Pacific Islanders have long held an outsize place in Australia’s collective imagination. This paper explores a moment in history where Tonga and Tongans embodied escape from the troubles facing Depression-era Australia. Arriving on R.M.S. Aorangi on 3 December 1932, a group of 16 Tongan choristers undertook a tour to raise funds for the Methodist mission. Another Tongan passenger on the Aorangi, the Kingdom’s Premier and Queen Sālote’s consort Prince Viliami Tugī, also embarked on a trip around the country. Both Tugī and the choir presented a carefully curated image of Tonga as Christianised, ‘civilised’ and devoid of the social and economic problems gripping Australia. Drawing on contemporary press reports and Church archives, I consider the extent to which this message resonated with the Australian press and public. I argue that while the Tongan visitors attracted admiration and captured the popular imagination, the intended meaning of their presence was often lost amidst racial stereotypes and Arcadian escapism.