Now that we can see Tonga by day, it is definitely a coral island in a large lagoon instead of a volcanic one. It doesn't stick up very far above sea level...or at least Tongatapu island doesn't. There are lots of islands in the country of Tonga and some are volcanic but this one definitely isn't.
We are at a new pier built about 2 or 3 years ago by the Chinese. If our cabin were on the other side of the ship, we would be playing Peeping Tom with the Royal Family in their palace shown here in a photo Margaret took while wandering ashore.
At 5 minutes before 11:00 a convoy of vehicles -- an army escort, a police escort, a gray SUV carrying the King and maybe some others, and another army vehicle -- left the Royal Palace grounds and proceeded at the stately pace of about 5 mph to church at the new First Church of Tonga seen here in another photo of Margaret's. About an hour later, here they came home again...still at 5 mph.
It appears that police are exempt from the no business on Sunday as well as a few taxi drivers. But Margaret and Mike went for a walk in the morning, and Margaret went for another in the afternoon, and there is nothing else going on here today that isn't family oriented. Margaret reports a number of construction projects being undertaken by Chinese investment interests.
The ship is having a barbecue up on deck this evening and calling it a Tailgate Party for the Super Bowl. It's the Dining Room for us. There it's air conditioned, and I get waited on instead of standing in line for food out in the heat and humidity then trying to find a place to sit. Pfui.
February 2
Out on tour today. I'm pretty sure that the island had no bus service today because all the buses were hauling tourists around. I know for sure that our tour was on an elderly city bus with no modcons at all. At least we got the windows open. First we drove by the Royal Palace for a photo stop. Here's Margaret's shot of the back of it. You've seen her postcard-worthy photo of the front. By the way, the whole building was shipped in from New Zealand in the late 1800s and reassembled here.
The present King is the brother of the one who passed away 2 years ago. He doesn't live in the palace...at least not right now. His coronation is scheduled for June or July this year. Next a quick stop to see the tombs of former Tongan kings. All but one of them seem to be named George, and that one was a woman.
Then we went to a Tonga cultural center where they are beginning to try to preserve their heritage. There was a kava ceremony where the part of the king was played by a member of the Royal Family. Margaret got to sit in at the ceremony and taste the kava. She said it doesn't taste like much...at least not just a sip.
We moved outside where there were dancers, drummers, craft demonstrations and refreshments including coconut milk fresh from the nut and various fruits like pineapple, mango, and two kinds of papaya. These are 2 of the women dancers and 2 of the men drummers. The man on the left told Margaret that this is a small drum compared to one in his home village.
So, off across the island to see some blow holes then a last stop to see the only indigenous mammals on the island -- the flying foxes which are a type of fruit-eating bat. Both of these things are hard to capture on camera, but here are Margaret's best shots at it.
On our return, having left Margaret wandering among some handicraft stalls near the end of the pier, I managed to stagger through heat and humidity the quarter mile to the ship and the other quarter mile from the gangway to our cabin. I instantly ordered lunch, ice and LOTS of iced tea for both Margaret and me. One of our cabin stewards brought in our regular ice bucket, and since Margaret was back by then, he went away and brought back a huge bucket full of ice the size used to cool wine! We all had a good laugh on that one. Then the Room Service guy arrived with 5 glasses of tea, and the day was saved!
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