Dancing with whales
We’ve all heard about whalewatching from boats or shore, and a few companies are now offering the possibility of actually swimming and snorkelling with whales in…
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.” The Fijian islands are no longer the preserve of luxury cruise holidaymakers…
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…
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…
Samoa, Heart of Polynesia
The islands of Samoa are emerging as an exciting new South Pacific travel destination between Hawaii and New Zealand. This “Heart of Polynesia” is politically split…