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Tags: Adventure Girl in the Marquesas Islands / Tahiti Travel / Island Travel / Twitter / Marquesas Islands / Bora Bora Travel / → All Tags
Ten Islands for Ten Years: Adventure Girl Gets Remarried in Bora Bora
Have you ever wanted to venture way, way out to the islands around Tahiti? Sit back and then and daydream with us as we follow Twitter celeb Stefanie Michaels, aka Adventure Girl, as she goes island-hopping in the most exotic of places—the Marquesas Islands. Each day this week, she'll reveal another adventure. Join her 1.5 million followers on Twitter for more Marquesas conversation @AdventureGirl, and don't forget us @Jaunted!
Now, after almost two weeks at sea onboard the Aranui around the Marquesas, my journey was nearing the saddest point: the end. The final stop was in the Tuamotu islands, at its largest island of Rangiroa. This is the last island stop for passengers of the Aranui, but a quick stay and a resort called Kia Ora brought us back into "civilization."
Before leaving for Bora Bora, I made sure to take a look around Rangiroa, as it's a destination for pearl shopping. I took a trip out to the Gaugin Pearl Factory, where visitors learn how pearls are cultivated and what the Tahitian pearl look like: brackish black color, with hues of blues, pinks and green varieties.
Finally we disembarked at Papeete, Tahiti, our ninth island. After frantically exchanging contact information with the friends we'd made onboard the Aranui, my husband and I transferred to the airport, where we boarded our flight to Bora Bora, our 10th and final island.
Heaven on Earth, after the jump
Tags: Adventure Girl in the Marquesas Islands / Tahiti Travel / Island Travel / Twitter / Marquesas Islands / → All Tags
A New Name and Meeting Marquesan Royalty: Just Another Day for Adventure Girl
Have you ever wanted to venture way, way out to the islands around Tahiti? Sit back and then and daydream with us as we follow Twitter celeb Stefanie Michaels, aka Adventure Girl, as she goes island-hopping in the most exotic of places—the Marquesas Islands. Each day this week, she'll reveal another adventure. Join her 1.5 million followers on Twitter for more Marquesas conversation @AdventureGirl, and don't forget us @Jaunted!
"It's just gone too quickly," I say to my husband. "Where has the time gone?" Already it's my eleventh day onboard the Aranui ship, and we're looping back towards home and the end of the journey. The Aranui, as more of a freighter than a cruise ship, picks up contents from the various islands, and delivers them to others. What we had done over the first 10 days was stop to pick up fruits and vegetables from Nuka Hiva, and deliver them to the arid Ua Huka, then loaded up wood carvings and Tapas from Ua Huka, and delivered them on our way back to Ua Pou. It's a transport system that's extremely integral to these far-flung islands, and it even takes the locals around.
Now very confident with my anti-nausea patch, I face the almost two-day journey over open seas back to Papeete, Tahiti.
After the jump, Adventure Girl meets royalty
Tags: Adventure Girl in the Marquesas Islands / Tahiti Travel / Island Travel / Twitter / Marquesas Islands / → All Tags
Adventure Girl Finds Gauguin, But No 'No-Nos' in the Marquesas Islands
Have you ever wanted to venture way, way out to the islands around Tahiti? Sit back and then and daydream with us as we follow Twitter celeb Stefanie Michaels, aka Adventure Girl, as she goes island-hopping in the most exotic of places—the Marquesas Islands. Each day this week, she'll reveal another adventure. Join her 1.5 million followers on Twitter for more Marquesas conversation @AdventureGirl, and don't forget us @Jaunted!
Onto more islands, we were back onboard the Aranui and watching a beautiful sunrise before another small port and more sweet Marquesans to meet. Except today we had something new to look forward to, a beach day! Getting off of the boat meant downtime at one of the only white sand beaches in the islands, on Hanamenino Beach at Tahuata Island. There was just one issue: would our day be ruined by an onslaught of the nasty flea-type bugs called the 'no-nos?' Luckily, there were no no-nos this day! The beach day kept going and going, as day on a true vacation should, and soon enough the passengers were all chatting excitedly about our next stop: "We're going to Nuka Oa!"
Tags: Adventure Girl in the Marquesas Islands / Tahiti Travel / Island Travel / Twitter / Marquesas Islands / → All Tags
Curried Goat and a Rainbow: Adventure Girl's Marquesas Islands Fun Continues
Have you ever wanted to venture way, way out to the islands around Tahiti? Sit back and then and daydream with us as we follow Twitter celeb Stefanie Michaels, aka Adventure Girl, as she goes island-hopping in the most exotic of places—the Marquesas Islands. Each day this week, she'll reveal another adventure. Join her 1.5 million followers on Twitter for more Marquesas conversation @AdventureGirl, and don't forget us @Jaunted!
