort, I would probably have been a bit miffed.
Then back to the shops next to the ship. At this point, I struck out on my own for a three-ish hour walk around the town to see the town and look at the pigs, chickens and birds roaming about. On more than one occasion, I was stopped by a local asking if I knew where I was going. One of them, after I said I was looking at some of the birds, offered to drive me to a good spot that was only a few km away. Another local spent 15 minutes asking me questions, and telling me about how all the shops are now owned by China, that they are open from 7AM to 10PM seven days a week, and everybody is shopping there now and not understanding that they are destroying the Tonga economy.
The walk was much more enjoyable/informative than the tour.
Day two was another tour - a much better one. It was at the largest city in Tonga, Nuku'alofa on the island of Tongatapu
First stop was to the 'blowholes' - a whole sea-shelf that breaks the waves, and mini vents spout. Pictures below. Second stop was to a massive inland boulder that is effectively a Tsunami Erratic (a boulder that doesn't belong there, and was put there by a Tsunami). My back-of-the envelope calculation is that this is about a 5-million pound boulder (About 7x10x15m [1000m3] times about 2000kg/m3). Third stop for a beach swim. Then back to the ship.
First two stops were hugely impressive. A much better day.
Birds in Tonga were better than some prior days. Even though the number of resident species is pretty sparce (about 60 total species this time of year), the number of birds was much higher, and the variety around town (at least on Day 1, where the town was 50/50 small farms) was much greater.
Tally is now up to 102 new bird species identified this trip.
Some pictures:
From our ship towards the town of Neifu, which can just be seen through the inlet. Too shallow for the ship, so a long ferry ride to shore. Fortunately, we had a tour scheduled, which gave us some priority on s ferry.
And from the dock back towards the ship. For a bit, the weather was looking pretty ominous. But cleared up and just became hot.
The church and the one thing I found interesting - the beehive in the upper right corner of the lower right-side window of the church. And, yes, I do understand that I either need to do a better job cropping, or stop sticking my finger in the pictures:
Maybe place your chair a bit farther to the left...
At the market - note the peanuts still on the stems!
White-Rumped Swiftlet:
On my solo walk, I stopped back at the Park from the tour. It was my first chance to claim Red Junglefowl (wild chickens). They were everywhere in town. As were free-range pigs.
A Pacific Imperial Pigeon, a Polynesian Triller, and an Eastern Wattled Honeyeater. And another good look at a Pacific Kingfisher:
As the ship departed for the next Island, another good sunset:
At the capital, Nuku'alofa, I got off the ship early to walk the polo fields near the dock. A lot of Pacific Golden Plovers:
A number of interesting things at the blowhole. One of which was wired trees.
A few blowholes blowing:
Which was frequently overwhelmed by the surf crashing. I could have spent the full day here watching the surf:
And one more at the surf - a Black-Winged Petrel:
At the Boulder, a few hundred meters inland from the shore. Estimated to be at least 3000 years, based on the fossil-shell evidence on the side. And a Tongan Grasshopper, in Tonga
And, at the beach, a Blue Moon Butterfly:
Back at the dock, next to the Presidential Palace is a Polo Field that includes this fountain, a gift from the Queen of England to Tonga in 1970. Horribly creepy:
Ship-day today was the Nordam Zoo, a chance for the stewards to decorate the pool with towel-art:
And off the side of the ship this morning, a small group of Wedge-Tailed Shearwaters riding the wake of the ship (there are actually two in the photo below. The shadow under the one with the spread wings is a 2nd with its wings almost exactly parallel to the camera):
Next stop: New Zealand!
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