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Are You Interested In The South Pacific
oday, Norm Goldman, Editor David:
of Sketchandtravel.com and
Bookpleasures.com is
pleased to have as a guest well
known author, travel writer and I've earned a living from travel
expert on the South Pacific David guidebooks since 1979, when Moon
Stanley. David is the author of Publications of Rutland published
Moon Hanbooks South Pacific. the 1st edition of SOUTH PACIFIC
HANDBOOK .
In November 2004, Avalon Travel
Publishing of Emeryville,
Good Day David and thank you for California, brought out the 8th
accepting our invitation to be edition of Moon Handbooks South
interviewed. Pacific. I've also written Lonely
Planet guides to Eastern Europe,
Cuba, and Canada's Maritime
Provinces. Lately I've been
NORM: exploiting the power of the
Internet with sites like SOUTH
PACIFIC.ORG: MAP SOUTH PACIFIC
and CUBA PICTURES.
Please tell our readers something
about yourself, your expertise
and the books you have authored
pertaining to the South Pacific. NORM:
When we talk about the South
Pacific what exactly are we
referring to and where is it
situated in relation to the USA NORM:
or Canada?
Would you consider the South
David: Pacific a good choice for a
romantic getaway or wedding and
honeymoon destination? Why?
The "South Pacific" brochures
printed by tour operators often
focus on Australia and New David:
Zealand, but those countries are
quite different from the tropical
Pacific islands. Moon Handbooks
South Pacific covers 15 insular All of the main South Pacific
countries and territories from destinations have attempted to
Easter Island to the Solomons. market themselves as wedding or
People tend to honeymoon destinations. Fiji and
the Cook Islands have been the
consider this region remote, yet most successful as weddings can
it takes only two hours longer to be arranged locally with little
fly from Los Angeles to Tahiti fuss.
than it does to fly to Honolulu.
Fiji is midway between Hawaii and In French Polynesia, marriages
New Zealand, to the west of can only be performed for persons
Tahiti. with 30 days residency, which
excludes most tourists. Instead, David:
French Polynesia has developed an
active honeymoon industry with
Bora Bora highly favored by
bridal magazine writers who Officially, the hurricane season
enjoyed the hospitality of luxury in the South Pacific is from
resorts. In my opinion, Moorea is December to April, although with
Bora Bora's equal in all but name global warming it's starting
and is far less expensive. For a earlier and ending later.
romantic getaway, I recommend
Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Winter (May to October) is
There's a lot to see and do generally cooler, drier, and less
within a compact area, and prices humid throughout the region, the
are fair. best time to go. May to August is
the off-season in Australia and
New Zealand; hence Air New
Zealand's low season South
NORM: Pacific airfares apply those
months. So by a happy
coincidence, you can enjoy the
best weather
What is the best time to visit
the South Pacific from the point for the lowest price if you
of view of weather, costs, schedule your trip at that time.
crowds, and the availability of
flights from the USA, Canada and
Europe?
NORM:
How safe is it to travel to the
South Pacific?
Could you give our readers an
idea of the costs involved if
travel originates from the USA or
David: Canada and how accessible is it
to fly to the South Pacific?
Very safe. "Terrorists" would
stand out like sore thumbs on David:
these small islands. Violent
crime (muggings, etc) is almost
unknown, but petty theft does
occur. Nothing will go astray if One-month roundtrip airfares from
a few simple precautions are Los Angeles or Vancouver to
taken. Contrary to the image Tahiti, Rarotonga, or Fiji start
fostered by Hollywood and in the around US$1,250 in the low
tourism brochures, the island season, provided you book at
societies are socially least 14 days in advance and are
conservative and scanty dress is willing to accept a 35 percent
frowned upon. Women traveling cancellation fee. If you fly on
alone should avoid staying in shorter notice during the high
isolated bungalows or wandering season (December to February),
off on deserted beaches. you'll pay around US$2,000. The
weekend travel sections of major
newspapers carry ads for
discounted fares, and websites
NORM: sometimes sell tickets for
considerably less than the prices My first choice would be:
quoted by airline agents over the
phone.
For example, I recently flew from "· Tahiti and its neighbours
Vancouver to American Samoa for Moorea and Bora Bora.
US$700 roundtrip on an Internet
special. Such offers are
routinely announced in the
newsletter of the South Pacific The soaring green peaks and
Tourism Organization, available brilliant reefs of these islands
at SOUTH PACIFIC TOURISM are unsurpassed,
ORGANIZATION.
and the "exotic" French
atmosphere combines well with the
charm of Polynesia.
NORM:
"· Fiji is a very close
If you had to choose 6 unequalled second for its stunning variety
venues in the South Pacific for a and friendliness.
romantic getaway, honeymoon or
wedding destination, what would
they be and why?
"· Then there's Rarotonga in
David: the Cook Islands.
Port Vila.
This is long a favorite holiday
destination for New Zealanders.
Rarotonga is small enough to
explore in a week, and the
facilities are excellent.
NORM:
"· My fourth choice is
Easter Island. Although for those What resources are available on
into hiking or archaeology, it the Internet pertaining to
should come first. Travel agents weddings and honeymoon vacations
often book three-night stopovers in the South Pacific?
on Easter Island, but only the
highlights can be seen during
such a short stay.
David:
"· Finally, I should
mention Vanuatu for those looking Obtaining independent information
for something really different. on weddings and honeymoons isn't
This little known Melanesian easy as resort and tour company
country offers a colorful mix of websites only promote their own
scuba diving, tribal culture, products. That said, HONEYMOON
active volcanoes, and the South FIJI and HONEYMOON VANAUATU are
Pacific's most beautiful capital worth a look, and TRAVEL MAXIA is
city, useful in that it covers the
entire South Pacific. It's also the countries included in my book
well worth perusing the official require visas of North Americans,
tourism websites of the island Europeans, Australians, New
visitors bureaus, all of which Zealanders, or Japanese.
are linked to SOUTH PACIFIC.ORG Obstacles like erratic pricing,
corrupt officials, violent crime,
and security glitches are
generally absent here. This
NORM: sprawling region is best
characterised by its amazing
variety, with many distinct
cultures, cuisines, histories,
Is there anything else you would and environments to experience
like to add that we have not and enjoy. At US$24.95, Moon
covered pertaining to the South Handbooks South Pacific has the
Pacific? potential to save vacationers
hundreds of dollars, while
assisting them in making the best
choices. It's all in there.
David:
The South Pacific should be
recognized as a straightforward, Thanks David
trouble-free destination. None of
About the Author:
Norm Goldman is editor of sketchandtravel.com and bookpleasures.com.
Norm and his artist wife Lily meld art and words in order to create an unusual travel story, which generates interest, particularly because of the fact that each painting appears to have been ‘custom-made' for the story-original story and original art. Combining the watercolors with travel writing provides a softer, more romantic look at the places we visit.
Their main focus is on romantic and wedding destinations.
As they specialize in web-based content, their articles are featured on their own site, SKETCHANDTRAVEL.COM, where you can find out more about them. They are also regular contributors to some of the most popular Internet Travel Sites: LOVETRIPPER.COM: THETIMESHAREBEAT.COM:TRAVELLADY.COM:BOOTSNALL.COM: Visit Florida Online: Tropical Island Weddings
Norm and Lily are always open to suggestions as to romantic and wedding destinations to visit, write and paint about.
Source: www.isnare.com
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