Nuku'alofa is the capital city of the kingdom of Tonga and is on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu in the South Pacific Ocean.Tongatapu has a population of around 75,000 people, and Nuku'alofa serves as the political, economic, and cultural centre of the country. The economy of Tongatapu, and Tonga as a whole, is primarily based on agriculture, fishing. Tourism is also a growing sector. Nuku'alofa has an international airport, which is the main gateway to Tonga. The city also serves as a major port. Known for their warm hospitality, the people of Tonga welcomed us into an environment of intense heat and high humidity as we disembarked. It’s going to be hard to sell Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofi. First off the warship which refused to let us in yesterday also refuses to leave on time this morning so we are delayed getting berthed and cleared by immigration. Economically, too many things have got in the way of this country, not the least of which was the Covid nightmare, more recently a tsunami crippled this island community in 2022 and both combined make recovery a long and torturous process.
Once back in town we find schools, a police college, the royal tomb, the palace, a destroyed cathedral (which I now understand was caused by cyclone Ghita in 2018) and countless other churches. Exploring local markets and strolling through the main shopping district, we encountered streets covered in litter and we didn’t really find the city that appealing. They also have a high crime rate here. The beaches are much nicer in the surrounding islands that we are visiting tomorrow so after succumbing to the stifling heat, we eventually retreated to the ship. We enjoyed a tour of the ships bridge in the afternoon that we found interesting. They use channel 16 on the VHF, just as we do, so it is the universal channel and they use the same wind app to forecast winds, which is good to know. Two people man the helm at all times (three separate helms, smaller ones on each side) and the captain is always present when docking. They have a glass floor on both sides of the bridge to enhance visibility when docking. Cameras are present throughout the ship including kitchens and the engine room and fire alarms are present in each cabin and monitored on an individual screen. Whilst the electronics were sophisticated they were dated and GPS position holding equipment was not as automated as ours.
Panther and Vicki
2023-11-20
Well , Tonga is off the Bucket list! Especially in November Hope the rest of the trip is smooth sailing