Visiting the Pacific Islands
October 2002 - August 2003
West Papua, Papua Niugini, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tuvalu and Kiribati
My first trip
October 1999 - March 2001
Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa, Kiribati, the Solomon Islands and Easter Island
Pictures of my first trip
Other Pacific websites
Contact
© 2002 Wouter Adamse
© 2002 Wouter Adamse
Having travelled around the Pacific for seventeen months, I always had a great desire to return. Now, after one and a half years at home in the Netherlands, I am back in the South Seas. Back between some of the friendliest people on earth, drinking kava, chewing betelnut and cruising on rusty boats over emerald lagoons and the deep blue ocean. I will be husking coconuts, joining quire practise, telling stories and roaming around. Climbing rocks, sliding through the mud, chasing off flies and mosquitoes and doing my business on a moonlit beach will be the daily routine again. I will also be back in a region where ethnic conflicts remain brewing and where provinces struggle for independence while being ignored by the rest of the world. Natural disasters have plagued some of the islands, trees are cut for easy money, people live with the results of atomic testing or other sorts of pollution and low-lying islands might disappear altogether if the sealevel is really rising.
The Plan
My current stay in Oceania will be from October 2002 till August 2003. I will start my trip by flying from Amsterdam, via Singapore, to Manado on North Sulawesi (Indonesia). From there I will continue by boat to West Papua or Irian Jaya (where I will stay for a few weeks) and on to Papua Niugini or Papua New Guinea (three months). I will leave PNG by flying to the Solomon Islands (three months), Vanuatu (few days) and Fiji (two months). By boat or plane I will move on to Tuvalu and Kiribati (together about two months). Flying back to the Netherlands will be via the Marshall Islands, Hawai'i and the United States. Some of these destinations I have already visited on my first trip. Others are totally new for me.
Why go back?
The Pacific Ocean is dotted with thousands of islands. So far I have only visited a few of them. There are many exotic places left where I would like to go. Not one island in Oceania is identical to another. There is a huge variation in landscapes and inhabitants. People differ greatly in appearance and culture. Hundreds of languages are spoken in the region. What almost everyone seems to share is hospitality. These are some of the friendliest people in the world.
During my stay in the Pacific I will be looking up old friends and I hope to make new ones on the way. As on my first trip, I want to learn more about life in these islands. This is something you can only do by being close to these people. At the moment I am especially interested in understanding more about the problems that face some of the islands today. Also I will try to enlarge my knowledge of the Fijian, Kiribati and Pidgin languages. All this will be very useful in combination with my study of cultural anthropology and I will have a lot of fun and adventure going around these islands.
Any updates?
On my first trip to the region I found out that access to the internet was often limited and expensive. I can read and answer my e-mail every now and then, but I don' have the possibility to update my website. If you wanty to hear about my latest experiences in the islands, contact me by e-mail and I will put you on my English or Dutch mailinglist.
Pacific News
Pacific Maps
Pacific Weather
Pacific Time
© 2002 Wouter Adamse
© 2002 Wouter Adamse
In October 1999 I first came to the South Pacific. I arrived at Fiji's Nadi Airport, alone and not knowing anyone on any Pacific Island. I had a fascination for these islands: their exoticness, their great number, their diversity in people and landscapes, the ways of life of their inhabitants, their history and their legends. Also I wanted to see new places, meet new people, experience new things and have a big adventure.
Before my departure from the Netherlands I was sure I was going to study cultural anthropology when I got home. Such a trip to the South Seas would definately be a good base for my studies. I could make local contacts and maybe spend some time with these people. This way I could learn things I would not easily learn in university. Also I could get used to the local circumstances, learn some basics of a few languages and collect some study materials hard to find outside the region.
The plan was to travel for about nine months, visiting around forty islands in twelve Pacific Island countries and territories. I planned to camp most of the time, to cook my own food and to travel by the cheapest means of transportation. If I was lucky, I might sometimes be able to stay with local people.
Eventually my trip took more than seventeen months, but I 'only' visited around twenty islands in seven countries and territories (maps):
- Fiji (app. 7 months): Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Mali and Nananu I Ra
- Tonga (app. 3 months): Tongatapu, 'Eua, Ha'afefa, Lifuka/Foa and Vava'u
- Samoa (app. 3 months): Upolu and Savai'i
- American Samoa (app. 2 weeks): Tutuila
- Kiribati (app. 3 months): Tarawa, Beru, Nikunau and Abaiang
- Solomon Islands (app. 3 weeks): Guadalcanal, Ghizo, Babanga
- Easter Island or Rapa Nui (app. 2 weeks)
During my visit I mostly stayed with local people at home. They invited me when I met them on boats, in churches or just along the road. All these people made my stay in the islands very special. They taught me a lot about their lives, they let me take part in it and they made me feel at home. If I had not made so many friends, I would not have stayed for so long. Spending time alone on a gorgeous, palmbacked white sandy beach gets quite boring after a few days.
Click here to see pictures of my first visit to the Pacific Islands.
Fiji 1st visit
Tonga
Samoa
American Samoa
Fiji 2nd visit
Kiribati
Solomon Islands
Easter Island
View my Guestbook
© 2002 Wouter Adamse
5 days a week
© 2002 Wouter Adamse
wouteradamse@hotmail.com
