Vacations and Holidays Travel Blog

Archive for November, 2010

Despite being the second largest island in the Southern Cook group, Mangaia is not on the beaten path for many visitors to the South Pacific. There are regular flights to the island from Rarotonga. Local lodging is not extensive, but it is comfortable and reasonable. Visitors can find tours all over the island or explore on their own. It is a perfect vacation for anyone looking for a vacation in a tropical paradise.

Mangaia is a special jewel in the deepest part of the South Pacific. This island is part of the Southern Cook Islands. It is also the second largest of that island grouping.

For visitors to Mangaia, the people may seem reserved at first. There is a strong independent streak amongst the natives. They are warm people who use a bit of caution with outsiders. Once you get past this reserve, however, you will see the beauty of spirit they bring to life. The prized output of the crafts industry on the island are the pupu necklaces made by local craftswomen. Made from the shell of a native snail, the work to make one string is very labor intensive. However, visitors can purchase them at a reasonable rate at the local market.

The constant peacefulness of the island can be shocking for those visiting for the first time. Many visitors can leave the inhabited areas behind and not see people for hours as they explore the islands. The island is actually an atoll that over the past few million years has risen from the ocean from water levels dropping. This has left cliffs of coral reef surrounding the island core. Trees and other plants have taken root in these cliffs making the forest ringing the interior thick and jagged.

The cliffs of Mangaia are home to many caves. Natives have used some as burial locations in the past. The most prominent cave is Teruarere Cave. Stalactites and stalagmites grace its interior in many directions. The fossilized coral that makes up the cliffs has another name of makatea. Between the makatea cliff walls and the interior rise, there is a valley holding fertile soil and some swampy areas. Natives use these places to grow crops to feed themselves and to sell to outsiders. The land rises gradually into the inland towards the summit of the extinct volcanic cone that initiated the rise of the island from the ocean depths over 18 million years ago.

In Fiji, small cruises will allow you to visit the beaches of the island, lagoons, and culturally relevant fishing villages that are in the Yasawa islands. Tahiti has many larger cruise lines that explore the entirety of the Society Islands as well as other islands nearby. You can also find smaller luxury cruises that will take you on day trips around the islands in both of these destinations.

South Pacific cruises are growing in popularity due to more recent focus on the cruising industry and people wanting to enjoy cruises in these remote areas. Because of the lack of inhabitation, though, many places only offer day cruises or aren’t accessible to cruise lines at all in some cases. Hawaii is a very popular destination when it comes to South Pacific cruises.

There are many major cruise ships that cruise around the islands for a week or two at a time. These trips are great, but can limit the sights that you’ll see on your journey. If you’ve only got a week, though, it can be a great way to see more than you would on land.

International passenger cruise lines travel to these areas and offer South Pacific cruises and packages for customers who want to experience everything that this exotic paradise has to offer. While some people prefer Alaskan cruises or a cruise on the Mexican Riviera, the South Pacific is becoming a more popular destination for cruising, and companies are beginning to offer better vacation packages and cruising deals for those people who want to journey to this region.

South Pacific cruises aren’t always the best for family vacations. This remote area of the world is often better suited for couples, honeymoons, and singles cruises, simply because the area is very romantic and basic in its offerings of entertainment and activities.

While the ship might offer something for everyone, the destination cities might prove to be more oriented towards couples and romantic getaways. It doesn’t matter what you want from a South Pacific cruise, though, because they have something to offer for everyone. If you want to see a whole other part of the world that is much more remote and laid back than you’ve ever experienced, this is the trip you need to take.

There’s no one nation named the Polynesian Islands. The islands make up several nations and protectorates. These include New Zealand, Samoa, Kingdom of Tonga, Hawaii, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna, Easter Island, Cook Islands and Niue.

 There are what some name outliers such as Norfolk Island and the Pitcairns. Not all the islands of the Pacific Ocean fit into this class though. There are groupings of islands in regions of Micronesia and Melanesia that don’t fit. All the same there are islands in both that conform to the definition of Polynesian.

The primary way to distinguish the Polynesian Islands from others is discovering whose aboriginal population comes down from a civilization that arose in Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa about 2000 years ago. As the populations boomed in these domains, the amount of citizenry grew overlarge for the islands occupied.

This is but one agent pressed individuals to search other islands for new habitations. This contributed to undulations of migrations over the Pacific Ocean to the different islands that at present constitute those in this bigger grouping. They dispersed from Hawaii south to Rapa Nui and southwest to New Zealand. They brought their language and culture with them.

