1. Hi my name is George Fale Turner. I am half
Tongan.
Today I am going to share some interesting
facts about Tonga, so sit back and relax, learn
a few things and enjoy some great humour.

2.  The first people to settle in Tonga were
Polynesians, and Tonga is one of the earliest
Polynesian settlements. Tonga has never been
occupied by a European nation, and has always
been a monarchy with a king and/or queen.

3.  Also Tonga is special
 Well… Tonga is a because in May, June ,
very special July and August …
island because it humpback whales
is one of the decide to visit Tonga.
islands that Humpbacks are massive
Captain Cook marine mammals. Their
visited. Captain sheer size is daunting
Cook visited indeed, yet they are
Tonga in 1773, capable of thrusting
1774 and 1777. their entire bodies out
of the ocean as they
complete a breach.

4.  Well Tonga has about
170 islands spread over
a 70,000 square km of
ocean, and is divided
into four main parts.
The main part is
Tongatapu in the south,
with the capital
Nuku'alofa.

5.  Tonga is a monarchy  .
in which the king
rules absolutely. The
current king is
Taufa'ahau Tupou VI.
The first king was
king Tupou the first.
This is king Tupou IV
in his car. He lived
until his eighties and
that’s way older than
dad is.

6.  A very long time ago
king Tupou the first
ruled over Tonga.
Today Tonga remains a
monarchy, with King
Taufa'ahau Tupou VI
who has just been made
king this year in 2012.
King Tupou IV was the
first Tongan to receive a
college degree, having
studied at the
University of Sydney.

7.  This is Queen Salote
in her traditional
clothes. Facts: She was
a very tall Queen. She
was the daughter of
King George Tupou
II and his first wife,
Queen Lavinia
Veiongo Fotu. Her
name Sālote is a
Tongan version of the
name Charlotte.

8.  Tapa cloth (or  First of all I have to grow a tiny
tree namely Hiapo for the
simply tapa) is a bark number I would like to have. I
cloth made in the will look after that for not less
islands of the Pacific than 2 years. When its skin goes
white then I will harvest them.
Ocean, primarily Then I would leave them in the
in Tonga and Samoa, shade for almost two weeks.
but as far afield Then I would take the skin off
from a hard stick in its middle.
as Java, New Then with the skin I will take
Zealand, Papua New the outer skin and it will leave
Guinea and Hawaii. In me with a white stuff called the
la'i tutu. I will keep all of those
French Polynesia it has tutu in rolls of twenty pieces.
nearly disappeared, Then when I am ready to beat
except for some villages those pieces. I will first put one
roll in a bucket of cold water to
in the Marquesas. make it soft to be beaten. I will

9.  Tonga eats lot’s of
healthy stuff like,
kumara, yams and
taro. They also eat
stuff like poaka.*

*poaka means pig.

10.  Tonga has VERY
friendly people
especially when visitors
arrive.
 Tonga is known as the
“Friendly Islands.”

11. WHEN DO THEY OPEN
THEIR PRESENTS?
 In Tonga they open
their presents at the
same time we do in NZ
but… after they open
their presents they go
straight to church and
it’s all day.

12.  In Tonga mostly all
the dangers are in the
water. Tonga has very
strong blow holes,
and in fact if you are
in a kayak don’t go
past a coral reef and I
mean it do not
because if you do you
might get stuck in a
blow hole.

13.  By the way if you are
planning to go to
Tonga, go onto
www.pacific-travel
guides.com.