“When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, You understand now why you came this way. ‘Cause the truth you might be runnin’ from is so small. But it’s as big as the promise, the promise of a coming day.” ~Stephen Stills, Richard Curtis, & Michael Curtis I cannot think of the Marquesas…
Continue reading →Rangiroa, whose name means ” vast sky”, is the biggest atoll of French Polynesia, but aside from two main villages, the rest of it is almost uninhabitable and remote. It has a string of rich coral encircling a luminous turquoise and jade-green lagoon and is considered one of the world’s greatest dive destinations. Insignia anchored…
Continue reading →One of Polynesia’s best-kept secrets, Huahine, has steep mountains descending into protected azure bays with white sand beaches, sacred blue-eyed eels, mystical ancient temples and archeological sites, lush forests, and untamed landscape. Scarcely developed, It is said to be one of the more interesting islands to explore. But, the longer I spend in Polynesia, the…
Continue reading →Our ship approached Tahiti at dawn, with the island outlined in the rising sun. As we got closer, I could see that Papeete was a town of more significant size than any on the other islands. With a population of almost 26,000, it is French Polynesia’s capital and cultural center. When spelling Tahitian words the…
Continue reading →Believed to have inspired the mythical Bali Hai from James Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific, Moorea is one of the most scenically striking islands in French Polynesia. The island is roughly shaped like a heart from overhead, with the northern shore split into two symmetrical bays, Cook’s and Opunohu Bay, and Mount Rotui standing sentinel…
Continue reading →“The first experience can never be repeated. That first love, the first sunrise, the first South Sea island, are memories apart and touched a virginity of sense.” ~Robert Louis Stevenson This was Stevenson’s impression upon first alighting in the South Pacific in June of 1888. A lot has changed…or maybe not. Bora Bora is now…
Continue reading →Raitea is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. It’s name means “faraway heaven”, and rightly so with its green-carpeted mountains, cascading waterfalls, crystalline waters, and the beautiful Tiare apetahi, a white corolla-petaled flower so rare it can be grown no place else on earth. The port is in Utoroa,…
Continue reading →If you’ve been checking our itinerary you know that I am woefully behind on my blog, since in real time we are now in French Polynesia and my recent posts show us still in Southeast Asia. I am about to recount a momentous event, however, that occurred over a month ago, and will actually happen…
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