Exciting ways to get away from it alldream destinations
ISLAND-HOPPING IN FRENCH POLYNESIA
Alicia Miller discovers the tropical Marquesas on-board a dual cargo/passenger vessel
From my mountainous pinnacle, I see all of Fatu Hiva island carpeted beneath me: rolling hills of lime green, mammoth black boulders, elegant coconut palms. As I pause in the sunshine to drink from my water bottle, wind tickles my hair and rustles the grass lining the switchback road I’ve been following on my hike. Below, a few small houses dot the landscape, and beyond, the Pacific Ocean glitters in abundance. And I do mean abundance: there’s almost nothing else around for 3,000 miles.
Craggy and volcanic, the Marquesas archipelago is one of the most remote places on the planet. Part of French Polynesia, this collection of verdant, towering islands – one of which is Fatu Hiva – is nearly two days’ sailing from Tahiti, itself unfathomably far from the world’s major land masses. With the exception of a limited few (expensive) flights, a cruise is the only way to see this wealth of Jurassic Park-raw landscapes, rare birds and unique culture.
Setting sail
Not that many of the 150 or so passengers on-board our 12-day sailing refer to the Aranui 5 as a cruise, however. These adventurous travellers
