Nuku'Alofa,Tonga

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2.21.2007 Nuku’Alofa, Tonga

The Polynesia Islands are located within a large triangle in The Pacific running from The Hawaiian Islands to Easter Island to New Zealand. Within the triangle we have visited The French Polynesian Islands of Moorea, Papeete(Tahiti),Huahine and Bora Bora. Next we visited one of The Cook Islands- and yesterday we visited one of the 163 small islands,Nukulaofa(the capital), that make up the independent country of Tonga.

The night before arriving, the ship had its 3^rd Venetian Society Party of this cruise-one each segment for members who have cruised before with Silverseas-most of the passengers aboard the ship. We had not planned to attend this one but were requested to so as Sallie and I were to be included in those being recognized. As a result both of us was presented with a Tiffany lapel pin with a Safire denoting 100+ days of accumulated travel on the line. Again some new 500 day awards were handed out making us feel like pikers. The best thing about our award-it means we now get free laundry and after running up more than $200. in laundry bills since embarking in Ft.Lauderdale this is most meniful and appreciated. The laundry is terrific. Everything sent out is back within 24 hours nicely ironed and on hangers.

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Upon arriving in Nuku’Alofa we were surprised to see how flat the island was and how developed the waterfront compared to most of the other islands we have visited. The Kingdom of Tonga is the only remaining Polynesian monarchy in the Pacific. Tonga has never been colonized by an outside nation and consequently it’s culture reflects thousand of years of Polynesian customs. The one influence making an impact were Catholic missionaries and today Tonga is a Christian country that has carefully adopted while retaining many traditions such as the concept of rank between all individuals, their monarchy and etc. Once ashore you realize there is something different about the people including their language and lack of English speaking population except for a few in tourists spots. Because we had heard the island tour offered nothing new, we past it up. I took the tender in and the shuttle downtown. It was interesting but not spectacular and I walked the 1 ½ miles back to the harbor in time to join everyone being transported to a nearby Catholic Unniversity assembly hall for a traditional Tongan welcome, cultural entertainment , music and feast of local foods. The attractive young Queen was there along with government dignitaries. The cultural program, including songs and dances performed by local children and the kingdom’s best floor show. No one was hungry but all felt obliged to go through the buffet lines and same their food. Most agreed that they like our food aboard a whole lot more. Speaking of food-it’s amazing how varied and how good the food is aboard. The thought of eating for 126 days(minus a few off ship) in the same club or restaurant is frightening and yet so far the variety and optional venues aboard has been most enjoyable-too enjoyable. However, thanks to our 3o minutes a day on the treadmill we seem to be holding our own.