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The water at Sandy Beach Resort was truly stunning

The water at Sandy Beach Resort was truly stunning

Our third stop in Tonga took us to the Ha’apai island group, where we did little more than perfect the art of doing nothing. After a 45-minute flight from the capital, we spent five days at a place called Sandy Beach Resort. The highlight here was just what the name implies: a gorgeous sandy beach.

Boris, the German owner of Sandy Beach, has built a row of comfortable and functional fales overlooking this stunning beach, with lots of room in between to afford plenty of privacy. In theory, we could have gone out on kayaks or taken bike rides, but we never really got around to those things. The days mostly consisted of moving back and forth between our fale, a chair or a towel on the beach, the crystal clear water itself, and the communal dining area. Admittedly, Jim did go running a few times, and I put on a snorkel mask a few times, but not much else at all.

At dinner time we compared notes with our fellow guests from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and Austria. Most of them hadn’t accomplished much either. It’s pretty easy here to slip into “Tonga time,” enjoy the lovely views, and just let the days pass.

That's Jim doing his thing on this nearly perfect stretch of quiet beach

That’s Jim doing his thing on this nearly perfect stretch of quiet beach

And yes, that's me out there just floating around

And yes, that’s me out there just floating around

Our breezy dinner table was where we all compared notes about our uneventful days

Our breezy dinner table was where we all compared notes about our uneventful days

The glassy coast of Nuku'alofa

The glassy coast of Nuku’alofa

Our second stop in Tonga was the sleepy little capital of Nuku’alofa. We mostly came here to transfer flights from the Vava’u island group to our next destination in the Hapa’ai island group. But the way the flights worked out, we needed to stay a couple days.

The Royal Palace sits in the center of Nuku'alofa

The Royal Palace sits in the center of Nuku’alofa

The capital boasts a population of about 25,000 people, including the royal family of Tonga (which happens to be the only monarchy in the South Pacific). The town, whose name means “abode of love,” rests on the northern side of Tongatapu, the largest island in the kingdom.

To our great surprise we found a restaurant in town that served a pretty stunning lunch

To our great surprise we found a restaurant in town that served a pretty stunning lunch

Now when I call this town “sleepy,” I’m referring to its status on Monday through Saturday because on Sunday it is positively dead. Sunday is a day of rest in Tonga. In fact, Tongan law prohibits most people from working on Sunday at all.

Since we flew in on a Saturday, we had no choice but to catch our next flight on Monday because, naturally, there are no flights on Sundays in Tonga. That would be against the law.

So what are we poor tourists expected to do, stuck in a town with everything shuttered up all day? Fortunately the law seems to bend a little to take care of us. Several little resorts on nearby islands offer day trips. So you catch a boat in the morning and spend the day at the resort, have lunch there, swim, sit on the beach, and catch a late afternoon boat back. Back in town, where all restaurants are closed, the hotels are allowed to serve dinner only to their own guests. So somehow it all worked out, and we had a pretty darn nice day of rest after all.

This old wrecked ship is the landmark of Big Mama's Yacht Club on Pangiamotu Island, where we spent our Sunday

This old wrecked ship is the landmark of Big Mama’s Yacht Club on Pangiamotu Island, where we spent our Sunday

Lunch at Big Mama's

Lunch at Big Mama’s

Late afternoon off the coast of Nuku'alofa, though I'm not sure what the people out there were looking for

Late afternoon off the coast of Nuku’alofa, though I’m not sure what the people out there were looking for

That's Fetoko Island, our isolated South Pacific home for a week

That’s Fetoko Island, our isolated South Pacific home for a week

As we continue to explore the central Polynesian islands we’ve moved to the Kingdom of Tonga for three weeks. We spent the first week on Fetoko Island in a place that is almost a fantasy of remote island life. It’s a tiny island, just three acres, where native San Franciscans Ben & Lisa, along with their two dogs and cat, run a beautiful six-fale resort. Small, you ask? So small that Google Maps doesn’t even think there is land there; it shows the area as just water.

First, just a word about Tonga. Located south of Samoa and east of Fiji, Tonga has about 100,000 people living on 36 islands spread out over 270,000 square miles. In other words it’s just about the size of Texas with – if you’re doing the arithmetic – less than one-half of one percent of the Lone Star State’s population. Interestingly, unlike other South Pacific lands Tonga was never fully colonized. From 1900 until 1970 it was a protectorate of the UK, which “managed” the country’s foreign policy, but the country never relinquished its sovereignty; today it is the only kingdom in the region. Only recently has Tonga become a constitutional monarchy; the first representative elections were held in 2010. The current king, Tupou VI, has ruled since 2012, succeeding his childless older brother.

The view from the deck of our fale. Just beyond those islands lies the Tonga Trench, the second deepest trench on earth. In fact, at its deepest, the Tonga Trench is as deep as Mt. Everest is tall. If that water all drained out (thankfully, not likely) it would be like looking down from the top of Mt. Everest. Cool!

The view from the deck of our fale. Just beyond those islands lies the Tonga Trench, the second deepest trench on earth. In fact, at its deepest, the Tonga Trench is as deep as Mt. Everest is tall. If that water all drained out (thankfully, not likely) it would be like looking down from the top of Mt. Everest. Cool!

