Samoa: Samoa, Heart of Polynesia
"The Samoan environment is tropically lush, with green volcanic peaks plunging to brilliant coral reefs, an ecotourism paradise still unspoiled by mass tourism. Visitors often stay in open Samoan beach houses called fale (pronounced FAH-lay) and adopt the laidback local lifestyle. Swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving, kayaking, surfing, deep sea fishing, and hiking opportunities are all close at hand." David Stanley explains why the Samoan Islands are emerging as an exciting new South Pacific travel destination between Hawaii and New Zealand.
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Chile Features: Easter Island - a hiking guide
"Ask me which Pacific island has the most to offer hikers and I'll probably answer Easter Island. Here, on an island 11km (seven miles) wide and 23km (14 miles) long, you'll find nearly a thousand ancient Polynesian statues strewn along a powerfully beautiful coastline or littering the slopes of an extinct volcano." David Stanley pulls on his boots and straps on his daypack...
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French Polynesia: Tahiti in Fiction and Film
"Over the years, Tahiti and Polynesia have provided novelists and film-makers with colourful subject matter. Early travellers told of wanton women on tropical shores, and Fletcher Christian added drama to the plot by leading a mutiny against the tyrannical Captain Bligh." David Stanley takes a literary and cinematographic tour round French Polynesia!
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Fiji Features: Backpackers and Billionaires
"It used to be that backpacking trips to Fiji involved a bus ride from Nadi to Suva, then a ferry to somewhere like Ovalau, Savusavu, Taveuni or Kadavu. No more. These days young budget travellers are lining up to go to the Yasawa Islands, a chain of 16 large volcanic islands and dozens of smaller ones roughly 35km (22 miles) off the west coast of Viti Levu." The Fijian islands are no longer the preserve of luxury cruise holidaymakers, as David Stanley explains...
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Tonga: Dancing With Whales
"Engine noise from a manoeuvring boat can startle a whale, and repeated disturbances can lead to the animals changing their behaviour and even abandoning their traditional habitat. The nursing and resting routines of the pods can be disrupted, potentially threatening the health of the whales." David Stanley explains how over-invasive whalewatching is endangering these magnificent creatures.
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New Caledonia: Return to Ouvéa
"Most Ouvéans still live in traditional thatched case (houses) and the beach is as dazzling as ever. On my first evening there, as I watched the red fireball set slowly across the lagoon, I felt a strong affinity with my previous visit. Yet something terrible had happened in my absence. On 5 May 1988, 300 French elite troops stormed a cave near Gossanah in northern Ouvéa to rescue 16 gendarmes captured two weeks earlier by Melanesian freedom fighters." David Stanley recaps the turbulent and, at times, bloody recent history of New Caledonia.
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Pic of the Week: 31 March 2008
The "Coastal Renaissance", the world's largest double-ended ferry, plies between Vancouver and Nanaimo.
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Pic of the Week: 21 April 2008
Teams lined up on the Papeete waterfront for an outrigger race around Moorea Island, Tahiti.
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Pic of the Week: 26 May 2008
Sailboats in Nanaimo Harbour, Vancouver Island
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