Vavau redirects here. For the village in Samoa, see Vavau, Samoa

Vavau, Samoa

Vavau is a small village on south east end of Upolu island in Samoa.The village is part of Lotofaga Electoral Constituency which is within the larger political district of Atua.The population is 356 ....

Vavau is an island chain of one large island and 40 smaller ones in Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

. According to tradition Maui

Maui (Tongan mythology)

In Tonga, Maui drew up the Tongan Islands from the deep: first appeared Lofaga and the other Haapai Islands, and finally Vavau. Maui then dwelt in Tonga. Maui had two sons: the eldest, Maui Atalaga, and the younger Kisikisi. The latter discovered the secret of fire, and taught people the art of...

 fished both Tongatapu

Tongatapu

Tongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga and the location of its capital Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with approximately 71,260 residents , 70.5% of the national population...

 and Vavau but put a little more effort into the former. Vavau rises 204 meters above sea level. The capital is Neiafu

Neiafu (Vava'u)

Neiafu is the second-largest town in Tonga with a population of about 6,000. It is situated beside the Port of Refuge, a deep-water harbour on the south coast of Vava'u, the main island of the Vava'u archipelago in northern Tonga. To the north-west lies the 131m high Mt...

, which is the second largest city in Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

, situated at one of the best harbours of the world, the Port of Refuge (Puatalefusi or Lolo-a-Halaevalu).

Vavau is a prime fishing destination with its beautiful harbour and untouched seas.

History

Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle

Francisco Antonio Mourelle

Francisco Antonio Mourelle de la Rúa was a Galician naval officer and explorer serving the Spanish crown. He was born in 1750 at San Adrián de Corme , near La Coruña, Galicia.-1775 voyage:...

 was the first European to come to Vavau, in February 1781. Captain James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

 knew about the island a decennium before, but the people in Haapai

Ha'apai

Haapai is a group of islands, islets, reefs and shoals in the central part of the Kingdom of Tonga, with the Tongatapu group to the south and the Vavau group to the north. Seventeen of the Haapai islands are populated....

 told him 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 Mourelle found excellent anchoring, of which he was in desperate need after having failed on Fonualei

Fonualei (volcano)

Fonualei is a volcanic island close to Vavau in the kingdom of Tonga.It was seen by Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle on the La Princesa in February 1781. He reported the island to be barren from eruptions, and called it for that reason Bitterness island....

 (Bitterness island) and Late, and he gave the spot the name Port of Refuge. But his original Port of Refuge was the bay on the west coast of the main island, near Longomapu.

In 1793 Alessandro Malaspina

Alessandro Malaspina

Alessandro Malaspina was an Italian nobleman who spent most of his life as a Spanish naval officer and explorer...

 visited for a month, following up on Maurelle and claiming the islands for Spain.

Tui Tonga

Tu'i Tonga

The Tui Tonga is a line of Tongan kings, which originated in the 10th century with the mythical Ahoeitu; withdrew from political power in the 15th century by yielding to the Tui Haatakalaua; and died out with Laufilitonga in 1865...

 George Tupou I

George Tupou I of Tonga

George Tupou I, King of Tonga , originally known as Tāufaāhau I with some extra names: Tupou Maeakafaua Ngininginiofolanga , but took the name Siaosi when baptised in 1831...

 instituted the Vavau Code

Vava'u Code

The Vava'u Code was instituted in Vava'u, Tonga in 1839, by Tu'i Tonga George Tupou I. It contained the country's first ever written laws, and formed the bases of the first constitution of the Kingdom....

 in Vavau in 1839.

New island

In 2006, eruptions of the previously submarine volcano

Volcano

2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

 Home Reef

Home Reef

Home Reef is an ephemeral island built by a submarine volcano whose top has repeatedly breached the surface and was subsequently eroded by wave action again...

 caused it to rise above sea level, forming a new island to the southwest of the Vavau archipelago.

Governor

Hon. Luani

Hon. Luani

Hon. Luani, birth name Sione Laumanuʻuli Luani was a Tongan nobleman, Member of Parliament, and the Governor of Vavaʻu.-Education:...

was appointed as Governor of Vava'u in July 2009. Governor Luani died suddenly on 12 May 2010.

Further reading