Now, back to our little three-acre plot of heaven. Fetoko Island is in the very northern part of Tonga, near the much larger island of Vava’u. Besides the general beauty of the area the big reason people come to Vava’u is to swim with the whales. Yup, in Fiji we snorkeled with sharks but in Tonga we swam with whales. From May to October humpback whales migrate up from Antarctica to give birth before heading back south for the summer. We were comparatively late in the season and the tour companies couldn’t guarantee we would find whales but, along with six other fun people from our resort, we gave it a try.

For much of the day it didn’t seem as though it was going to work. We were on a small boat and the seas got pretty rough; a sweet 13-year-old girl traveling with her parents and sister spent an unfortunate amount of the day puking over the side of the boat. We’d probably been out for three hours before we finally found our prey: a mother and her maybe five-month-old calf. Even then, after all that time searching, we had to hold back for quite a while as another boat had found them first; if too many boats and people converge at once they’ll scare the whales away.

Our treehouse, around the back of the island, private and with stunning views, was a heavenly place to relax

Our treehouse, around the back of the island, private and with stunning views, was a heavenly place to relax

And then this cutie flew up right next to us. We're not birders, but it was pretty.

And then this cutie flew up right next to us. We’re not birders, but it was pretty.

Once the coast was clear, though, we put on our masks and fins and jumped into the water. During that first dive I didn’t really know what I was seeing. Way down deep there was … something, mostly just not doing anything. We’d come here after two German women we’d met in Samoa said swimming with the whales near Vava’u was one of the coolest things they’d ever done but … that’s all? After a few minutes we got out of the water and I thought “Wow, that was a waste of time.”

The day was not lost, though. Our boat continued to track the whales and after another 20 or 30 minutes they decided we should go in again. This time the whales were much closer to the surface. Still way down and still just lying around, but now you could clearly see the outlines of both mother and calf. Then it got really exciting. First the calf started swimming around and surfaced before going back down to mom. A couple minutes later they both started moving and swung around to swim to the surface. As we’d been pretty much directly above them they both swam remarkably close to us; at one point I was just looking her right in the eye. It only lasted a few seconds but those seconds were really worth it, just that close to such a massive animal.

Otherwise you really shouldn’t get the impression that we did anything in our week on the three-acre island. The first four days we were the only people staying there, so there was no competition for the great hammocks. Instead I finished one big reading project – Ken Follet’s Century trilogy, historic fiction covering World War I, World War II, and the Cold War – and started an even bigger one. Shortly before leaving the States three-and-a-half years ago I bought William Manchester’s three-volume, 3,000-page biography of Winston Churchill but I’ve always shied away from taking it on. I decided that with three more weeks still in the South Pacific this is the time.

A hammock, sand, and beautiful water. Along with a Kindle, what more does a man need? Oh yeah, someone back in the kitchen making dinner. Yup, we had that too.

A hammock, sand, and beautiful water. Along with a Kindle, what more does a man need? Oh yeah, someone back in the kitchen making dinner. Yup, we had that too.

The one thing that deserves special mention from Mandala Resort was the food. Needless to say there were no restaurant options for us, so we ate whatever they were cooking. We’d explained our somewhat limited diet, though, trying to avoid carb-heavy foods like potatoes, rice, bread, and sugar. They were remarkable. Not perfect, mind you – how were they to know that lentils and chickpeas are loaded with carbs? – but they went over and above the call of duty in catering to our peculiarities. And the food was great. They employ a young Swedish woman who is vegan and lunch in particular was always creative, tasty, healthy, and vegan (they’d serve meat and fish for dinner, but lunch was vegan). I’m not sure I’d have thought that was possible but she made it work.

Our first week in Tonga – more Samoa and less Fiji – was a great start. From here we head south to the main island and capital before catching a flight up to another island group. No surprise, but I’m becoming a big fan of the South Pacific.

The little beach area, complete with hammocks and sun chairs. Indeed, paradise.

The little beach area, complete with hammocks and sun chairs. Indeed, paradise.

Oddly, the best Internet access was at the yoga shelter. We didn't do any yoga but we did enjoy the view.

Oddly, the best Internet access was at the yoga shelter. We didn’t do any yoga but we did enjoy the view.

Did I mention the food? This engineering marvel was just a typical, remarkably tasty vegan lunch.

Did I mention the food? This engineering marvel was just a typical, remarkably tasty vegan lunch.

Another day, another great lunch

Another day, another great lunch

We had a great view of the full moon rising on our second night

We had a great view of the full moon rising on our second night

Another night, another moon rise

Another night, another moon rise

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island we had a pretty special sunset

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island we had a pretty special sunset

The weather wasn't always perfect; indeed, we had a few days of pretty wet weather. But in paradise, even bad weather is beautiful.

The weather wasn’t always perfect; indeed, we had a few days of pretty wet weather. But in paradise, even bad weather is beautiful.

It's been too long since we've had cat pictures here. This is Benzini, a cat that climbs up to join you for dinner but miraculously doesn't go for the food. The perfect dinner companion!

It’s been too long since we’ve had cat pictures here. This is Benzini, a cat that climbs up to join you for dinner but miraculously doesn’t go for the food. The perfect dinner companion!