Vavau Harbour, Tonga, with Nuku'alofa in the distance. Anyone who was ever anyone in the South Pacific made it to Tonga. The first Dutch came in 1616 and Abel Tasman visited in 1643. Captain James Cook came on each of his three Pacific voyages but Bligh barely made it. His crew mutinied there. Today the Tongans wait on another group of VIPs - the waves of up to 1,500 Australians who sweep in from the sea sometimes several times a week during the main tourist season. They - or the dollars they spend - are bringing new forces into the Tongan society. February 15, 1933.`