Tahiti Travel Tips: Don't Miss on Moorea
Where: Moorea, French Polynesia
Earlier this week, we filled you in on a charming Moorea BYOB Happy Hour and today we offer our "Don't Miss List" for this perfect Tahitian island.
The Pop Culture Travel Guide
Tag: South Pacific
Tahiti Travel Tip: BYOB at Club Bali Hai
Where: Moorea
Having just returned from an amazing trip to Tahiti, this week we're offering you a couple secret travel trips from her perfect islets and motus. First up, don't miss Moorea. It's a quick ferry ride from the capital city of Papeete and simply stunning. Grab an early morning ferry for $3 and watch the sun come up as Moorea takes over the horizon.
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by sedona
Even Volcanos Aim to Please on Vanuatu
Where: Vanuatu
We've been pretty keen on a trip to the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu ever since we heard the people there are the happiest in the world. But apart from walking around and smiling a lot, we weren't really sure what there was to do there--until now.
A Sydney Morning Herald review this week has got us captivated by Vanuatu, because it is home to the world's most accessible volcano. By which we mean, you can basically sit on the edge of the caldera and watch a few explosions of lava, performing like clockwork every evening.
The tourist-friendly volcano is called Mount Yasur, which means "old man," and it is located on Tanna Island, a 45-minute flight from the capital of Port Vila. Don't feel you have to hurry--Mount Yasur has been continually erupting since 1774, and there's no reason to imagine it's suddenly going to stop now.
Related Stories:
· Fiery Beauty As Old Man Rumbles [SMH]
· Shiny Happy People [Jaunted]
· Volcano Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: phnk]
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by amandak
Good News for Marine Life: The Phoenix Islands Protected Area
Where: Kiribati
A giant reef in the South Pacific has gotten a major reprieve. The island nation of Kiribati has created the world's largest protected marine reserve, and it's about the size of California:
The Phoenix Islands Protected Area, covering 410,500 square kilometers, is one of the planet's last intact coral archipelagos and is threatened by over-fishing and climate change, [environmental] groups say.
It lies near the equator about half way between Fiji and Hawaii.
This new reserve is bigger than the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument west of Hawaii (137,797 square miles) and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia (345,000 sq km.)
The US-based group Conservation International, along with the New England Aquarium, is helping the Kiribati government to manage and fund the uninhabited area. A tough challenge for the reserve is coastal erosion, but the site is also overfished and thus the Kirbati government will need some money for surveillance.
So get out your wallets people! No, just kidding. We don't think this place is taking donations but we wonder... is it taking tourists?
Related Stories:
· Kiribati Creates World's Largest Marine Reserve [Reuters]
· South Pacific coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: DS355]
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by juliana
Adventures of Link: Lost
So, yeah, have you heard? The new season of Lost starts tonight. Expect more dumbfounded-yet-angry stares from Jack, more running in tank tops from Kate, more philosophy-ish chatter from Locke and lighthearted (but heavyset) jokes from Hurley.
We sometimes find it hard to write about the show 'cause the only traveling they ever do is from rainforest to hill to beach to ridgeline back to rainforest. Seems like a waste of a perfectly good vacation in the South Pacific!
Fortunately--for us anyway--ABC has put together a parallel web show called Find 815, featuring the exploits of fictional IT technician Sam Thomas, who's searching for his girlfriend Sonya, an Oceanic Air flight attendant. Among his stops are Jakarta, Indonesia and Darwin, Australia. Now that's more like it.
Related Stories:
· Fly Oceanic Air ["Official" Site]
· Find 815 [Official Site]
· Flight 815 Locations Map [Google Maps]
· Lost coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: ABC]
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by pbb
Survivor Returning to Palau
Where: Palau
After running all those seasons of The Amazing Race and Survivor, seems like CBS has finally run out of places to film. The upcoming Fans vs. Favorites season of Survivor will return to Palau, where season 10 was shot a few years back. The producers are hoping that we don't catch on by calling it Survivor: Micronesia.
While you know what to expect from the competitors on the show--now in its 16th iteration--you probably don't know as much about the South Pacific archipelago. First and foremost, it's a long way from, well, everywhere, and that keeps tourist traffic relatively light. That said, you can get there from New York in about 26 hours, from Houston in about 20 hours and from Sydney in about 19 hours.
Once you're in the islands, the thing to do--if you're not on a hit reality show--is go scuba diving. The Palau Visitors Authority has a big list of all the local outfitters. You can also check out WWII history: The islands of Peleliu and Angaur are littered with materiel from fierce battles that killed thousands in 1944.
Related Stories:
· Palau Visitors Authority [Official Site]
· Survivor: Micronesia [Official Site]
· South Pacific Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Wikipedia]
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Tuvalu Slowly Sinking Under The Sea
Where: Tuvalu
The island nation of Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean wants the bigger countries of the world to do something about climate change. And it's not just for the good of the planet: Tuvalu could be swallowed up by the sea in less than 50 years if the planet gets much hotter.
With an average elevation of 6 feet above sea level, Tuvalu doesn't have far to go. That's why the Deputy Prime Minister is so worried about the future of his country:
We'll try and maintain our own way of living on the island as long as we can. If the time comes we should leave the islands, there is no other choice but to leave.
That may soon be the fate of other Pacific Islanders as well. Besides Tuvalu, Kiribati, Vanuatu and the Marshall Islands are considered at risk, though true disaster is still at least decades away.
Related Stories:
· Tuvalu About to Disappear [Reuters]
· Sinking States [Guardian]
· South Pacific coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: L0M1]
0 Comments - Add Yours by pbb
Marquesas Islands: Parents Of The Year Make Middle School Disappear
Man, Molly and Jessie Rard have the coolest parents ever. Their parents let them skip school for two years and live on the family sailboat! No detentions, no gym class, no tyrannical English teacher who leaves the class window open in January... Well, they still have homework: to help their parents, Washington state boat dealers, update a blog about their family adventures.
Yep, Jim and Jeanna Rard are the coolest parents ever. Who else would say, "Hey kids, we're taking off on a 49' yacht to sail the world for two years"? Kind of makes you want to sail out and join them holding octopi, making dreadlocks and writing nautical poetry.
[Photo: Jessie Rard]
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by egw
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