8 June 2010
World Arc organised a day trip to the Botanical Gardens in Vava'u, the only one in the whole of Tonga. The vision of one man, it was created in 1974 and finally opened to the public in 2006. The purpose was to protect the many and varied plant species of Tonga. Lucy our guide, speaking perfect English, was a feast of knowledge. On our way around we saw traditional handicraft skills being kept alive but the lady beating out the bark from the mulberry tree for tapa cloth making was very elderly indeed and made me wonder if these skills were not being taken up by the younger generation. The dexterity of the lady demonstrating pandanus mat weaving was amazing, the same when she made a beautiful woven basket from palm leaves in a matter of minutes. We witnessed the very many and varied uses of the ubiquitous coconut. Absolutely nothing of the nut or leaves is wasted.
We were shown how to make vanilla essence and finally kava, that most foul of drinks. On to 'Ene'io beach for a Tongan feast we had roast suckling pig, Tongan mussels, and sea cucumber together with the usual assortment of vegetables, taro, breadfruit, sweet potato and yams. The local village community laid on a dancing display! The little ones "stole the show" and at less than two years old, already having a grasp of the hand movements that are so much a feature of Tongan traditional dancing. They are obviously steeped in this from a very early age. I do find the practise of plastering paper money on the oiled bodies of dancers rather distasteful especially where children are concerned. In Tongan it is called "Fakapale", meaning to award a prize. Originally these prizes consisted of fine mats and tapa cloth heaped before the dancer in recognition of their ability. Now the practice seems to have become the kind of thing you might see in a sleazy nightclub. It just seems to cheapen the spectacle.
Having now visited here on two occasions, we find the Tongan people are among the friendliest in the South Pacific and it is one of my favourite places. Captain Cook obviously agreed with me for he named them the "Friendly Islands". They have one of the lowest death rates in the world. Perhaps this is due to their laid back, stress free existence and in spite of their consumer less society they seem genuinely happy. The younger generation never walk past you without saying hello. There is obviously plenty to eat, they have a tendency to being overweight, especially the older generation (remember the King of Tonga at Queen Elizabeth's wedding!) But their food is certainly not derived from the local supermarkets. It has a paucity of goods on the shelves. They are half empty. What an absolute blessing that I did a major shop in Tahiti, with a top up in Niue. There is a Moorings yacht charter base here and I know if I were to come here I would find the provisioning a real challenge. Perhaps that is why Neiafu has so many restaurants. The municipal market has a smattering of fresh fruit and vegetables and to get all that you require you need to go there early in the morning on a daily basis. One day if you are lucky there might be tomatoes, the next cucumber, the next lettuce and so on but rarely everything at the same time on the same day! Not an apple or orange in sight however. In spite of their proximity to New Zealand, being an independent nation they do not appear to import any of these things. However they do have the most wonderful passion fruit, the sweetest baby bananas and papaya. It does not matter where in the world we are, we have never been without fresh fruits for breakfast or salads for lunch.
Tongans have a very strong sense of family which I think in this day and age is wonderful. After the family the most important animate object is the family pig. We were told that after they are fed breakfast they are left to roam free for the remainder of the day returning to family fold in the evening. Pigs are ceremoniously eaten on feast days and any other important occasion.
Susan Mackay