Neiafu, Tonga
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Wed 4 Jun 2014 22:03
Tonga is divided into 5 groups of islands, where we are is the second group from the north. There are about 40 listed anchorages in this group, most of which are no more than an hour or two apart, it is easy sailing and should prove to be quite relaxing.
It looks like we have travelled far after all!
The very impressive local church. Although the people here are quite poor the church takes huge portions of their income as a mandatory tithe - obviously well used!
The ARC planned a day tour to the local botanical garden. This has been planted and cared for by the ex-minister of agriculture for Tonga. He inherited the land when he was 8 years old and his dream was to plant such a garden, bringing in plants and trees from all over the world to add to his collection. Ironically, while he can bring in plant specimens etc to grow on the island, we are not even allowed to bring in certain fruit and vegetable for fear of contaminating the food they grow here! The garden was beautiful, and although largely trees, interesting to wander round. As the weather was a little inclement, read 'cold and windy', all the demonstrations of local crafts were done at the end near the beach in what can only be described as a wind tunnel! We saw the local women preparing pandanus leaves for weaving into mats and baskets, pounding the plants to make the dye for tapa cloth, a huge export from here, and also had the opportunity to taste kava for the first time.
Unveiling the World Arc sponsored avenue through the gardens.
The owner & planter of the gardens
Preparing pandanus leaves for weaving
Making tapa cloth with finished weavings in the background
Kava is the local drink and definitely not to be confused with any other type of Spanish sparkling wine! Basically kava is a root which, depending on which island you are on in the South Pacific, is either ground in to a powder and has water added, which they do here, or at the other extreme, is chewed by virgin boys and spat into a large bowl, before adding the water. Either way the result is something that looks like a muddy puddle and tastes exactly as you would expect it to - disgusting! It is served in a coconut shell and is designed to be drunk in one hit. The kava has a supposedly mild narcotic effect, although again this can vary dramatically, and is said to make the lips tingle, and the tongue go numb. The small sip I took had no chance at all of having any such effect, John was a bit braver but again the result was negligible. In Tonga, no formal visits are made, new ventures undertaken or favours asked without the ritual kava ceremony. As we travel further off the beaten track in Tonga and other places between here and Australia, we will no doubt have more to report regarding this unusual drinking habit!
Mixing the kava powder into a rather muddy looking 'drink'!
Tonga is still very much a traditional society, albeit with a certain amount of western influence thrown in. The locals still wear the traditional ta ovala which is an intricately woven waist mat made out of pandanus leaves. This garment is unique to Tonga and worn for all ceremonial occasions as well as weddings, funerals etc. They are all handwoven by women, often in communal weaving houses in each village, and saved up for marriage. Finely woven ta ovala are highly prized and can cost hundreds of dollars. The school uniform often includes one as it is basically the Tongan equivalent of a jacket and tie.
One of the dancers wearing traditional Tongan costume
A less traditionally dressed group
The beautiful lagoon behind the gardens - snorkelling was part of the day out but it was too cold for anyone to venture in!
Neiafu is a bustling market town with a waterfront lined with bars and restaurants geared up to cope with tourists and yachties as there is a large yacht charter base here. Once we get out into the smaller islands we will no doubt get a much better idea of how the locals live - as far as we have read, it is a simple life and most of the inhabited islands here don't even have electricity. Church on Sunday is a huge part of the culture, to the extent that nothing happens at all on a Sunday, no work is allowed and no noise or disturbance is accepted - one of the younger crew members was told off by the locals for jogging on a Sunday!
After a few days rest and relaxation, we are looking forward to spending some time in the outer islands of the group getting to know the real Tonga.
We also went diving - not a lot of fish, but huge amounts of fantastically beautiful corals, these brightly coloured, fluffy ones hide inside there shells when you wave water over them, hours of fun!
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