KINGDOM OF TONGA

EUA

19th - 29th July 2010

After one day of hanging out in smelly and dirty Nuku'alofa on Tongatapu, the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga, we took the most nausea inducing ferry ( and yes heavily packed with goods, vehicles and people) of the world towards Eua. It is the oldest Island of the Kingdom - 40 million years old pushed up reef with layers of ashes on from the adjacent volcanic islands.

The first hour of the three hours boat ride was calm and enjoyable and I took advantage of that situation by taking some snapshots.

Unfortunately, from the moment we hit the open sea the nightmare started...I have been focusing on the horizon for two hours fighting back you know what... and there was a moment that I thought that these were my last minutes on planet Earth. I can't imagine how it must be in a storm.

yeeha, Eua in sight...

On our way to our accommodation the 'Hide Away'

pictures below shows the main area were we ate, drank, talked, sat and read a book or played a game.

we witnessed a few stunning sunsets from our dining table.

Each guest who had their birthday during their stay, were surprised with a cake and decorated by Sifa - multi task man of the joint. Here we see Freya being very impressed by the cake.

The water surrounding the island is shallow with a few rock holes to snorkel.

We ventured out on a fishing boat with Kiko, a very experienced fisherman, in a party of four, to observe whales from close by. Sometimes it's possible to swim with them depending whether the whale is annoyed by our visit or not.

it was hard to take good shots, but here under I managed to catch him while this young male whale jumped out of the water.

South beach or Ha'aluma beach surprised us with an enormous variety of shells and blowholes. Kalau Island at the horizon.

I took my first snorkel swim in one of the rock pools and got acquainted with Nemo's world. To be repeated!

nothing but shells and their inhabitants.

interesting reef residues from erosion.

the blowholes are fantastic to watch.

On our tour around the island, we were dropped off on a look out on the other side of where we were staying, which was the East side of the island. Beyond the horizon is South America.

stunning view!

A piece of the rain forest - nice rock for climbing

on the far right picture you can see a white bird with a long tail which is typical for that area.

clear soft water to cool down on tropical days.

The rock garden or also called Lakufa'anga. This is situated at the far south point of the Island.

The archway of Eua - it is possible to drive on top of it. note the stalactites on the right picture.

The Pandana is mostly used for weaving and even for making necklaces. It's fruit is only enjoyed by the birds. Note the intertwined stems.

The tranquility of the mysterious smoking cave will never leave me.

The biggest tree called ovava or banyan.

The villages we regularly visited for grocery shopping and evening walks were Ononua and Tufuvai.

A typical cemetery.

something peculiar...

one of the many churches, I think there are 20 of them for a 5000 inhabitants.

Pigs in the streets everywhere and enormous spiders.

The island still has a population with a wide variety of ages - not just elderly and children.

On our way back, we flew (8 minutes flight) to the main island Tongatapu and we spent our last 5 hours before we went back home, in a place at the beach south of the island called the Hina cave at Oholei beach. The open roof cave is used as a venue for gigs. The guy that ran the place has build a kitchen, dining area and little huts as accommodation, right on the beach. Two cyclones have hit the islands in march this year which destroyed everything (except for the kitchen) and he is rebuilding it again with everything he finds on the beach like bamboo and palm trees for the structures.

here you can see a part of the kitchen wall, the wall of the rock and the rest of the dining room.

the huts with ensuite

samuel is having a go on the music instruments together with our French friends.

Our copious dinner served on banana leaves - traditional tongan's fish

as a night cap we were offered their national drink, the cava, but we politely refused and simply enjoyed the five youngsters, inspired by the cava, playing guitar and ukulele and sang many traditional songs. We could not have had a better ending on our little trip to the pacific.