Pacific Islands - Tonga and American Samoa

Tourist offerings near wharf at Nuku'alofa

Since we missed a day in the Bay of Islands, we might have decided to visit Tonga a day early, but the Tongans do not welcome cruise ships on Sundays.  So we spent a day longer at sea – we would have had to sometime anyway!

The Tongans are very religious indeed,

Free church of Tonga

and there are lots of churches.  The buses are really just converted trucks and are very colourful – no air conditioning and large steps to mount.  There were no wheelchair accessible buses or taxis so we simply wandered around the town of Nuka’alofa which is the capital of the Tongan Islands.

John on way back to ship

John realised belatedly that he could only travel on the roads, since the footpaths had few gutter ramps.  Luckily the traffic was slow so he didn’t feel unsafe.  The drivers and pedestrians were all very friendly (other than some fellow passengers who never return greetings).  Fortunately the majority of cruisers are very friendly – passengers and crew alike.

We spent some time at the Friends Café which has good coffee and cakes, and more importantly wifi at $2 per hour.  The Tongan dollar is worth 50 cents American, but one can pay in Australian or NZ dollars.  They calculate the cost of the food etc and make the exchange rate faithfully, but if it comes to $15 AUD, the change is in Tongan dollars!  So that’s how they make their money.  Then the next drink is exactly the Tongan $5…

The island of Tutuina (must check that) is extremely flat – no volcanoes there.  96% of the

Royal Palace, now used for ceremonial occasions

population are Tongan.  It appears very poor, which is probably why there are big Tongan populations in NZ and Australia, particularly Sydney.  One young woman told our dinner companions that she had been living in Honolulu with her grandmother and had been to school there and started work, but her grandmother wanted to come back to Tonga and her grand-daughter said she was bored silly and had to take a casual job on the tourist markets.  Only about 13 cruise ships visited the port annually.  She certainly must have noticed the difference from Hawaii.

After two hours or so we embarked for the rest of the day since John was finding the weather too hot and humid.

The day we were in Tonga was St Patrick’s day, so I wore my emerald green top out, and my pink and green top at dinner that night.  However, the next day was also the 17^th March so that day at sea, we enjoyed Irish stew, beef hotpot with pastry and other delicacies.  There was also an Irish Ball which we didn’t attend – we were too busy chatting to our Californian friends in the Bistro on Deck 9.  I had met Doug and Peggy (early retirees) three days before at lunch, introduced John to them the day after, and he has been having a great time chatting about American politics, asking for explanations, and telling them about Australian politics.

A man sitting at the next table in the Wintergarden kept pricking up his ears (according to our American friends) and after they left, John said to him “ I hope we weren’t too noisy for you”.  He (a Kiwi) said no, to the contrary, and showed John a book he was reading with a picture of Obama on the front, and said “It’s a good book, proves that President Obama is a totalitarian, and the author has the facts to proof it!”  John and I politely killed ourselves laughing (after he’d turned his back).

There are a lot of people who would disagree with our politics on board, but mostly nice all the same.  Peggy and Doug (with whom we can discuss politics ad nauseum) have recently bought a nineacre property with a Californian style bungalow in Oregon, and apart from the trees and deer, you’d think it was a house in Australia.  Their politics could not be further from that of my beloved Florida cousins who are well aware we disagree on many things.

Tourist market in Pago Pago

On Tuesday 18^th (being now across the International Date Line) we visited the American Samoan port of Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango).  Pago Pago is like Tonga writ large and the buildings are very old and mostly run down, but with much more an American influence.  There

was even a Macdonalds!  American Samoa became strategically important to the Americans in the late 19^th century, using it as a refuelling station. The island of Tutuila where Pago Pago is situated is very photogenic, the land being mostly mountainous and volcanic.  There are 65,000 residents, 95% of whom are settled on the very flat areas of Tutuila.  Farming is undertaken on steep hillsides. This island is the only American territory in the southern hemisphere (and only just).  It is self-administered, but there was much infrastructure built during President Kennedy’s era.

One of many buses in Tutuila (island)

The Samoans are also very religious and many of the colourful buses (similar to those in Tonga but a bit better maintained) have religious statements on them, such as “God is my provider”.  Tourists are expected to dress conservatively, with bikinis and short shorts permitted in the tourist resorts.

Our wheelie and vision impaired friends

Fred, Marg, John, Jenny at market

will be pleased to hear that American Samoa has gutter ramps everywhere in the main centres and also Tactile Ground Surface Indicators (TGSIs).  Once again, like the Tongans, the Samoans were extremely friendly and helpful.

Fishing boats and Queen Vic in harbour

We left Pago Pago yesterday afternoon and are now in very tropical seas with water temperature of 30 degrees and air temperature at least the same.  The captain is trying to avoid tropical storms where possible.  We are used to walking slowly around the ship since it is very rocky.  Still no sign of sea sickness though so I don’t suppose we will have any now.

I shall put up some more photos on Facebook probably tonight.