Mourners unleash waves of emotion [+pictures]

Tongan surfing champion Anau Burling is taking time out from her beloved sport to mourn the King who shared her love of the ocean. Picture / Alan Gibson

NUKU'ALOFA - A photo of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV surfing off a Tongan island is hung in a prime position at a beach resort near the northern tip of the main island of Tongatapu.

The late King enjoyed surfing and the owners of the resort wanted to show young Tongans that if the King surfed, then surfing was cool.

But their daughter, Anau Burling, has for the past week put away her board, decorated with the symbol of the Tongan flag, while she grieves for her King who is lying in state at the royal palace in Nuku'alofa.

Miss Burling, a 20-year-old champion surfer who won gold for Tonga at the 2003 South Pacific Games, said she would not surf until after the funeral of King Tupou who died in Auckland, aged 88, eight days ago.

She usually surfs every day just off Ha'atafu beach where a few foreigners were yesterday getting good rides.

Miss Burling will attend the King's funeral tomorrow in Nuku'alofa along with thousands of Tongans and many visiting dignitaries from around the world, including New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Like other Tongans, she was sad at the loss of a monarch but hopeful the new King Siaosi Tupou V would move the country forward.

"The old King really helped the people, I really enjoyed having him as our King."

Nearby, at her mother's village Kolovai, locals will tonight sing hymns from dusk through to midnight in respect for King Tupou.

Kolovai is the home village of the King's youngest son, Prince 'Ulukalala Lavaka-Ata, who was also Tonga's Prime Minister until he resigned in February this year. Early yesterday, Tongans gathered for church as they do every Sunday.

Queen Halaevalu Mata'aho, who usually attends the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Kolomotua, worshipped at the palace in private.

Tongatapu was like a ghost island, although the night before locals got into a drunken brawl at a bar despite it being a period of official mourning.