We docked at Nuku’alofa, Tonga. I’m sorry, but I can’t read or hear that name without thinking of the Oompa-Loompa from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.
I choose the “Historic Sites of Tonga” tour. Let’s be honest, there wasn’t much to see. There was a visit to the royal burial site and former State government house. Here’s a view of the national badge.
The most interesting site was the Ha’amonga, where the first human-constructed building in Tonga. It was a gateway, but you know what I mean. Archeologists place this about 1000 years ago. Some think there is some kind of calendar, similar to Stonehenge.
At the other side of the island (about an hour bus ride), we visited the site that Captain Cook visited in the 1700’s. The tree where the locals met him is long gone, but there is a small monument. And tourist tat. I think the “I Love Tonga” magnet has been roasting in the sun since Cook landed.
We passed many churches and graveyards. Like many places with a high water table, the graves are above ground. What makes Tonga different is they place billboards of the departed on the grave. Rather than “Born / Died”, they use “Sunrise / Sunset.”
And there were some lovely tropical flowers.
Tidbit – I learned where the “I don’t give a dam” (think “Gone with the Wind”) saying comes from. A “dam” is an old, low-value Indian coin.