South Pacific Thread - Stories, Photo's, Questions:

LakeCleElum · 04-07-2017, 11:27 AM

Well, we've had many threads on the Caribbean, Mexico, Cuba, Hawaii, etc. The South Pacific is overdue and being done at the urging of Tevake (Richard). My interest started as a young kid reading books about merchant ships around Tahiti. Tevake's Pelican posts about his sailing adventures finally got me to plan trips. I'm no expert, but been twice. The 1st was a 4 day stop-over in Fiji while heading to an epic 5 week stay in Australia (3rd trip there). The 2nd trip was a few months ago -a 14-day cruise thing on a small ship out of Papatte. This included 10 stops and about 1,900 sea miles. I'm not a cruise ship fan, but a great way to visit places you'd never drive to.

It might take me a week or long to include all stops, so feel free to interject whenever:

Fiji:

With only 4 days and sticking to the main island of Viti Levu, we just booked the "Raffles" hotel across from the airport. After a long flight and landing at 0630 AM, it was a great experience to spend only 45 minutes from touch down to being in bed. That included getting luggage, immigration, customs, getting a rental car and driving across the Highway.

After a quick nap, it was to to start exploring, the 1st being Nadi town (as the locals call it) :

Nadi is about a 15 minute drive from the airport. Another 15 minutes to Port Denarau. This is where seaplanes to outlying islands come/go. Also a large golf course and all the luxury chain resorts/hotels. Think side by side Hyatt, Hilton, Sheraton, etc. Just like being in Hawaii:

The island of Viti Levu is roughly the size of Hawaii Big Island. There is a paved road around the island, max speed is 80K (48 mph)....Roads inland quickly turn to dirt and ruts. It is very rural, except for the capital city of Suva. It is not uncommon to see workers cutting sugar cane by hand with matchees. Many of the villages along the main highway have no cars. Transportation between villages is either bus or hitch hike. It's a common sight in the late afternoon to see men coming out of the bush with firewood strapped to their back for the evening fire to cook.

Two of our days were spent driving a 1/2 day around the island in each direction. We had lunch or a beer at some of the resorts to scout for future trips. The Outrigger:

(to be continued)

John Rogers · 04-07-2017, 11:50 AM

When I was in the US Navy years ago, we went to Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Samoa and Tonga. I am not sure if Tonga still has the "hotel on the Eastern side of the island but I stayed there for 3 nights, sleeping with sand floors, 2 inch thick matress and a very large pig who would sleep under the bed. The food was amazing and the sound of the waves was sooooooo nice. All the other places are just that, places which may or may not be over developed, ETC.

Vipergrün · 04-07-2017, 12:30 PM

I went on a surf trip to Samoa last May. Spectacular. Everything you could imagine for a tropical surf destination; black sand beaches, coconut palms hanging over the water, warm crystal clear water, multiple breaks. Paradise. The Chinese are investing heavily and want to trade land for cash. I really hope they never develop that magical spot....

Baz · Baz's Garage

Hey Bob.....great thread idea!

I visited Moorea for 1 week over Christmas back in 2003. Interesting place. Will share more later -

LakeCleElum · 04-07-2017, 01:53 PM

(Thanks Baz, Viper and John. I'll have some Moorea photos/comments later also)

So, still on Viti Levu, we checked out a place we almost booked, but got spooked by some sketchy reviews. I tore out the transmission pan of my Chitbox rental on this access road:

Place looked OK around the pool area, but was mostly vacant:

Dinner and Native Show on the beach at First Landing Resort:

Concluded the 4 days on Fiji with a boat ride, snorkel and lunch to a small island. One last resort stop:

(To be continued with 15 days in French Polynesia)

Jolly Amaranto · 04:29 PM

The closest I ever got to that corner of the globe was a bit northwest of there. In 1966 I sailed into Koror, Palau. Nice beaches but with salt water crocodiles lurking in the lagoons, one did not dare to go in. Visited the big island of Babelthuap but Peleliu was still pretty much discouraged because of all the unexploded ordinance still lying about.

tevake · 04-07-2017, 05:45 PM

It sure is great seeing these beautiful pics of my favorite part of the world.
I was shooting film in the 80s and 90s when I was sailing the area.
I only have one small album with me. Will try to get a few pics tomorrow in better light, to share.

Most of my travels were focused on less developed islands. Mostly went to the main islands to deal with officialdom and provision. So the experence was quite different to the resort visits. And a lot less groomed landscape. The more isolated and simple living folks were the most welcoming and almost embarrassingly generous with what little they had. True aloha.

Looking forward to more stories and pics.

Cheers Richard

LakeCleElum · 06:53 PM

Thanks all for sharing. I'm Glad Richard has chimed in, he is the expert that gave me much off-line advice about my recent trip.

The trip to French Polynesia this past Thanksgiving was 15 days, 14 nights on the small Paul Gauguin Cruise ship. The ship can take 336 passengers, our trip had only 275. A crew of about 205 if I recall. I normally wouldn't spend this kind of money, but we have a relative that is Director of Marketing. If a sailing is not 90% sold out 60 days in advance, we get a very good deal (too good to discuss, but can pass this on to "friends" rate. Friends pay a little more than "family", but it's worth looking into. Our stops included:

http://www.pgcruises.com/destinations/marquesas-tuamotus-society-islands/2016-11-19/itinerary

Map:

We flew into Papeete early to spend 2 nights and one day, renting a car to see island of Tahiti. We stayed at the Manava, 10 minutes from the airport:

The drive all the way around the main part of the island is only 72 miles. Papeete can be quite congested. It has a night time population of 26,000, but over 100,000 on a weekday. Over 5,000 arrive by ferry from Moorea daily. Once out of town, driving the coastal road is no drama. Endless beaches on one side of the highway and very modest homes on the other. Traffic is light. We didn't really stop in Papeete as we had a day to see it after the cruise. Did stop at the Tahiti Pearl Beach Resort for coffee. Almost stayed here, but scared off again by a few sketchy reviews: (Looks great, but the rooms are not good)

Spent the evening back at our resort for a lovely dinner on the beach.

Had to turn in the rental car the next day and arranged for a cab for the 10 minute ride to the cruise dock. The local Hertz rental gal would not hear of us taking a cab. She closed the office and drove us. Tried to refuse a tip, but I forced it on her.

(to be continued)