LAND! The first stop of the Aranui ship brings passeners to Fakarava, an atoll in the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It's a flat yet lush atoll only 40 miles in length and 13 miles wide, with a ring of white powdery beaches and crystaline waters. In fact, UNESCO has made it a bio-sphere reserve, preserving its endless reefs and local marine life. Thus I begin my adventure on land, versus the at-sea fun of yesterday's story.
In Rotoava, the main city in the Tuamotu Islands, friendly locals greet passengers with flowers, and a hearty "Ia ora na," which means hello in Tahitian. One side of the island is excellent for snorkeling and diving, and the other side is a mecca for shelling (collecting sea shells) and finding nature's trinkets, such as pristine chunks of colorful dried coral.
Tuamotu's islands also inside Fakarava, known for their black pearl farms. I suggest checking out the local's small booths around town for the best pricing, and a small shop called Heipoe Boutique Rotoava for contemporary and high quality designs.
Adventure Girl gets seasick! After the jump
Tags: Adventure Girl in the Marquesas Islands / Tahiti Travel / Island Travel / Twitter / Marquesas Islands / → All Tags
Adventure Girl Ships Out to 'Un-Cruise' the Marquesas Islands
Have you ever wanted to venture way, way out to the islands around Tahiti? Sit back and then and daydream with us as we follow Twitter celeb Stefanie Michaels, aka Adventure Girl, as she goes island-hopping in the most exotic of places—the Marquesas Islands. Each day this week, she'll reveal another adventure. Join her 1.5 million followers on Twitter for more Marquesas conversation @AdventureGirl, and don't forget us @Jaunted!
It was my 10-year wedding anniversary, and I was looking for a symbolic way to hit "10 locations for 10 years." I knew of the Marquesas Islands and recalled that getting to several of them required the Aranui Freighter, part passenger ship, part freighter, and complete with working shipmates. It would allow my husband and I to get to eight islands, six of the Marquesas—Nuka Hiva, Ua Pou, Hiva Oa, Fatu Hiva, Tahuata, and Ua Hika, and two Tuamotu's—Fakarava and Rangiroa, followed by mainland Tahiti and Bora Bora (on the back end of the trip), rounding out the ten islands for ten years.
So where are the Marquesas? The Marquesas Islands, part of the Tahitian Island chain, rest north east of Tahiti in the southern Pacific and are the most remote islands on earth, with more than 800 miles of distance between any other landmass. They are considered “savage” by their French Polynesian counterparts. Marquesans see themselves as a separate culture from the rest of Tahiti and her islands. It's an interesting political history, from Chiefs to Kings to current French rule, and I'll delve into more of this throughout the week.
Adventure Girl boards the ship, after the jump!
Tags: Reality TV Travel / Television Travel / St Lucia Travel / Island Travel / The Bachelor / Romantic Travel / → All Tags
'The Bachelor' in Saint Lucia; Follow in the Footsteps of Jake and Vienna
We have a confession to make. We didn't start watching this 14th season of the reality TV show "The Bachelor" until we heard that they were taking the final few episodes on the road to the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. It also helps that the Bachelor himself, Jake Pavelka, is a commercial airlines pilot for Atlantic Southeast Airlines (yea, we've never heard of them either). Jake whisked his last three girls, Tenley, Gia and Vienna, to the island known as a honeymoon paradise, in order to make a decision.
Since we were recently on St. Lucia as well, we've got a bit of a behind-the-scenes with some of the major locations from this "Bachelor" finale.
Check out our "Bachelor" in St. Lucia extras after the jump! SPOILERS ALERT!
Tags: Air France / Airfare Deals / France Travel / Island Travel / Airline News / → All Tags
Air France Cuts French Overseas Territories Some Slack with Cheaper Fares
Looks like Air France wants to level the flying field and make it easier to travel to France's overseas territories and, in turn, help those areas get some extra tourism Euros.
The airline recently signed a charter with the government's department that handles equality issues in the French overseas territories that would make flights between metropolitan France and Noumea, New Caledonia, and Papeete, French Polynesia, cheaper. Air France is offering 15 percent of its overall capacity in economy class at the lowest available fare on the date of travel, excluding special offers during peak travel times.
Tags: Travel Contests / Fiji / Fiji Travel / Island Travel / Tourism Boards / → All Tags
Make A Video, Win A Week On The 333 Islands of Fiji
There's an argument floating around about how tourism board video contests73151;Tahiti's iPhone competition from June being a good example—are on the verge of becoming gimmicky and routine. It kind of makes sense, especially if you figure that there's a limited number of people inclined to enter and they'll give up after losing too many similar contests. On the other hand, the lottery is still in business and the most recent video contest is being promoted by Tourism Fiji. As long as there are still competitions with the 333 island paradise as their grand prize, it's probably safe to say people will keep competing.
