Sunday 13 December 2015

My Short Affair With Eua Island







I was recommended this island by another traveler whom I met on my first visit to Tonga. Thank you, Maxim! Since I like to do some hikes, this place seems interesting for me to give it a go. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first visit in this country so called "Friendly Islands", so a return trip was always in the back of my mind. And thanks to Air NZ who always offers great deals to the Pacific countries, it made things easier. I love every time I'm heading back to any countries in this region. The beach, climate, people, food, blissfulness, ahhh need to say more?








After I did my research such as booking accommodations and other logistics like tourist visa etc, the days went by and finally it was time I headed to the airport. To get to Eua Island, first I flew to Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa which is in the main island of Tongatapu. I opted to stay at the same backpackers I stayed last time, NOA Guesthouse as I had wonderful time staying here and it was great place to meet locals and other travelers. 






When I arrived at the hostel, much to my surprise, my host told me that my flight to Eua Island the next morning was cancelled due to "maintenance" issue. Thanks for keeping that information until last minute, Real Tonga airlines! Anyway, she then advised me to take the morning ferry from the wharf. The flight that I was supposed to be on was only 8 minutes flying time which makes one of the shortest commercial flight in the world! As I was taking ferry, it took like 4 hours as the ferry left according to the "island time" in the end. As I found a spot in the corner of communal cabin, I realized that it was a good thing that my flight was cancelled, otherwise I would have missed to be with the locals altogether in this ferry crossing. I rolled out my picnic blanket on the floor and mingled with the them for a while. I went out to breathe some fresh air and enjoyed the warm sun on my face also secretly hoping maybe spotting a Whale or two out there in the Pacific ocean. With no whale in sight, I went back inside, ate my packed lunch and had a nap afterwards. 






Arriving in Eua, it was hustle bustle as predicted, everyone tried to leave the ferry, people with their massive luggage and boxes were all over. In the crowds I tried to spot someone from my backpackers holding a paper with my name on it, since it was only 3 accommodations in the islands, I thought it wouldn't be hard to find my driver. My thought was wrong! I tried to shout the name of my backpackers amongst the crowd but no one seemed to respond. I approached a lady who was in the ferry with me and asked if I could use her phone to call my backpackers, we waited for a while after making the call, then we were circling the wharf looking for a grey van which we were advised earlier. The van caught our attention as it was approaching the wharf. It turned out that the driver was the cousin of the woman whom I borrowed the phone earlier! It's a small island after all.






I pitched my tent up as soon as I reached the backpackers. The camping area was lush and it has ample of space surrounded with tall coconut trees, hibiscus flowers and few hammocks around the property. I found my camp spot and the owner's brother, Matthew helped me to pitch my tent. It was nice of him even though I'm used to set it up on my own. The name of the place I was staying at is called Taina's Place. There are 12 dogs, 1 piglet, and 1 cat in the property. The dogs can be quite noisy, especially at night. After I settled in, I asked Matthew if there was a nice walk nearby I could go to and he recommended to go to Ha'aluma beach which is about 5 km directly south from Taina's place. Perfect! He offered to walk me there and on the way he climbed a coconut tree and fetched couple for us. Glad to be back in the Pacific when I tasted that mouthwatering coconut juice in my mouth! also it was a refreshment on the go! When we got to the beach, I had a dip in a rock pool while Matthew tried to look for some crabs. The beach itself was pretty rocky and protected by reef around it. I saw some colorful fishes swimming and hiding between the rocks. We stayed for a while until sunset, the sky was beautiful and quite picturesque, it gave a great effect when I took some photos as the rocks made it even more photogenic.






We walked back to the hostel and to our luck, a pickup truck pulled over and assuming that we needed a ride, he just pointed the back of his truck gesturing us to get in. Sweet we got a ride back! On the way to backpackers, we saw the sky changing color with pink-y, orange-y colors throwing in the mix. What a fine evening it was.






When I was back to my tent to get my stuff for showers, I was horrified with the look on its door. The dog was vandalizing my tent and broken my mosquito net door! One of 12 dogs, what's my luck to guess which one?! I told the host and she apologies afterwards and I told her not too worry about it, as I can still zip the main door of my tent. She didn't want to take more risk, having more damage the dogs were capable of doing, she moved me to the dorm room for the 3 nights I was there for the price of the camping. That was very nice of her.







