“Welcome to Fiji”, announced the captain of the Atlantic Pacific, Boeing 747-400. It had been a 10 hour and 45 minute flight from Los Angeles to Nadi, the third largest municipality on the Viti Levu Isle. Fiji was the first stop of a Cultural-Volunteer Expedition Lead by Carpe Diem followed by, New Zealand, and Australia. Our purpose was to live, learn, and aid, to fully acclimate ourselves in the spirit of Fiji. As the team left the plane, we … [Read more...]
Baggage Handlers Don’t Lie: 20 Tips from The Frontlines
Article courtesy of Travel Just 4U, an Australia Travel Agency that specializes in tailored tours of South America. We Australians tend to have to travel long distances just to get anywhere. So much so that we like to think of ourselves as wizened travelers who know the tricks of the trade. Here are some of our favorite travel tips from the frontlines of baggage handlers at airports. When we travel it’s easy for us to take for granted some … [Read more...]
Fiji Islands, Hot Weather and Warm Hearts
The humid, sugar cane sweetened air hit me with force as I moved from the airplane and into the small airport in Nadi. It made me smile with anticipation. This was my third trip to Fiji and I was determined not to let the almost suffocating weather be an obstacle this time. My previous visits had taught me to forget wearing make-up or styling my hair. Neither would last more than 20 minutes in the wet, high humidity air. In my travel journal I … [Read more...]
Trekking in Remote Papua New Guinea: Kokoda Homestay
Kokoda Homestay was set up by several villages around Kokoda with the help of Bruce, his wife Rosemary and her son Mark (who lives in Australia) as a way for travelers to experience the authentic lifestyle in the area and as a way for travelers to immerse themselves within the local culture. Rosemary taught school in the 1960's here and much later reconnected with some of her students. Bruce will help arrange your homestay and answer any … [Read more...]
Why French Polynesia Should Be on Your Bucket List
Establishing a bucket list is the ultimate way to kick-start your life goals. As Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman demonstrated in their movie The Bucket List, some are a little more extravagant with their lists than others. Some wish to own a Corvette, others prefer to see the sunrise, and there are those who want to travel the world. If those last two items are part of your bucket list, then a trip to French Polynesia will kill two birds … [Read more...]
South Pacific Films by David Stanley
Over the past eight decades the paradise isles of the legendary South Seas have provided a backdrop for many Hollywood productions. French Polynesia has been the most popular location by far, followed by Fiji and Samoa. Both Hollywood films set in Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal Diary (1943) starring Anthony Quinn and The Thin Red Line (1999), were about the Pacific War. Easter Island features in Kevin Costner's Rapa Nui (1994) while The Other Side … [Read more...]
Tourism in the Pacific by David Stanley
Tourism is the world's largest and fastest-growing industry, accounting for 10 percent of world economic activity and one in 15 jobs worldwide. Some 750 million people a year currently travel abroad compared to only 25 million in 1950, and each year over 100 million first-world tourists visit developing countries, transferring billions of dollars from North to South. Tourism is the only industry that allows a net flow of wealth from richer to … [Read more...]
Vanuatu: One of the World’s Remaining Paradises
When you think of a romantic island vacation, what do you imagine? Basking away peaceful days in the sun, just you and your special someone? Stealing away to hidden beaches where you frolic in the waves like children, uninterrupted by human life? Sipping a drink in your beach chair with a view over your feet that could easily be the setting for a Corona commercial? Picturesque, pristine, and private- this is the dream setting for couples … [Read more...]
Moon Tahiti from Avalon Travel
Avalon Travel Publishing has launched the 7th edition of Moon Tahiti by David Stanley. Since 1989, Moon Tahiti has been the leading travel guidebook to French Polynesia and this new edition incorporates the latest restaurant, resort, and transportation news. Stanley has been covering the South Pacific for over three decades and he knows the region better than any other travel writer. Packed into Moon Tahiti’s 353 indexed pages are 53 maps and … [Read more...]
Argentina to Chile border crossing in Patagonia
When you're high in the Andes, you can't help but be attuned to the scenery. Breathtaking, snow-capped peaks surround you, water rushes over falls as it hurries down the valleys, lakes brim with emerald water, and the world seems to spin just a little bit slower. Crossing through the Patagonia from Argentina into Chile is one of the best ways to explore the landscape and gives you a glimpse of the spectacular expanse that comprises the … [Read more...]