We landed on time at Tongatapu shortly after 1100. Our connection to Vava’u was in less than three hours which would be enough time on a good day (and touch-and-go in case of a delay). As it turned out, we got through immigration and customs very quickly as we had no checked luggage.
We shuttled from the international to the domestic terminal and waited at the nice cafe there. The cafe overlooked the tarmac and it was a good place to see old aeroplanes if that’s your thing. There was a Dakota DC3 and a less familiar Convair 580. We found out that the latter (being our aircraft to Vava’u) was built in 1952 which makes it 60 years old.
A taxi driver met us upon arrival in Vava’u and took us to our lovely guesthouse, the Port Wine.
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- Old DC3 at Tongatapu domestic terminal.
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- Our Convair aircraft is 60 years old but going strong (with new engines)
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- Our Convair aircraft is 60 years old but going strong (with new engines)
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- Sick bag on Chathams Pacific airlines. One is happier after throwing up, it suggests. True.
After settling in I went into a mild state of panic as I hadn’t made any arrangements for the whale-swim or diving. I had just received a response from a whale-swim/dive operator to my yesterday’s query saying that they’re full-up for the entire duration of our stay. I had been too busy with my previous 12-week trip which only finished two days ago. Quite often I book things some 9 months in advance but this time I simply couldn’t get myself to do it.
We promptly went into Vava’u’s main town of Neiafu to ask around for excursions. The town was pleasant overlooking the bay or inlet, and there were pigs and piglets running around. Cute!
We were fortunate enough to secure very quickly the last two seats with Dolphin Pacific for whale-swim tomorrow. What a relief!