There is a particular romance to travelling, a tingly excitement and sensory rush to beginning a new trip. The evolution of a random idea as it spawns into an ironclad decision, followed by the struggle of packing, planning, and finally cracking open that obscenely new Lonely Planet guidebook, is a sinuous dance of emotions. Actually the later can be a bit daunting, especially when thirteen countries are crammed into a mere 500 pages of must do´s and must-sees´, equally as frustrating as choosing between the black cardigan of the "extremely necessary" track suit pants that are just perfect f [View Full Entry]

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Neiafu, Vavau, notorious for humpback whales, mounds of taro root and a church on every street and country corner is nestled along the tiny Port of Refuge, obscured from sight and protected from the ocean by towering hills and sheltered coves. The Kingdom of Tonga, the only sovereign monarchy among the island nations of the Pacific Ocean, is made up of a whopping 171 islands, only 48 of which are inhabited. Vavaú and her many breathtaking, surrounding islands make up the northernmost group of these "Friendly Islands", so named by Captain Cook for the embracing reception he received on his f [View Full Entry]

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Gangly girls, hair tightly braided in plaits, swinging the skirts of their checkered button down dresses, giggle and clutch worn school books tightly to their chests. The boys, shuffling along in dusty lava lavas, carry crumbled cheeto's bags in one hand, IPOD's in the other, and bounce their chins to unheard beats of bass and drums. Nearby, a cluster of weathered men and a chipped concrete table coalesce in a dynamic social scene. Bent heads focus on the checker board before them while forgotten cigarettes glow faintly from soiled fingertips. Discarded newspapers, previously perused and c [View Full Entry]

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It's one of those traumatic childhood stories. We all have one. Moonlit graveyards, sock eating monsters under the bed, the Boogy Man, fluffy bunny rabbits, lumpy toads; there is a spine-tingling nemesis out there for everyone. Some are a bit more understandable than others, such as my strapping 6 foot 3 Scottish friend who has an apprehension towards turkeys (of the gobble gobble variety, not the sort found at the local pub, although both should understandably be feared). Well, when I was wee lassie, innocent and harebrained, (about sixteen year old), I discovered a four foot long bull sn [View Full Entry]

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Slumbering, bedding down, bunking, catnapping, zoning out, catching forty winks, and hitting the hay. Normal people call it sleeping: a state of inactivity or unconsciousness. Somewhere between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., individuals all over the world are sleeping and recharging their bodies and restless minds. Lucky them. I haven't completely slept through a night in several months for we sailors choose to spend our night time hours doing something totally different - welcome to the phenomenon of night watches. Yes, night watch. During the black, silent, night time hours when w [View Full Entry]

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Life goal #132: Learn to shake my hips as swiftly and rhythmically as the dancing ladies on the Cook Islands. (This ambition comes right after #131 which is teaching myself how to play the ukulele). Ahoy Rarotonga!! Another landing for Queequeg, slap-bang in the heart of the South Pacific ocean, a startling sea side paradise and haven for the aspiring Jim Hawkin’s of the world (two points if you can guess which book that character belongs in.) We arrived dockside in Raro on a sweltering March afternoon, ready for a ice cold Coca-cola and some fresh veggies, the kind that are [View Full Entry]

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Five days later and ten pounds lighter. Who would have known that one could subsist on mashed potatoes and saltine crackers for so many endless days at sea. I read six books and slept for approximately 80% of the trip, trying to put my mind elsewhere aside from the up and down, topsy-turvy motion of the boat. From my small porthole in my stateroom (bedroom), I went from seeing 6 inches of water to 6 inches of sky, to 6 inches of water to 6 inches of sky….and if that isn’t enough to turn one’s stomach, just throw in the acrid [View Full Entry]

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'''Nothing on Tahiti is so majestic as what faces it across the bay, for there lies the island of Moorea. To describe it is impossible. It is a monument to the prodigal beauty of nature.''' - - JAMES MICHENER Moorea is, by far, the most gorgeous, peaceful and tantalizing island I have ever been lucky to visit. Following a three hour sail from Tahina marina, we sailed into Cook's Bay on Tuesday afternoon and anchored fifty meters off of Pao Pao, population two grocery stores and fifty dogs. Towering 900 meters to our right was Mt. Rotui, Mt.Tearai to our left; [View Full Entry]

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The bustling capital of Tahiti, Pape’ete is also known as the “basket of water,” our first, and not very accurate, glimpse into Polynesian life. No idea why it carries that nickname but I’m sure there is some island legend behind the idiom as there is with all other things here. The mountains have legends, the lagoons have legends; even the dances have legends behind them. I learned this vital information from my, “Facts for the Tahitian Tourist” data sheet I picked up at the visitor’s center (they had free bits of pineapple too!). FYI - there are [View Full Entry]

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