Arrived at Vava’u (Neiafu) Tonga about 8:00 am this morning. Our tour leaves at 8:50 beginning with a tender transport to shore. The tour is called the Nature and Historical Tour. We had about 8 buses all on the same tour at the same time, making for significant congestion at the stopping spots. Our first stop was at a sign and obelisk that we could not get to ( see the photo from the fence line). A picture I took called this Pouono Park. Hope you can read this history of the island. We did not get any other information. It sounds like this area was never under colonial rule. We saw several viewing sites to take scenic photos, the first was up a set of 180 steps. At least I got in some exercise. The second site, we were served some nice local fruits, which were very sweet and delicious. The guide told us multiple times about the churches and the church schools in each village. We did not stop at any of these, but did visit (see photos) the oldest Catholic cathedral on the island. Also, we heard about the number of Chinese stores (like a general store) that are over taking the commerce in each village; putting the local Tonga shops out of business.
Another stop was a cemetery and narrow steps down to the Veimumuni Cave. This was a challenge with our large group having people trying to go both ways, most without any handrails. There is a story about a princess and her lover who was described as a common “dude”. They would go down to this cave to be alone and swim in the freshwater in this cave.
Last stop was to see some vanilla plants growing in a plantation. We also heard that many of the houses have their own plantation, that sounded more like a garden to grow some of their own food, as it seems like the people really do not own much and have to be innovative to make a living. Apparently vanilla is a major export to Australia and New Zealand, with some coming as far as the US.
As they only have about 11 cruise ships per year, and a couple of hotels, it does not seem like tourism is a big part of the economy on this island. The largest island of Tonga is Tongatapu, which has over 60% of the population and government. We are not visiting this island.
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