Sunday, February 1, 2015
We arrived at this Polynesian kingdom last evening. This is
the only island in the area that has never been colonized – a 1000-year old
monarchy. We can see the royal residence from our ship. Today is Sunday, and in
Tonga it is forbidden to do business on a Sunday. So everything – and I mean
everything – is closed. We will be here through tomorrow afternoon, when
everything will be open.
Of interest is the dock where our ship is moored. It was
built in 2011, opened in 2012, and funded by the People’s Republic of China.
Unlike the French Polynesian islands, Tonga is not a
volcano, but rather a reef. So it is flat and surrounded by lots of reefs. In
addition to a monarch, it has a standing army and fresh ground water, although
the guide book recommends boiling water before consumption.
We are in Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga and located on
Tongatapu – the largest island in the archipelago’s 176 islands.
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