January 27, 2026 Nuku’alofa, Tongatapu, Tonga

Just after 7 a.m. the ship was approaching Nuku’alofa harbour. There were a few clouds in the sky, temperature was 25°C, the wind was southeast at 14 km and the humidity was 83%.

We need to be at the World Stage entrance to get our tour stickers by 8:15 a.m. this morning so we climbed to Lido Market on Deck 9 for breakfast and headed to the omelette station for a build your own omelette. We were waiting in the theatre by 8 a.m. and sitting in the 50 seat tour bus at 8:15 a.m.

On the wharf by the exit to the bus parking lot was a group of local dancers performing as passengers hurried to the tour buses.

Our guide’s name was Heiloni Late. He gave us a brief history of Tonga and words for Thank You (Mālō), Hello (Mālō e Lelei) and smile (malimali). Tonga’s population is about 105,000. The country consists of 170 islands divided into three main island groups: Tongatapu in the south, Ha’apai in the centre, and Vava’u in the north and a few isolated islands. The country is a constitutional monarchy. Nuku’alofa is pronounced NOO-koo-ə-LOH-fə.

The Tu'i Tonga Empire is said to have been formed around the year 950 AD. Its first capital was at the village of Toloa on the island of Tongatapu. The second capital was Heketa-Ha'amonga area from the 13th Century until the 19th Century. The village of Mu'a, about 12 kilometres from the current capital, Nuku'alofa, was the site of the third capital of Ancient Tonga. The official name of the country is the Kingdom of Tonga. The capital was moved to Nuku’alofa around 1845 because it had a good harbour for foreign ships although the entire island of Tongatapu is surrounded by a protective reef. It is the major port of entry to the country.

James Cook may have landed in the bay near Nuku’alofa. Although Tonga was never a European colony, however, between 1900 and 1970 Tonga agreed to conduct all foreign affairs through a British consul becoming a British protected state.

About one-third of Tongans belong to the Free Wesleyan (Methodist) Church, nearly 2% are Mormons and a smaller proportion is Roman Catholic, members of the Free Church of Tonga, or other Protestant denominations. The Tongan language, taught in primary schools, is the official language, in addition to English, which is studied as a second language.

Agriculture and Tourism are the largest economic sectors, followed by timber production, livestock raising, and fishing.

The ride was about 15 minutes to Ancient Tonga. We were greeted with a traditional drum playing as three buses of about 50 people descended on the open air pavilion. There was a Kava ceremony where we watched the Kava drink being prepared and presented to two audience “chiefs” and anyone who wanted to taste the earthy bitter mixture. The mixing of the kava drink we had seen at Runsuc Village in Vanuatu nine days ago.

We were treated to traditional dances by men and women in traditional costumes. Then a demonstration of the preparation of the pouch of chicken and root vegetables that is wrapped in banana leaves then cooked in the traditional ground pit of hot stones, Umu oven. The cooking portion included the cracking of the coconut to exact its water for the cooking mixture. Next the traditional medicine uses of local plants was explained.

The making of the paper mulberry bark Tapa cloths was explained. The inner bark is stripped from the tree, soaked overnight in water then beaten with a special mallet into a thin sheet. The ten centimetres by two meter strips are coiled and sold at the market for more than $40 Canadian. The coil is called tu tu. This is uncoiled and further soaked in water and then beaten to paper thin, about 25 to 28 centimetres wide. With a a small amount of kava glue, the sheets are attached end to end to form a ngatu cloth. These Ngatu are made into wraparound skirts with values of hundreds or thousands of dollars depending on the patterns and decoration. There are certain styles for different events such as wedding cloths for the groom and bride, funeral attire for mourners and Sunday church clothes, as well as gifts for weddings and birthdays. Five audience members volunteered to be mannequins for an impromptu fashion show of the styles.

The guests were invited to sample the Umu oven steamed food pouches, chicken, watermelon, flaked coconut, papaya and purple sweet potato and juice and look at the small museum and gift shop before continuing the bus tour.

Next was a 45 minute drive to the other side of the island to the town Houma. We passed many churches including Seventh Day Adventist and Mormon and a Wesleyan church. We visited the famous Mapu ‘a vaea blowholes or "Whistle of the Noble” or “Chief's Whistles” for a short photo opportunity to watch the waves. The sea waves crash into the rock, the water is forced into small cracks that tunnel upward to spray water like a geyser. There were some tables of handicrafts by the parking lot.

A short ride away at Tofoa were the flying foxes. On the way we passed the estate of the Crown Prince of Tonga. With bus loads of tourists clapping their hands, rather than sleeping suspended from trees, heads down, and wings folded; the nocturnal fruit bats were flying amongst some trees. Bats have a sacred status in Tonga and live a restful, protected life.

The second last photo opportunity was the Mala’ekula Royal Tombs, the final resting place of King George Tupou I, who passed away in 1893, and his descendants of the Royal House of Tupou.

Across the street is the ruins of the Centennial Church, also known as the Free Church of Tonga built in 1882 to celebrate the centennial of Christianity being brought to Tonga. Its original thatched roof was replaced with one of corrugated iron in 1962. It was severely damaged by Cyclone Gita on February 12, 2018. There is no plan to repair it.

The Royal Palace was the last stop to photograph, through its wrought iron fence. It is a Victorian whitewashed wooden two story mansion, built between 1865 and 1867. The RoyalPalace is the residence of the King of Tonga and his family. The flag was flying which indicated that the King was home.

We decided to walk back to the ship from there rather than ride the bus to the wharf. If we had gone to the ship directly it would be a walk of less than one kilometre. We walked 2.74 km instead. We walked to the main street, Taufa'ahau Road, where we found a bar open, it was after noon, and ordered a local Tongan lager beer, Maui and a Sprite with ice. We were able to get some Tongan coins as change for our $5 Tongan Paʻanga bill. Then wandered a little before deciding that the 30°C heat and sun were too hot and we should return to the air conditioned ship.

After showers we retired to the Library Café, as usual. Dinner was with Sue and Sandie because Ted and Margaret were eating at Pinnacle Grill this evening. The four of us continued with our tradition and went to the Library Café for coffees.

We took the opportunity to visit Future Cruises to get more details on the $800 + offer for a future cruise discount for each of us. The offer was from Holland America as compensation for the cancellations and disruptions that have occurred since leaving Sydney on January 4th. We hope to receive an answer from Head office tomorrow.

Tonight’s show was illusionist Adam Murby, which was entertaining.

Total steps 10,831