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Vava'u
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Vavau redirects here. For the village in Samoa, see Vavau, Samoa
Vavaʻu is an island chain of one large island and 40 smaller ones in Tonga. According to tradition Maui fished both Tongatapu and Vavaʻu but put a little more effort into the former. Vavaʻu rises 204 meters above sea level. The capital is Neiafu, which is the second largest city in Tonga, situated at one of the best harbours of the world, the Port of Refuge (Puatalefusi or Lolo-ʻa-Halaevalu).
Vava'u is a prime fishing destination with its beautiful harbour and untouched seas.
Don Francisco Antonio Maurelle was the first European to come along Vavaʻu in February 1781. Captain James Cook knew about the island a decennium before, but it was told to him by the people in Haʻapai, it would be no good for him to go there as there was no harbour. Apparently they did not want him to come. And Cook heeded their advice.
But Maurelle found excellent anchoring, of which he was in desperate need after having failed on Fonualei (Bitterness island) and Late, and he gave the spot the name Port of Refuge. But his original Port of Refuge was the bay at the westcoast of the main island, near Longomapu.
In 2006, eruptions of the previously submarine volcano Home Reef caused it to rise above sea level, forming a new island to the southwest of the Vavaʻu archipelago.
- D. Gerstle; Gentle people, into the heart of Vavaʻu 1781-1973; Tofua press 1973
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