The contest, dubbed the Ultimate Fiji Adventurer, calls on "thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies" to display their "daring and creativity" in a video highlighting why they're a good fit for Fiji and why Fiji's a good fit for adventurers. Winners get roundtrip airfare from LAX to Nadi on Air Pacific, seven nights at the decadent Sonaisali Island Resort, and daily meals at the resort.
Tags: Kite Surfing / Richard Branson / Island Travel / Sports Travel / Events / Virgin Islands / British Virgin Islands / Necker Island / Virgin Limited Edition / → All Tags
Coming In 2010: Coed Naked Kite Boarding With Richard Branson
Come 2010, not only will you be able to stay at Virgin Group head honcho Richard Branson's private Swiss ski lodge, but you'll also be able to go kite surfing alongside his silver foxness at the British Virgin Islands KiteJam.
From March 1-5 the BVIs, including Branson's luxury hideaway Necker Island, will be filled with kite boarding enthusiasts, celebrities, and pro kiteboarders including German Kristin Boese and American Gretta Kruesi. It'll be five days of inter-island events including flat water freestyle, waves, sliders and racing, and of course some after-hours partying. No word on whether or not Branson will walk on water however, or if he'll strap a nude supermodel to his back again.
Tags: World's Most Dangerous Airports / Caribbean Travel / Island Travel / Airports / Dominica Travel / → All Tags
World's Most Dangerous Airports: Dominica's Cane Field
We're still adding to our list of the world's most dangerous airports. Know a stomach dropping, palm sweat inducing airport we should check out? Send it along.
Thanks to a reader tip, we zoomed our Google Maps eyes down on the tiny Cane Field Airport (DCF) on Dominica, an island in the Caribbean between Guadeloupe and Martinique. Because of the mountainous terrain of the island, the runway was constructed directly alongside the beach. That might sound picturesque, but with crosswinds threatening to dump you in the drink, in addition to a steep approach, it gets to be quite harrowing.
Now, Cane Field is one of two airports on this small island, the other being Melville Hall. However Cane Field is the smaller of the two, mainly used for island hopping, private jets, and the like. With a runway only 3,100' long, it's easy to see why. You will catch the occasional American Airlines or LIAT planes landing at the nearby Melville Hall, but it's Cane Field that holds the most suspense for incoming flights.
Now add to this the fact that both airports on Dominica have no lights for nighttime flights, and the stakes are upped. Better hope that you're not landing on the island on an usually dark and stormy day!
Related Stories:
· Melville Hall Airport [Wikipedia]
· World's Most Dangerous Airports: Saint Barthélemy [Jaunted]
· World's Most Dangerous Airports [Jaunted]
[Photo: Google Maps]
Tags: Volunteer Travel / Wildlife Travel / Exotic Travel / Island Travel / → All Tags
Reach The Pacific Ocean's Midway Atoll Through Voluntourism
Most volunteer vacations could be taken with or without the volunteer part. But Oceanic Society's Midway Atoll Excursion is a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit a part of the world so remote, you couldn't go there on your own if you tried.
Oceanic Society's tour allows you to visit the only accessible wildlife refuge within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Midway, and get up and close and personal with the two million birds that call Midway home, including the world's largest population of Laysan Albatrosses, or "gooney birds". Hawaiian monk seals, green sea turtles and spinner dolphins also call the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument home. The Monument was once part of a Naval Air Facility but when the base closed in 1993, the focus changed from national defense to wildlife conservation.
Tags: Samoa Travel / Tsunamis / Tourist Boards / Island Travel / → All Tags
Samoa Says It's Still Beautiful, So Please Come Back
The pretty islands of Samoa have a had a rough time lately. As if switching from right side to left side driving wasn't enough, the poor Samoans endured a tsunami in late September which killed close to 200 people, some of them tourists, and that meant a bunch of canceled bookings by future travelers. This is all not great news for a country with tourism as 25% of GDP.
But now we've got the good news: Samoa is back on track. Less than two months after the tsunami, the Samoa Tourism Authority says that tourism is recovering. Some of the 33 resorts that were forced to close are on course to start opening early next year, and although tourist numbers are currently down 20% compared to the same time a year ago, the outlook for the future is better. On top of that, the "It's Still Beautiful" marketing campaign has kicked off to convince tourists that Samoa should still be on their wishlist. It's still on ours, but we've got a long, long list.
Related Stories:
· Recovery Begins In Samoa [The Age]
· Samoa Switches Sides Of The Road For Drivers [Jaunted]
[Photo: YXO]
