Page 161 - Pacific Paradises 2019
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— Islands of Tahiti —



                                                                        Nuku Hiva  Ua Huka
                                                                           Ua Pou    Hiva Oa

                                                                      MARQUESAS ISLANDS  Fatu Hiva





                                                    Manihi
                                                Rangiroa
                                         Tikehau                 TUAMOTU ARCHIPELAGO
                           Tupai
                       Maupiti  Bora Bora          Fakarava
                           Taha’a  Huahine Tetiaroa  WINDWARD
              LEEWARD ISLANDS  Raiatea  Moorea  Papeete  ISLANDS
                                     Tahiti
                        SOCIETY ISLANDS



                                                                                              ACTAEON ISLANDS



                  Maria
                        Rimatara  Rurutu
                     AUSTRAL ISLANDS     Tubua’i  Raivavae                            GAMBIER ISLANDS



                                                          Rapa



           ISLANDS OF TAHITI






             Officially known as French      tranquil waters of Cooks Bay and   are noted for their hospitality, friendliness
             Polynesia, Tahiti is made up of 118   Opunohu Bay.                and easy-going nature. French and
             islands spread over four million   The Society Islands also include   Tahitian are the two official languages
             square kilometres of ocean in the   legendary Bora Bora, 240 kilometres   on the islands, however English is widely
             eastern South Pacific. The islands   northwest of Tahiti, as well as Huahine,   spoken in hotels and shops.
             are further grouped into five   comprised of two islands joined by   History
             archipelagos: the Society Islands,   a narrow isthmus and enclosed by a   Hundreds of years after the ancient
             Austral Islands, Marquesas      protective necklace of coral.     Polynesians made the Tahitian islands
             Islands, Tuamotu Islands and                                      their home, explorers like Mendana,
             Gambier Islands.                Rangiroa and Tikehau are the best   Quiros, Le Maire, Schouten, Roggeveen
                                             known islands in the Tuamotu
           Capital and major centres         archipelago. Rangiroa is the largest   and Byron made brief and unplanned
           Papeete is the capital of Tahiti, the   atoll in the Tuamotus, encircling a 67–  visits to the Tuamotu Islands and the
                                                                               Marquesas islands in the 16th, 17th and
           largest island within French Polynesia,   kilometre turquoise lagoon famed for its   18th centuries. Later in the 18th century
           dubbed ‘the island of love’. The country’s   rich diversity of marine life.   explorers such as Bougainville, Wallis,
           only international airport, Tahiti-Faa’a,   Tikehau has an almost perfectly circular   Vancouver and Cook ‘discovered’ Tahiti
           is located on the island, making it the   shape, with its many atolls surrounding a   and called it ‘La Nouvelle Cythère’.
           first stop in every itinerary. Moorea is   lagoon that extends 26 kilometres across.
           Tahiti’s closest neighbouring island,                               Captain Cook returned three times to
           some 17 kilometres north-west of   The people                       study the transition of Venus, Captain
           Papeete. Heart-shaped Moorea is   Tahiti’s population is a multicultural   Bligh came to collect seedlings from the
           home to soaring volcanic peaks and   mix of Polynesians of Maohi (Maori)   wondrous ‘Uru’ or breadfruit tree, and
           magnificent views overlooking the   extraction, Europeans and Asians. They   the insubordinate Fletcher Christian


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