Oceania

The Ultimate Island Odyssey: From Alcatraz to Pitcairn — 8

Part 8: PITCAIRN ISLAND So Close, Yet So Far? After departing Mangareva, everyone aboard Aranui 5 ? from passengers to crew ? must submit to the voyage?s second obligatory covid test, no exceptions. The first swab for the swabbies, of course, had been taken a day...

The Ultimate Island Odyssey: From Alcatraz to Pitcairn ? 7

Part 7: PITCAIRN ISLAND Mutiny on the Bounty It?s full steam ahead aboard Aranui 5 to the raison d?etre of this far-flung voyage through French Polynesia?s remotest isles and atolls as we near way off the beaten track Pitcairn. The legacy of and lore surrounding this...

The Ultimate Island Odyssey: From Alcatraz to Pitcairn — 6

Part 6: THE GAMBIER: MANGAREVA Remembering Rikitea After visiting flat atolls of the Tuamotus and then a day out at sea, the appearance on the horizon of the Gambier group, with its high islands, emerges as a sharp vertical contract to the previous days? horizontal...

The Ultimate Island Odyssey: From Alcatraz to Pitcairn — 5

Part 5: THE TUAMOTUS: AMANU Amanu Atoll, South Seas Serenity Our voyage to Pitcairn Island continues as Aranui 5 sets sail from Anaa for Amanu, another one of the far-flung 80 atolls spread out across the world?s largest archipelago, the Tuamotus, a vast expanse of...

Alcatraz to Pitcairn: An Island Odyssey ? 4

Part 4: THE TUAMOTUS: ANAA For Whom the Atoll Tolls Our voyage to Pitcairn Island commences as Aranui 5 shoves off from Papeete harbor and glides past magnificent Moorea. This is actually the fourth incarnation of the Compagnie Polynesienne de Transport Maritime?s...

Alcatraz to Pitcairn: An Island Odyssey ? 3

Part 3: TAHITI Paradise Lost ? and Found At San Francisco Airport I enjoy a filling lunch at the comfy United Club lounge. Relaxed, I then board a United Airlines nonstop direct flight for my 15th visit to Tahiti since the 1970s. I luckily have an entire aisle to...

Alcatraz to Pitcairn: An Island Odyssey — 2

Part 2: THE ROCK The Big Lockup After Ranger Benny?s presentation about Alcatraz?s political prisoners, I climb uphill (trams are available) past cannons, barb wire and beneath a water tower to the main facility where audio equipment for ?Doing Time: The Alcatraz...

Alcatraz to Pitcairn: An Island Odyssey — 1

Part 1: THE ROCK Islands as Refuges, Prisons Separated by water from continents, islands have always represented freedom to me. When I graduated from Hunter College as a film major in the 1970s, I realized the Age of Aquarius was experiencing technical difficulties in...

Crevasses and Ice Caves
A Hike Up Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

I awoke early on a warm January morning. The sun rose, colouring the sky with washes of pinks and oranges. The streets were deserted apart from a few intrepid travellers who were heading towards the Franz Joseph glacier store. It was from here that our adventure...

Christchurch, New Zealand: Beyond the rubble

"Everyone knows someone who died," Julie says. "Nobody came out of it unscathed." In truth, it doesn't sound like the sort of place that would appeal to even the most intrepid traveller. Christchurch is hardly the prettiest -- half the city centre is a building site....

All the Birds on Guam Were Eaten by All the Snakes!

"There are no birds on Guam; they've been eaten by all of the snakes."? A Legend of Guam With my head full of dire sailor stories, I imagined many things before making the 20 hour, three-legged flight out from California to Guam to meet my husband's...

Driving Up Gibb River Road – Western Australia

Gibb River Road Standing on the side of the road, I heard the welcome sound of a roar of an engine. Soon after, a vehicle came careering around the corner, and halted to a stop after I flagged it down. "I don't suppose you have a working jack, do you?"?...