Category: Oceania

Packing

ME: “So, we should think a little about packing.”

SEVEN: “Why? I’m just going to take some shorts.”

If you ask me, packing is almost the hardest part. I have been thinking about packing for months now — what to pack, what not to pack. But even before I got down to that there was what to pack it in.

Here is the vision I had ages and ages ago, finally actualized on my aunt’s lawn in South Pasadena, California on the morning of our departure from the US. Everyone carries his own (for anyone who’s curious they are mediums, i.e. pretty small) and they’re a cinch to spot on the baggage carousel.

Do you suppose if I sent a link to LL Bean they’d give me a a turquoise one?

Weather, Food, and My Bad French

Um, we’re not actually sailing…

I should perhaps point out that the beautiful image on the previous page is slightly misleading. I was looking for an image that would suggest Oceania but wouldn’t make the blog look like an ad for Polynesian honeymoon destinations, when I happened upon a painting by my friend Roger Kizik. Roger has been doing a fabulous series of large paintings of books, including “Sailing Illustrated.” (On my wall at home I have another of his book paintings: this one of Haddon and Hornell’s classic, Canoes of Oceania).

kizik small

Unlike me, however, Roger really is a sailor. We, on the other hand, are flying, which, while not as exciting as sailing, is not for the faint-hearted either. More about three three-hour flight to the Marquesas in a turboprop in an upcoming post!

Packing

 

Getting Started

We are going to spend 8 weeks traveling across the Pacific, with stops in Tahiti, Ra’iatea, the Marquesas, the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tonga, Hawai’i, New Zealand, and Vanuatu.

The itinerary is designed to take us to:

  • two points of the Polynesian triangle (Hawai’i and New Zealand);
  • a center of ancient Polynesian culture (Tahiti, Ra’iatea);
  • one of the earliest Polynesian settlements (Tonga);
  • and the most famous Lapita cemetery in the Western Pacific (Vanuatu).

We will also be getting a feel for the geology of the Pacific by visiting volcanic or high islands (Tahiti, Hawai’i, Vanuatu); a makatea island of uplifted coral (Tonga); continental islands (New Zealand); and, most excitingly for me, a low island, or atoll (Rangiroa).

Tikehau,_Tuamotu

The party consists of me, my husband, Seven, and our three sons: Abraham, Matiu, and Dani.  We will be leaving Boston at the end of June and will be posting stories and pictures as we go. Check in with us periodically to see how it’s going!

Um, we’re not actually sailing…