The Polynesian Islands bear a basic chronicle of individuals removing and discovering new bases to live on islands far beyond the visible horizon line. The most urgent cause why these individuals moved outbound is the developing populations on their initiating islands. As the islands’ populations grew, they frequently lost complete reach with the domains that they originally came from. Their posterity formulated clear-cut civilizations on each of the islands they occupied. The effect is a rich diversity of civilizations that came from the same commencing point.

In spite of this wide assortment that developed, the Polynesian Islands hold an exceptional place in world culture. A lot of these people hold many of the traditions and customs of their antecedents. They work to incorporate modern ideals with these to carry on equilibrium. This deep tapestry of individuals and culture make a call to these islands a must on any traveling devotees list.

From the stone heads of Easter Island to the luau of Sandwich Islands, a rich chronicle supports all the culture that visitors discover nowadays. From the rich family unit culture of Samoa to the rich mythology of the Maoris of New Zealand, the tapestry is thick and rich for those that want to share.

Taveuni Fiji Islands – The Garden of Fiji

 Fiji is the picture of a tropical paradise. Featuring lush rainforests, pristine white sand beaches, and crystal clear waters, each of its hundreds of islands is a postcard come to life. Every island of Fiji boasts a wealth of flora and fauna, but none so much as Taveuni Fiji Islands.

Taveuni is the third-largest island in Fiji, and it’s often referred to as the Garden Island of Fiji. In a nation of tropical islands, the island that bears the title of the nation’s garden is sure to offer a vast array of life, from rare tropical flowers to the “flowers” of the sea that reside in the island’s coral reefs.

Taveuni Fiji Islands is home to a veritable encyclopedia of flora. It ranges from typical tropical vegetation, such as palm trees, to rare tropical blooms, such as the tagimaucia flower, which is found in Lake Tagimaucia, which occupies a volcanic crater high up in Taveuni’s volcanic mountains.

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Most of the plants and animals that are indigenous to Fiji can be found on Taveuni, which boasts greater biodiversity than any other island of Fiji. This is only possible because Taveuni has remained largely untouched by the land clearance that has devastated so many of the formerly wild areas of some of the more populous islands such as Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.

The life of Taveuni Fiji Islands even extends to the sea surrounding it. Taveuni is home to the Rainbow Reef, one of the world’s most famous soft coral diving hotspots. If you’re interested in scuba diving, there’s no better place to get what you’re looking for than Rainbow Reef. If you prefer a quick snorkel, then Vuna Reef might be more your ticket. Vuna Lagoon also provides a sheltered haven for schooling fish, making it a popular tourist attraction.

The beautiful rainforests of Taveuni are not only home to the flora, but also to the diverse fauna of Fiji. If you know where to look, you may catch glimpses of the Fiji fruit bat, the Taveuni Silk bat, the Taveuni beetle, the Orange Dove, and the Kula parrot. These animals coexist with the human inhabitants of Taveuni, who, in turn, do their best not to disturb the animal neighbors with which they share this island paradise. Taveuni Fiji Islands offers vacation experiences as diverse as its wildlife. If you want to see life at its fullest, you should consider a visit to Taveuni.

Fiji Island Snorkeling and Scuba Diving

There are no locations in the world better suited to scuba diving than the coral reefs of the South Pacific. The South Pacific’s crystal-clear waters are teeming with life, and the marine life held therein is simply astounding. There’s always something to see when you’re diving off the coast of a Pacific Island. One of the hottest destinations for avid scuba divers in the South Pacific is Fiji.

There are other areas that boast a fair amount of marine activity, but Fiji scuba diving sits head and shoulders above the rest. The scuba diving in Fiji is diverse within itself, so it might be best for you to know of a few different areas well-suited to different types of diving so that you have options available to you.

 The most popular locations for Fiji scuba diving are located in the soft coral reefs. Fiji boasts coral reefs of both the hard and soft varieties, but Jean-Michel Cousteau himself once referred to Fiji as the “Soft Coral Capital of the World.” The variety of soft corals is astounding here, and marine animals would tend to agree, as many of them congregate here to live. Fiji has stony coral reefs as well, but it’s the soft coral here that’s really worth talking about. For an unforgettable scuba diving experience, visit the Rainbow Reef between Vanua Letu and Taveuni.

 Kadavu is also an excellent spot for Fiji scuba diving. It is home to the Astrolabe Reef, which is the fourth largest barrier reef in the world. It also holds the current title as Kadavu’s largest living organism. The biodiversity of this reef is truly a sight to behold, and Kadavu’s commitment to eco-tourism shows that its residents are determined to keep it that way.  While there are many destinations you could visit for a nice diving excursion, Fiji is offering something absolutely spectacular.