The view from Mount Tolau.

Husband and I took advantage of the long weekend in Tonga (celebrating Emancipation Day which I find hilarious as this is a country that has never been colonised, thus not needing to be emancipated from anyone) to turn it into a REALLY long 5 day weekend and check out Vava’u.

The view from our villa.

Vava’u is the second most northern island group in Tonga, after the Niua islands, which are actually closer to Samoa than the rest of Tonga.

A lookout somewhere, over a beach, location unknown, Vava’u. Yes, very specific.

Vava’u is gorgeous. It’s hilly and lush and green, very different to Tongatapu. The main town Neaifu is a lot smaller than Nuku’alofa and the whole place has a wonderfully remote, end of the world type feeling to it. We stayed at a great little resort called Mystic Sands.

The jetty at Mystic Sands.

It was so much fun going hiking, kayaking, karting and swimming with my husband. The only downside of our mini break was that I really missed my dog.

Going karting. Just. Freakin. Awesome. 

Total count of the creepy crawlies that jumped on me during our karting adventure: three spiders, two grasshoppers, one cricket and several strange bugs that couldn’t be identified. Total screams: none. I’m that tough.