Island-Sity

The drive to our resort included a visit to what we thought the driver said was Kentucky Fried Chicken but was clearly not, a screeching stop for a large pig standing on the road, and a call to the driver's house to drop off food to his wife.

I experienced ''island time'' first-hand the following day when I asked to be taken into Nuku'alofa by 9am and we began the half-hour trip at 8.55am. Minutes into the journey, the taxi (a beat-up station wagon which had never had the words ''warrant of fitness'' uttered anywhere near it) stopped and the driver, who spoke very little English, indicated for me to wait in the car.

He wandered off and 15 minutes later returned with a coke bottle full of petrol to refill the empty tank. When I related this story to the owners of the resort, they laughed and said, ''That's Tonga''.

After a few more days in Tongatapu - including an island tour, exploring the markets, and sampling the food - we headed for Vava'u, an island about 240km north.

Despite the many warnings about aeroplanes being held together by rubber bands, our flight there did not seem especially death-defying, and we set down safely in an altogether different type of island.

While Nuku'alofa offered a new cultural experience, illustrating the country's hardships with run-down houses acting as headquarters for major government departments, Vava'u was geared more towards tourism.

The shopping area was smaller than in the capital, but had a cleaner look and boasted several waterfront restaurants and tourist shops.

Yachts filled the harbour and there were operations for fishing, diving, snorkelling, whale-watching and kayaking.

A Kart Safari - off-road carts for hire - gave visitors the chance for a guided ride through farmland to Vava'u's coast. Although this was fairly pricey (about 150 pa'angas, or $NZ110, per person), it was a chance to see parts of the island that were otherwise inaccessible, including amazing ocean views and Tongan farming villages.

Whales are Tonga's tourism drawcard, and several companies offered ''swim with the whales'' opportunities. Although none of my group jumped in with the humpbacks, we got close to them while sailing around Vava'u's islands on a catamaran for a week. Many whales breached the surface within metres of our boat.

On dry land not all was so idylic, with the risk that your worldly goods could be harpooned by thieves. Petty theft appeared to be one of Tonga's biggest problems.

Roadside shops supplying the bare essentials were set up as stalls with bars across the front, and backpacker and resort owners warned against leaving accommodation doors unlocked because tourists were often targeted.

However, one taxi driver said bigger crimes, such as car theft, were much less common.

''Everyone knows each other, so someone would know who did it,'' she told me.

Although theft was reportedly an issue, no one in my group had anything taken and we actually had one driver go out of his way to return a video game left in his car.

In contrast, after being back in New Zealand for less than a week, my car window was smashed and opportunist thieves helped themselves to a bag and two CD wallets - so I'm not feeling especially confident about petty crime here now either.

While the ''that's Tonga'' attitude arose several more times during the trip, it would be unfair to say this related solely to mishaps like broken-down cars and missed deadlines.

The generous attitudes of the Tongan people stood out, with locals invariably willing to go out of their way to help. In several cases they gave me rides and didn't ask for anything in return.

This was best seen on the final night of our trip, when we were facing a nine-hour wait outside the closed international airport.

The taxi driver, Ema, having driven us to the airport, turned around when we saw it was closed and took us to a buffet dinner and floor show being hosted by the Oholei beach resort.

Because it was the last day of the trip, none of us had any cash for the dinner, and Ema ended up paying for all seven of us, then joined us. So ''that's Tonga'' too - endless generosity and friendship.

The buffet included three spit-roasted pigs, seafood, vegetables and green salads, as well as traditional Tongan foods such as lu kapapulu (corned beef, onions and coconut cream wrapped in greens and steamed), which, for one daring enough to try, were an interesting new taste-bud experience.

During the floor show, a spectacle inside a cave featuring Tongan floor and fire dances, the resort's owner, Simana Kami, spoke about Tonga's future.

''We suffered with the cyclone this year and lost so much. It destroyed the resort, but we built it up again, and now we welcome people back,'' he said.