Pronounced "eye-too-tah-key". As we sailed west from Tahiti we left French Polynesia and entered the Cook Islands. From the point of view of a guy on a cruise ship, the only differences were: In addition to their native "island" language they now speak English rather than French (duh) They drive on the left side of … Continue reading Aitutaki

Yep, the island so good they named it twice. If there were a dictionary entry for "Beautiful South Pacific Island", Bora Bora would be the picture. Bora Bora Lagoon I've visited Bora Bora in 2019. The lagoon is amazing, with a natural entry to the west. There was another cruise ship here when we arrived, … Continue reading Bora Bora

OK, I won't do these "Return to" titles anymore... However, Rangiroa was the first stop during my 2019 cruise where I took a shore excursion. There isn't much to do on this atoll, so I repeated my visit to Gauguin's pearl farm. Rangiroa is very much an atoll, with just a single main entrance into … Continue reading Return to Rangiroa

The first South Pacific island we get to actually walk on is Nuka Hiva, which brings back memories. On my first Silversea cruise in 2019 Nuka Hiva was our first port. I didn't even know what a "shore excursion" was, so I never left the boat. But I took some nice island pictures and watched … Continue reading Return to Nuka Hiva

With our visit Easter Island being canceled, we had seven sea days in a row. And it would have been longer if we didn't schedule a "drive by" of Pitcairn Island. For this historians, this is the island that the mutineers landed after the Mutiny on the Bounty. It's a lovely island, and the first … Continue reading Pitcairn Island