Lulutai Airways moved the flight forward by 30 minutes the night before, yet flew at the originally scheduled departure time. At least there were 12 seats available on the flight!

Hardly landed in Nuku’alofa, we took a taxi to our apartment where our left behind bags awaited us. But we went straight on to the artist we had visited before our departure to see the whales. We had commissioned our own wooden whale and could hardly wait to see what Steven, who incidentally also creates art for the King of Tonga, had conjured up.

The whale that his son Easy had ready for us in the shop was a very beautiful piece, but we perked up when he said that his father was on the way and had a very special piece with him, and that we could still change our minds. We did just that right in front of the shop when we saw that whale. It was the first piece of art they had sold that had never made it to the shop, let alone to the wall in the shop.

It is a beautiful piece, and we named the whale ‘wild boy’ in memory of the experiences burned into our hearts with our wild boy in the water.

After dinner, we had to say goodbye to Anne and Nicolas, who stayed for one more day in Tongatapu.

We saw Britta and Björn the next morning at 4 am at the airport, as our flight to Australia was leaving Tonga at 5 am. So that night was anything but long...

And we had the added stress of Easy oversleeping; we woke him up with a call 15 minutes after the agreed pickup time, and he then arrived over 30 minutes late. We were at the airport just under 30 minutes before check-in closed; wild boy still had to be packed, the customs had to prepare the papers for entering Australia, and so on.. in short, 2 minutes before check-in closed we dropped off our luggage (boarding had already been called), wished wild boy a good first flight, went straight through security, and off to the plane. By a happy coincidence, we sat behind Britta and Björn, which allowed us to exchange the latest news right away.

After a 2.5-hour flight, we landed in Fiji, said a heavy-hearted goodbye to the other two, and took the short cut to reach our flight to Adelaide.

Wild boy handled the journey well; the customs officer was super friendly and only wanted to see a small part of him; the photo we took in front of the shop was sufficient for him. With collective effort, wild boy was safely packed up again, and we made our way to collect our car to start the next leg of our journey.

When such a little one wants to make contact, comes to us voluntarily, presents itself, and really shows off, I had more than one feeling that time stands still, not to mention the goosebumps all over my body.

Once we swam with a calf, and when the mother came up for air, they swam away, and we lost them. We swam back to the boat, and who was waiting on the side of the catamaran? The baby! Really, in the mindset, if you 'fools' lose me, then I'll just come and fetch you for a playdate.

And how happy he was! He leaped out of the water in front of us and played with his fluke.

You could see the happiness of this calf every time he was in the water with us.

He didn't quite know his size and power yet; we had to make an effort to maintain our distance.

But these encounters will remain unforgettable. Encounters that are really hard to put into words.

Thank you thank you thank you 💙💙

The photos are by my friend.

I flew directly from Sydney to Tongatapu—the main island—of Tonga and then went straight to an artist to have a wooden humpback whale carved. The artist now has 1 week until we return. Fehoko Art creates indescribably beautiful whales and other wooden art pieces. We are excited to meet him!

After a short night—our taxi picked us up at 5 AM—we flew with Lulutai Airlines to Ha'apai, the starting point for our grand adventure!

For this flight, everything had to be weighed—including us. Shortly after takeoff, we already saw the first whale jumping. This is what flying is all about! After a 45-minute flight, we landed and waited for our ride to pick us up again. After some time, I thought, okay, I should call, which turned out to be a good idea because in the evening, our landlord asked us if we had made a reservation. We had, and we always received a confirmation for the pickup, but who confirmed it—yes, that's the big question!

The next morning, the catamaran from Whale Discoveries picked us up, two of our friends were already on the boat and we were excited to see each other again!

We picked up the other two friends on a nearby island, finally complete! After such a long time, we reunited—on the other side of the world

Now it really begins, we are on the hunt for the humpback whales

Tonga is somewhat different from Samoa. While there are also plenty of churches here, everything feels a bit scruffier; there is more litter lying around, and the houses appear significantly poorer.

The weather here is similar to Samoa, hot and humid, often cloudy, with occasional rain. The vegetation is lush, everything is green, there is a lot of rainforest, and fruits grow everywhere.

We went ashore from the ship using Zodiacs. First, we wandered around the town, looking at the houses, sights, and shops. Then we went on a tour. We visited various beautiful viewpoints and saw (again) a freshwater grotto. We gained a good impression of the island.

In the afternoon, we sailed to a small island where we could swim and snorkel.

We are looking for a viewpoint overlooking the cliffs. A narrow path makes it impossible to continue by car, so we park it and continue on foot. We are accompanied by loud cow noises. With the tall grass on both sides of the path, we can't see much.

But then the path ends, and we look out over the sea with a view of a lonely bay. Here, we can pause for a moment and enjoy the scenery.

In January of this year, there was an underwater earthquake 20 km off the coast. It was the strongest eruption worldwide in the past 30 years. Today, reminders of the tsunami can still be seen, with piles of cars and tents in front yards.

The King has decreed absolute rest for his subjects every Sunday. It is rare to find a country where citizens are obligated by the state to do nothing once a week. But it is still true here. On Sundays, the towns are deserted. No shops are open, no boats sail, no planes fly. All forms of work are forbidden, even swimming is prohibited as it is considered physical exercise. Only driving to church is tolerated. The first church bells start ringing at half past four in the morning. Throughout the day, almost all locals go to church, spend the day in worship, and then have a big family meal.

Today, we embraced this tradition and made it a Sunday. ...

