We planned to be in the South Pacific for four months. But further planning (low/high tourist season; cyclone season; available transportation, etc.) eroded time from before and after our stay. So, in the end, we enjoyed the islands for two and a half months.

We wanted to find out if we could live long-term in the islands, a dream that I carried with me since being a teenager, with that large poster of a white sandy beach and turquoise ocean hanging on the wall, a bent coconut palm tree dangling over the water. Even in our home in Massachusetts, we had similar posters of the Seychelles and of Australia adorning our bedroom walls.

We visited a variety of islands in the South Seas: very populated with capital cities, very remote and difficult to reach (medium airplane, very tiny airplane and then a boat); hotels and resorts from hardly any to many amenities, without and with A/C or swimming pools or bars.

What they all had in common was their stunning locations—each nestled among coconut palms, near white sandy beaches, and offering breathtaking views of the vast, beautiful South Pacific Ocean.

This review is for us to remember the details, including the things we didn’t like, which we would otherwise easily forget, as, I suspect, the scenery will always call us back.

We are, at the moment, looking forward to flying to Europe next week, back to civilization, as another traveler recently called it; yet, we have plans to return to the South Pacific, if even for a much shorter time, to check out places we haven’t yet experienced, most of all to the Cook Islands and our beloved French Polynesia (Trip in 2018), to see if it holds up to our earlier fascination with those islands now that we have been to many more.

Something that all visited countries have in common is the clean ocean water and therefore, the abundance of healthy reefs with a magnitude of vibrant corals and reef fishes. My assumption is that the southern hemisphere is not as populated as its Northern neighbor, but many more people live near the coast or over the water (Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.).

The currents in the ocean stay in their part of the hemisphere and do not mingle with the other half. This is caused by the Coriolis Effect. Randy believes that is why the pollution from one hemisphere doesn’t bleed into the other.

There is possibly also less huge-ship-freighter traffic in the Southern Hemisphere. Smaller freight ships are, of course, necessary, mostly coming from New Zealand. Besides in Fiji, there is hardly any industry on the island nations and also no commercial animal farming.

So, any drinks in cans or alcohol in bottles (beside beer, that is often local), any large quantities of chicken, meat, eggs, spices, condiments, bread, coffee, tea, sugar, cans (tomatoes, foreign vegetables), pasta and rice will come to any of the island nations in refrigerated or other large containers on cargo ships, usually every five weeks or more, depending on weather conditions, including everything western-produced, or of metal or plastic origin such as cars and buses, ships and ship equipment. It made us more aware of all the things we had around us, in the resorts (sink, faucets, blankets, mattresses) and what effort it took to get them there. Some deliveries for repairs need up to four months to arrive … from New Zealand! Imagine the headaches and the planning necessary to maintain a resort not to mention your own home. Amazon? That’s a river in South America, not an on-line shop you can rely on for your everyday needs.

*Various local fruits at the market for sale*

We liked very much the local cuisine with taro (root vegetable) and cassava (root vegetable) and breadfruit (growing on trees) in many variations (mostly used like potatoes as fries, mash, chips), lettuce from the garden patches and fresh fish (baked, fried, cakes, cured in lime and coconut, sashimi (raw fish), ceviche-like), caught in the night/early morning sometimes with spear or line fishing. For breakfast there is always something offered with eggs, along with white bread and marmalade; my favorite in most locations was muesli with fresh fruit (sweet, tasty papaya, pineapple, banana, sweet oranges; apple (from NZ)).

Very remote islands have most of the time no harbor, so the transport boat stops in deep water, and you have to change to smaller craft on the ocean to tender with all your luggage to shore. Same on the way back. Not my favorite thing, as sometimes it is windy and waves are rougher, and boats are all just metal weapons ready to gouge into your shinbone.

Talking about wind – it is one of my favorites of nature’s elements. I mean, I always liked it, wind in your face during boat rides and such, but if you sit in a windy location, no mosquitos or flies will disturb you. Mosquitos are everywhere, and I am such a magnet for them – it is tough on the islands.

Walking deep into any island, along narrow paths surrounded by dense vegetation on both sides, we arrive at beautiful waterfalls — but the corridor along the way is still teeming with all kinds of hungry mosquitoes. Rooms have mosquito netting on the windows, but every restaurant is outside, usually only covered and protected from rain and wind. And remember, breakfast and dinner are just when the mosquitos like to eat. Flies prefer daytime and were abundant and aggressive at both Tonga locations – very annoying, but gusty winds even keep them at bay.

The weather was also very similar on all islands that we visited in the South Pacific. Sunshine and quick rain showers keep alternating, sometimes four times a day. There is no reliable forecast, as it is always like that. Only bigger storms are being predicted. Then it pours in buckets, without end. The months between November and March/April are where even the locals complain about being really, uncomfortably hot. When we left Fiji in the middle of June, the temperature was comfortable enough during the day, still humid though. In our non-air-conditioned room, all bedding and clothing always felt uncomfortably damp.

