Vega - Tonga Musings

Tonga Musings

Vega

Hugh and Annie

Thu 28 Sep 2017 20:52

Here in Tonga there is, as we have found in the main hubs that yachts visit, a cruisers net. This is a daily yacht radio service (or 'net') that allows yachties to exchange information and to be briefed on local events. As was the case in the Caribbean there are a lot of yacht and tourist oriented businesses here such as restaurants, cafes, specialist food outlets, boat yard, outdoor sports, whale watching, diving and so forth. Many of them support the net and advertise their services through it. What is striking is that most of these businesses are run by people who have moved to the islands from elsewhere and in Tonga mostly from New Zealand but the US, Canada and elsewhere also. As we have found in places from Cape Verde through the Caribbean and now in Polynesia many supermarkets are run by Chinese. Interestingly back in the 1930's Thor Heyerdahl found the same thing when visiting Tahiti and living in the Marquesas but then islanders had no history of western style business and commerce. Now it is difficult to tell if this yachtie related commerce is just a veneer that we are aware of as yachties or whether most of the commercial activity is foreign generated. It is a theme picked up in James Mitchener's epic tale of the Caribbean that mixes fact and fiction into a historical novel that ends on a similar theme i.e. the apparent inability of self governing islands to create stable government and prosperous economies.

Of course we can only judge what we see based upon our own cultural perceptions. For us there seems to be much unrealised potential that locals seem unable or unwilling to harness. There is a reasonable standard of education in many of the island communities and in places like Cuba (albeit maybe not the best example of what I am describing) some of the best education anywhere. Possibly people are not interested in our western notions of commerce and prosperity. Tonga doesn't have a colonial past but the issue is similar to the Caribbean and elsewhere. And yet we have come across resentment of foreign owned business and wealth creation but an enthusiasm for advanced technology. Certainly the lack of access to capital for investment is a problem. One theory has it that the island communities have failed to harness the potential of grouping together to create economic and political momentum but that this has been frustrated by individual political egos. At the moment it appears an island needs to be part of France, a foreign developed financial services centre (ie tax haven) or supported by international aid.

Around the Pacific whales come up from the Antarctic at this time of year to breed. Humpback whales can be seen around the islands and when arriving in Niue we were asked to watch out for a mother and calf in the anchorage. Here we have been on a whale watching trip and I will try and put a video clip on Facebook. Anyone who has experienced whales or dolphins at close quarters will know what an amazing experience this is. Last night we had a young calf swimming around our anchorage for about an hour. It was coming up right by each boat and stayed for so long we were concerned that the mother didn't seem to be around. With Alex (visiting for a couple of weeks) we have been watching some David Attenborough documentaries so, influenced by this, we had the urge to overly dramatise the situation and fret about the baby whale separated from its mother. Maybe it had become separated, maybe the mother was enjoying a rest out in deeper water, maybe the calf was just having fun around the boats. Who knows?