7

KRISTIN KENT

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a humbling

experience. You are a blip compared to the vastness around
you. Should a storm rip through, you have no power to stop it.
And with that, surprisingly, comes a surrendering sense of
peace. I set sail from Tahiti aboard the Aranui 3 cargo ship to
explore some of the least spoiled islands in the world. The
inhabited islands I visited in the Marquesas are Nuku Hiva,
Ua Po, Hiva Oa, Fatu Hiva, Tahuta and Ua Huka, where 8,632
inhabitants live. The Tuamotu Archipelago is an 850-square
kilometre stretch of 78 atolls home to 18,000 people. These coral
low islands are usually no more than six metres above sea level.
If you like to get off the beaten track, the region is heaven on earth.

Marquesas Islands
Tahiti

Fiji Islands

Society
Islands

Pacific
Ocean

AUSTRALIA

Tuamotus
Islands
FRENCH
POLYNESIA

(78 atolls: the

largest chain of
atolls in the world)

Gambier
Islands

Austral
Islands

Sydney

NEW
ZEALAND

1,000 km

3. FISHING
To catch fish, follow the birds. I saw a
flock circling in the distance. Where
there are many small fish, bigger ones
lie beneath. We caught enough yellow
fin one day to feed the entire crew.
Here Ngawai Kena-Smith, a passenger
aboard the Aranui 3, shows off the
catch.
4. SHIP
Life aboad the Aranui 3 cargo ship is
not easy, but those who work here
would have it no other way. The crew
works on a three-week rotation: Two
weeks at sea, one week in Tahiti.
5. MOUNTAINS
Tectonic plates on the eastern pacific
move about five centimetres per year.
This gives rise to new islands, formed
from spewing lava. It is how the
Marquesas were formed some five
million years ago.

1. ARCHAEOLOGY
Tikis, carved wooden faces or stone statues, line much of the
Marquesan islands. This one dates back to the 14th century.
The last of the Marquesan chiefs died in 1889. His wife,
depicted in the stone tiki shown, died in childbirth. She is
a symbol of fertility here.

6. HIKING
To walk through the brooding jungle up
a mountain and over an island is
exhausting. But its well worth the
effort. In Fatu Hiva, jagged rock faces
meet lush green mountains.

3
4

2. TUAMOTUS
Just 400 people live on the 20-kilometre square atoll
of Takapoto. Pearl-farming, fishing, and copra,
contribute to the local economy. Making your way
down the few roads here, you may run into the
ukulele-playing chief of police or be invited to go faire
la fte at someones home. The people who live here
are welcoming and
wonderful.
Rangiroa is the largest
atoll in the Tuamotus, and the
second largest in the world. Its
one of worlds great dive
destinations and produces some of
the finest black pearls on the planet.

7. COCONUT CRAB
Prehistoric-looking tree crabs are just
as huge as they look and capable of
opening coconuts with their claws.
Because of their steady diet of these,
the crabs are delicious to eat.
ARTISANS
The Marquesan people are singers,
dancers, stone-carvers, woodworkers
and expert tattooers and they are
incredibly proud of their culture. It
wasnt always this way. Missionaries
banished virtually all form of art, in
hopes of coaxing Marquesans into a
European lifestyle. And it worked, for
the most part, until the 1970s when the
people reclaimed their traditions.

PHOTOS BY KRISTIN KENT

DESIGN BY BRIAN HUGHES/TORONTO STAR