November 21 – 26, 2012
Nuku’alofa will never be one of the world’s great tourist destinations, but it’s kind of a nice city and we enjoyed our outings there. It definitely has a unique mix of features. As you walk down any given street, you might see buildings that range from old and historic to less old but out-of-date to new and modern. You might see Tongan students walk by in traditional clothes or see fashionably-dressed young Tongan businesspeople. And the town, like Pengai, manages to have sort of a dry, dusty feeling while at the same time being tropical. It’s not beautiful, but it’s quite nice.
I will note here that Rich and I never did tour the island (Tongatapu) or do any cruising in the area. I think most cruisers are guilty of this. By the time we get here, all we are focusing on is making the big jump to New Zealand (or Australia). It’s like when you plan a trip and count the day of your late-afternoon flight as part of your vacation time. But that final day is never part of the vacation as you have to pack, check out of the hotel, have a meal, and then get to the airport extra early so you can return your car and figure out where to go. There’s always a little extra time, but never enough to go tour anything or lie on the beach or even to feel very relaxed. That extra time ends up going towards sitting around the airport. Anyway, my point is that Nuku’alofa is the cruising equivalent of a final vacation day and geared towards packing, provisioning, doing boat maintenance, studying the weather, and . . . waiting. -Cyndi
