81. The Friendly Islands

When Captain Cook arrived in Tonga he was overwhelmed by the welcome he received. To the extent that he named the group of islands ‘The Friendly Islands’. And 250 years later I can only concur. The Tongan’s remain as welcoming as their post-renaissance forefathers were. Or what would have been post-renaissance where Captain Cook came from, not in Tonga. In fact, Tonga is still in late transition from what essentially has been a feudal government into a more modern style constitutional monarchy. A Polynesian monarchy that is the only one to have survived as a sovereign nation throughout history. An island nation that has welcomed visitors from far afield but never been colonised.

The hundred thousand Tongans that have not left for New Zealand or Australia live on 40 of the 170 odd islands that make up the Vava’u, Ha’apai and Tongatapu archipelagos. I have only been in the northern most group, Vava’u, where the islands look very different from what I am used to in French Polynesia, They look a lot more like what I expect to see in Southeast Asia. With dense vegetation and eroded bases that make it difficult to get ashore. But what they lack in the form of sandy beaches, they make up for with an untainted Polynesian culture and whales. This is the place where you’re supposedly guaranteed to see whales. And being the only person that I know that has managed to sail half way around the world without having a whale encounter, I’m going to remedy that tomorrow as I’ve booked a ‘swim with whales’ excursion. If I don’t see whales tomorrow I’m going to put them in the fictional category. Along with mermaids, unicorns, green flashes at sunset and cheap beer in French Polynesia.