Monthly Archives: September 2011

The North Side of Tonga

By admin | Published: September 27, 2011

A while back I challenged readers to name a regatta that in just three years became the biggest annual festival in its island state. The answer was, and is, Regatta Vava’u & Festival. Northernmost of the island groups in the Kingdom of Tonga, Vava’u has whales, reefs for the diving, beaches (though not as many [...]

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Dolphins-Patriots, Interrupted

By admin | Published: September 12, 2011

We could consider it the good news that I started out watching Monday Night Football during Tuesday lunch, live on the Tongan side of the International Date Line. The scene was the Aquarium Café, Neiafu, Vava’u with a brace of new friends. We could consider it the bad news that the score was 14-7 in [...]

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More Regatta Stress

By admin | Published: September 7, 2011

Quick, now. Name a regatta that became the biggest festival in its island state in just three years. Where pigs range free. Where the King banned all whaling in 1979. Where a Catholic schoolboy’s uniform mandates the long, wraparound skirt called a tupenu. Where protected sailing waters know nothing of the sea state in (another [...]

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