How about a tropical Post, last September we stopped of in Tonga for a day, whilst on a cruise around the South Pacific. The thing with cruising is that you have got to make the most of your time in port as there are a lot of days at sea, after four full days at sea from Sydney we were ready to stretch our legs a bit.
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Arriving at Vuna Wharf, Nuku'alofa.
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To start the day we went on a ship tour out to Pangaimotu Island, the trip out from the domestic wharf only took 10-15 minutes. Once on the island we headed of the circumnavigate the island, looking for a beach that was sheltered from the wind, after about 10 minutes we got to a section that was sheltered by the island. On with the snorkelling gear we headed out for our first dive of this trip, unfortunately it was a bit underwhelming, the water was very rough, the wind was cold (relatively!), and there wasn't a lot in the way of coral or fish. After about thirty minutes we decided to get out and try another spot.
Continuing around the island we went past large sections where storm surges had inundated low lying sections, killing all the vegetation. The beach on the east of the island was particularly nice with palm trees arching over white sand. The whole island only takes about 45 minutes to walk around, and that's at a fairly slow pace stopping to take photo's. Arriving back at the wharf I decided to dive near a wreck that was a stones throw from the wharf, the water was choppy but I was hoping there may be some fish around the wreck.
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Walking around Pangaimotu Island.
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Storm surges had inundated a fair chunk of the island.
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For me the wreck provide the best snorkelling on Pangaimotu Island, the water was clear and there was plenty of fish. Although the water was deep I was able to stand on the underwater deck of the wreck.
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Diving the wreck near the jetty.
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| The jetty on Pangaimotu Island. |
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| Waiting to head back to Nuku'alofa. |
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Getting back to Nuku'alofa we spent the afternoon checking out town, lunch was had at the Post Office Cafe before we headed out to the Royal Tombs, from there we headed back into town to check out Talamahu Markets, Sam can't resist checking out the shops. After the market we headed to Vuna Rd which runs along the coast, wandering up and down a bit, taking in life in Nuku'alofa. Eventually we headed back to Vuna Wharf were we boarded the ship in time to be on deck as we sailed away.
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Lunch was had at Post Office Cafe.
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Heading back into town, the Sun Princess towering over the town.
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On the waterfront
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Catching dinner
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The Dirt
We really liked what we saw in Tonga, the people were very friendly and genuinely seemed to like having us there. Pangaimotu Island was low key (which is the way I like it). Definitely a place we'd like to return to one day.
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| The Royal Palace, as we sail away from Vuna Wharf. |
The sun setting as we sail away from Tonga.
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