Selling Travel September 19

52
destination profile
Top experiences
Pearls of wisdom
Go pearl fishing or see
them growing in Raiatea
and Taha’a’s vast lagoon.
Alternatively, just buy
them from a pearl shop
or (somewhat cheaper)
in a market like the one
in Tahiti’s Papeete.
Happy hour
Fiji’s national drink is
kava – a mildly narcotic
powdered root of a
pepper plant. OK, it looks
(and tastes) like dirty
dishwater but a kava
ceremony is a good way
to meet the locals.
© KAI MATTHES
Bird in the hand
Go to Atiu (Cook Island no
3) for the tumunu (bush
beer club) and a swim in
candlelit caves. Take an
eco-tour with Birdman
George who will literally
charm the birds out of the
trees for you.
Check into
paradise
Visit the most famous
hotel in the South
Pacific, Samoa’s Aggie
Grey’s, for fia fia (literally
happy) night with a feast
followed by dancing
every Wednesday.
Whale of a time
Tonga is one of the few
places in the world
where you can swim with
whales. Humpbacks visit
every year and specialist
guides will get you in the
water with these these
huge mammals.
BOOK IT WITH... TURQUOISE HOLIDAYS
Turquoise Holidays has a 10-day holiday to
Fiji that sees guests staying in a treehouse
and an overwater bungalow. Priced from
£6,995pp the deal includes five nights at
Matangi Private Island Resort and five nights
at Likuliku Lagoon Resort. Also included are
flights, meals and transfers.
turquoiseholidays.co.uk
01494 678 400
TAHAA, TAHITI
The Tuamotus are a series
of picture-perfect atolls floating
on turquoise lagoons, of which
the most popular is Rangiroa.
The Marquesas are more remote:
you can fly in but the best way to
explore is by boat (the Aranui 3 has
a 16-day cruise to the Marquesas
and Tuamotus from Papeete).
Even further afield, Mangareva in the
Gambier Islands is some 1,000 miles from
Tahiti – a four-and-a-half-hour flight away.
SAMOA
Samoa combines one of the most
traditional of Polynesian cultures with
stunning natural features – from white
coral beaches to blow-holes, unspoilt
rainforests to a solidified lava flow that
stretches down to the Savai’i coast.
Vailima is the beautiful colonial house
built by Treasure Island author
Robert Louis Stevenson. It’s now
a must-see museum and also
the name of the local beer.
There are two main islands – Savai’i
and Upolu – but you can also take a
ferry to road-free Manono Island and
reach even tinier, uninhabited islands
for a small fee to a local fisherman.
To really get to know the place, opt
for a village stay. You’ll be in a fale – an
open-sided house (hut really) on the
beach – just a raised platform with a
thatched roof, a mattress and a mosquito
net and you’ll share meals with the family.
TONGA
Captain Cook didn’t call Tonga the
‘Friendly Isles’ for nothing. Less
visited than many of its Polynesian
neighbours, the locals reach out here
and it’s the last monarchy in the South
Pacific, stretching back 1,000 years.
A good place to meet islanders is
at an umu (and most resorts offer
this, too). Basically, it’s a feast cooked
in an underground oven – usually
followed by dancing. Not the frenzied
hip shaking you’ll find elsewhere in
the Pacific but the lakalaka, a graceful
dance with sung poetry; so special it
has UNESCO World Heritage status.
Tonga prides itself on being a very
family-friendly destination, with a
variety of activities for children including
guided fishing expeditions, swimming
with whales and turtles and visiting
local markets to see traditional weaving
and bone or wood carving.
POLYNESIAN TATTOO
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