Undeterred by the Meier fiasco, Tāufa’āhau plugged on with schemes and flights of fantasy, travelling the world, offering free advice. He made a state visit to New Zealand (noting that he practically lived in the country). He insisted on going to the Chatham Islands, 860 kilometres east of the South Island. There he told his audience, New Zealanders, he said, seemed to feel they floated in the North Sea: ‘Let me assure you it is an illusion.’ On the other hand Tonga was ‘well adjusted to its geographical situation’. New Zealand should develop trade with the ‘Mongolian’ people of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and China: ‘lf the right approaches were made, good markets could be made in the countries of the north.’ Tonga, he said, had links to Japan, Taiwan and South Korea; ‘We have extremely friendly relationships with India. Most of our military cadets are trained in India at just the cost of getting them there and back.’ Even in the Chathams the king touted his Tongatapu airport ideas, which had already failed with Meier: ‘Tonga will be one of the airports of the Pacific that can take direct flights from Los Angeles. When I go to Britain soon I will be talking to Sir Freddie Laker, because his Skytrain at present terminates in Los Angeles.’ Nothing came of it. He was ahead of his time at one point, telling his New Zealand hosts he wanted to visit Antarctica and check out the krill fishing potential. That became an industry, of sorts, in the late 20th Century, although not involving Tonga or any other Pacific state.
Early in 1977 the king paid a visit to the US territory of Guam, where he discovered the locals had a taste for flying fox. Tonga had thousands that were seldom eaten, and so he organised the export of frozen carcases which sold at US$15. Sāmoa climbed into the trade for a time but it proved mostly uneconomic, and had some questionable health consequences for Chamoro people.
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