 
I arranged to do some Whale watching and swimming before arriving in Tonga as I only had few days there. So the next morning, Kiko or as I called him "Whale Whisperer" since he is the man when it comes to spotting Whales in the vast ocean, with no technology frills whatsoever. It comes down to his experiences over the years and eagle eyes. He picked me up in this very old truck that morning that he had troubled to start the truck back up again when we were ready to leave! Looking at the state of the truck, it might have been as old if not older than him! and he's quite old. He took me to his house first to pick up his 2 sons who were also joining us in the boat. One was helping him navigating the Whales and the other was our guide when we were in the water with the whales. His boat was pretty small so that made this trip quite private. It was only me and Sara, a French girl who was also a Solo Traveler. What a coincidence to have met her in this tiny island in the middle of South Pacific. Sara used to lived in New Caledonia, a French territory country in the Pacific which is not far from Tonga. I offered her to stay with me in Auckland when she told me she was heading to New Zealand afterwards as it's her en-route trip to Tahiti in French Polynesia(country she's going to live after NZ). We enjoyed our time together in Tonga and NZ. We also have a very special memory together, which is the moments we shared when floating with our new "Gentle giants" friends, Humpback Whales. 









Those moments with the Whales, both Mother and Calf were really made us speechless. They made our hearts beat faster. When we locked eyes with them, it just melt my heart. We were very cautious with our distance to them however the calf which already at least 12 meters long, seemed to be very playful and its fluke could be just inches away from our faces! The mother was gently drifting about 5-10 meters below us, watching us from a distance. After a while they both drifted away, swimming back to the vast blue ocean. We had few stops and were in and out with the other whales. Our guide, Kiko first read the Whales' behavior and signaled us when it was OK to jump in as they are wild animals after all. Female Humpacks take thousands of kilometers long journey from Antartica on an annual migration to much warmer water in order to give birth in the South Pacific. Tongan ocean has become their nursery for few months for the calf to grow healthily and relying solely on its mother's very rich milk. When they're strong enough about 4 months old, both mother and calf make a long trip back to Antarctica. Before it all happened, I thought experiencing moments like this was too good to be true and only something I could watch on National Geographic channel. Instead, it was very real and surreal to say the least! 








With only a day to spare, Sara and I along with Matthew who was our guide that day, went hiking around Eua National Park. During the hikes, we made few stops at a lookout that was overlooking spectacular cliffs and coastline. Another spots were couple of Big Banyan trees and few caves; couple of caves that were really stood out was the Rats Cave where we climbed down onto a ledge and as it was sitting on a cliff, from the cave's lookout we were presented with incredible view of the coastline. Some people stayed here overnights. Just don't rollover when you sleep that's all! The view was amazing however it could be tricky to get to the lookout spot of the cave. Another cave was worth a visit too as it has 25 chambers inside and the King used to live there. We had to bring torch and did rock climbing to get inside the cave. Beautiful chambers with lots of limestone caverns all around. 
On our hikes, Matthew cut a tree trunk and we had sip of water dripping from it. As for our lunch we were eating some paw paw(it's like mini papaya) that grows wildly in the national park. You don't go thirsty and hungry in this hike that's for sure! Sarapee was one of the dogs from Taina's place who joined us on this hike. She seems to be an explorer too! One time she did pick up a dead bird and brought to us. That's not dinner, Sarapee!






My ferry back to main island of Tongatapu left at a crazy hours the next morning, it was 5 am departure. In such a sleepy little island, it was a sight to see all the crowds showing up that early. My host dropped me at the wharf that morning, with sleepy eyes, I bid goodbye to her and boarded the seems to be "chasing sunrise" ferry. I had arrangements with Sara to get me my ticket too when she bought hers that morning as her hostel just across the road from the wharf. We had lovely sunrise from the ferry on the way to main island. I felt like even this trip was rather short, but it was plentiful and oh the memories will remain for a very long time. 



There was really a lot to do in Eua Island, the place that was so underrated among other Pacific countries and islands. Its eco-tourism definitely one of many potentials of this hidden gem. If you're looking for off-beaten track kind of destination, you might want to consider Eua on your list.


"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao Tzu

 
*Scroll down for statistics(Added to give you indication that sometimes it's cheaper to go to another country than traveling within New Zealand)

















Statistics (Local currency: Tonga Pa'anga or TOP, however all expenses has been converted to NZD):

Return flight Auckland-Nuku'alofa-Auckland : $330NZD (carry-on only)
NOA Guesthouse : $19NZD/night for 1x Bed in Dorm Room
Return Ferry Nuku'alofa to Eua Island: $16NZD
Camping at Taina's Place Backpackers, Eua Island: $13NZD/night
Whale Swimming: $129NZD (Cheapest in all Tonga)
Local guide for all day hike: $25NZD(This was split between me and Sara so around $13NZD per person)
Taxi from Nuku'alofa to Airport: $25NZD(This also split between me and another traveler I met during ferry crossing)