Arrived... Tonga is divided into 3 island groups. We chose Vava'u for one specific reason - humpback whales. But before we get to that, we discovered something about the island above and below water. We stayed with a local family just outside the capital city of Neiafu and were treated to delicious local food every evening. We rented a car for a day and explored some of the main island. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and we saw a lot from the car. But the rainy weather didn't bother the many pig families living on the island. They sniffed around the beach even in pouring rain. So we went diving, because it's wet underwater anyway. We discovered caves, colorful fish, some sharks, and many snails with great visibility. On the sunniest day, we went out on a boat in eager anticipation of seeing whales. From June to October, it's whale season in Vava'u. The huge humpback whales can be found close to the coast with their calves, and everything on the island revolves around them. People with boats and the appropriate licenses offer whale watching and, if you're lucky, swimming with the animals. The demand is huge, and despite the many providers and the insanely high prices, everything is fully booked every day. We set off on the boat at 8 a.m. In the first 2 hours, all we saw were beautiful beaches and green islands. The mood on the boat slowly became subdued. But then we saw the first tail fins and jumps. We could already see the gigantic animals below the water's surface. A mother whale and her calf stayed near our boat for 1.5 hours. Occasionally, a third whale would appear, surface, and take a breath. So we had plenty of opportunities to observe the animals from the boat and also to swim with them. A very impressive experience that we will remember forever.

Tonga - the last kingdom of the South Seas.

The islands, formerly known as the Friendly Islands, emerged from the Tonga Trench, one of the deepest oceanic trenches on Earth, and are located in the area of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Many of the 170+ islands are uninhabited. Most of them have white sandy beaches, surrounded by coral reefs and covered with rainforest. However, some of them also have active volcanoes. The Kingdom of Tonga was the only state in Oceania never colonized by Europeans. The people in the South Seas differ significantly in appearance. The Tongans traditionally like to eat a lot and high-calorie food. In Tonga, being fat is considered beautiful and represents good health. Nuku'alofa translates to "Home of Love," a beautiful name for a capital city. The city is located on the island of Tongatapu and is home to approximately 24,000 residents, the seat of government and the royal family, and the international airport. This is where we landed and spent the next few days. We rented a car, drove around the island, and discovered the sights of Tongatapu. Starting from the west coast with the landing place of the explorer Abel Tasman and some beaches. We then went to the Blow Holes, where massive amounts of water hit the rocky coast and blow water high into the air. We got quite wet but were also very impressed by the immense power of the ocean. We drove along the quite unremarkable south coast to the northwest coast. The historic site Ha'amonga'a Mau'i was one of the ancient capitals of the Kingdom of Tonga. On the site, there is a monumental coral stone arch. The individual stone blocks used for the arch weigh up to 20 tons and were likely built around the year 1200. Sometimes, the trilithon is also referred to as the Stonehenge of Polynesia. Our next stop was the landing place of Captain Cook. In 1777, the great navigator James Cook set foot on the island here. Our tour of the island ended in the capital, Nuku'alofa. We passed by several churches, the royal palace, and the royal tombs and stopped at the Friend's Cafe. The cafe has been around for more than 20 years and is a meeting place for tourists and locals. We planned to spend a bit more time in Tonga and explore some other parts of the country.

Now it was time to head to the airport. With the royal airline Real Tonga, we wanted to fly to another group of islands in Tonga. But before we go... When there are more passengers at the airport than planned, a few extra rows of seats are spontaneously added to the plane. This, of course, delayed our departure once again.

A few days ago, the main pipeline in Auckland was damaged. Since then, there is 70% less kerosene in this part of the world. We didn't know that this also affects us.

We spend the morning at our deserted beach, paddle through the ocean, and enjoy the beautiful view one last time. At Rarotonga airport, a local wearing a Hawaiian shirt says goodbye to us with South Pacific ukulele sounds and appropriate singing.

We are looking forward to our travel highlight: crossing the International Date Line on our direct flight to Sydney.

Then comes the announcement that our plane doesn't have enough fuel and we have to refuel in Tonga (where's Tonga?). And it gets even better: Tonga refuses to refuel. After some negotiations, we get fuel, but we can only make it to Auckland with the amount. And so we arrive in New Zealand - 7 weeks earlier than planned. Tomorrow morning we continue to Sydney. Hopefully.

Today, unfortunately, a big disappointment: Tonga could only be seen from a distance and was canceled.

When I wanted to quickly go to the 'Concierge for World Travelers' after breakfast to get a city map, they told me that the captain had just announced that he would not dock and there would be no shore excursion. (Announcements cannot be heard in the restaurants, so I didn't know about it yet). I couldn't believe it because the weather was nice, blue sky, Tonga within reach and in sight, a little more wind, but no tropical rain, so I didn't expect Queen Elizabeth to capitulate before Tonga.

As the captain explained, strong winds were expected, and after consulting with the pilot, whom I saw leaving in his boat, he declined to dock. It's a shame, but you have to accept it because the safety of the passengers and the ship is the top priority, and if something happens, it will cost the cruise line a fortune and, above all, its good reputation.

Yesterday, as a small gesture from the bed turnover service in the evening, I found a nice pair of binoculars on my bed. We receive small gifts at regular intervals. Under these circumstances, the binoculars took on a whole new meaning. I didn't think I would need it so soon.

The decision not to dock significantly affected the crew. In no time, the cruise director put together an entertainment program, the ballet and 2 lecture speakers had to perform immediately, and the print shop had to print new programs in record time. The kitchen had to recalculate the portions. The cabin crew held back on cleaning as everyone changed clothes again. I had also prepared my anti-mosquito clothing for the shore excursion.

After some time, the captain announced that he would get an earlier berth in Auckland and that we can now set sail. At first, he wanted to go to Fidi, but that was too far away. That would have been even better. But now it's good too, because we will already be in Auckland one evening before, as we dock directly in the city.

So, until Auckland, there are two sea days, which I spend with seminars from my camera club and a newly launched series of workshops on the PC (such as Photoshop). So no boredom in sight.

Best regards,

Eva