Fiji

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Fiji 〰️

We stayed longest overall in Fiji, all-together on five islands, as Fiji’s islands are spread over a huge area. It is also the wealthiest country that we visited, having a lot of income from tourism, Fiji Airlines and from the sales of Fiji Water worldwide. Fijians are a very friendly people, easy to talk to and come into contact with, happy integrating their country’s culture and traditions in everyday life.

Joyful and always smiling and proud of their Fijian music and songs, which we also love to hear. Picture book beaches and resorts – many, many to choose from. Randy’s favorite resort in our 10 weeks was on the Yasawa Islands, a place we would have liked to stay a bit longer than only 5 nights.

Niue

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Niue 〰️

Niue is like a hidden gem, unbeknownst to many right in the middle of everywhere. But it does not have beaches, just ragged limestone rock shelves surrounding the island, which would restrict me from suggesting it to someone visiting the South Pacific for a limited amount of time hoping for white sandy beaches. Yet, it is dear in our heart, as we loved the most crystal-clear water and fantastic snorkeling in its with-the-ocean-connected rock pools and fjords. And the most consistently beautiful night skies of any of the islands we visited.

Tonga

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Tonga 〰️

Tonga is overall, maybe, the most beautiful island nation that we visited, with so many very low-laying islands in close vicinity and so low population numbers.

Yet, our impression was that it is superficially pretty on the outside, but once you know it longer, it doesn’t hold up. Many people online think very differently than us and like it a lot. But then you’d have to time your visit to high season when the whales are calving and tourists abound, which comes with its own challenges.

We were all-around disappointed by this country, and we have been there for more than three weeks, on three different islands. The attitude of everyone seems to be: what do I care? No regards to throwing trash out on the street or on the sidewalk. Stepping onto the corals in the ocean or dropping a boat anchor onto it. Everything is slow, and nobody is telling you why things/food/drinks are not coming. Not taking care of their environment or roaming wild dog packs. Garbage is burnt or just left abandoned.

Lots of cheap Chinese items like plastic flowers for the cemeteries, plastic anything, thrown out, nobody is picking up. We also saw garbage bags on higher platforms safe from roaming, nocturnal predators, to be pick-up collected. But not all households and businesses participate in that program. Five travelers that we met that have been in several islands shared our opinion that Tongans are very restrained; yet, friendly when you approach them first.

Samoa

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Samoa 〰️

We really liked Samoa and thought that we could have stayed a bit longer on that island, exploring other beaches. And we found the Samoans to be lovely, proud, and super friendly people as well.

*Hidden cottages around the sandy beach with crystal clear water*

Now, Randy and I don’t like to sit on a beach for long; we get antsy. We like exploring, walking, swimming. So, beaches alone have no pull for us, that’s why they are usually a bit neglected on our travels. But often the view is outstanding or plants, shells or butterflies catch our attention. Samoa had many beautiful butterflies and plants. The resort we stayed in was my favorite of all of the one’s we have been to in those 10 weeks, as it had all I was looking for in a resort and on an island. (We both liked also our resort on Kadavu in Fiji, but it probably had to do more with the other couple we met there).

If one wants to explore with a lot of time those and many other island nations, and there are so many others out there, then the best location to be stationed in would be New Zealand. The NZ Airways has an enormous number of flights from Auckland to nearly all of the Island nation’s capital cities, and usually the flights take around three hours, even French Polynesia is only a six-hour flight away. Very similar to the US East coast flying into the Caribbean for some sunshine. I would say, 90% of the westerners we met are from NZ, the rest is from Australia and Europe, on Fiji also from the US as there are direct flights from LA and Dallas.

We met a British couple who researched whether there was demand for their profession in New Zealand. Once they confirmed that there was, they relocated within a few months to Dunedin, on the South Island. They're now in the second year of a five-year plan and have already explored many countries across the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. Of course, they are about 30 years younger than us, so they still have to work.

One of the best aspects of our travels to Fiji, Niue, Tonga, and Samoa was meeting interesting people, some of with whom we very much connected, and others which were just interesting strangers passing in the night.

The South Pacific is a good place to hide from the world – your daily wants and needs are de-coupled from the rest of the world, even when you read the daily news – you are far away. Oh, and the internet, even in the times of Starlink, is not always reliable.

Living here forever, though, would be tough, at least for us; constant humidity, if hot or warm, is uncomfortable. You are very quickly sticky. Doing stuff with sticky fingers is not fun – for example, using a billiards cue that doesn’t run smoothly through your fingers without sticking so knocking off your aim. Painting on paper is terrible, the paper warps, the paint doesn’t dry, the fingers are sticky with the brush. In hot humid weather, you want to shower all the time. Or you are stuck inside, in an air-conditioned room, if you’re lucky to have A/C, not going out much.

Last time hearing Isa Lei, the Fijian farewell song

In the end, we both were looking forward to other climates. We learned what we came to find out: this wasn’t a place we wanted to stay long term. Visiting for a month of sun and fun on white sand beaches in warm turquoise waters?

Absolutely, but not for a while.

South Pacific: Final Thoughts

Pacific Peregrination

South Pacific: Final Thoughts

Fiji Finale

Pacific Peregrination