Island hopping as backpacker

Hello

I am planing a trip to some pacific islands in october/november 2008. There I will visit three or more islands. If somebody has similiar plans or can give me some advice please drop me a line.
Colourful travels to all

I am assuming you are going to be travelling between several island groups?

If this is the case, then I would be checking with several airlines that serve the region as hopping across the Pacific, let's say from Tahiti to the Cooks to Samoa to Tonga and to Fiji is impossible to do straight across.

Your best bet is to opt for the western Pacific, using Fiji as the hub.

From Fiji, Air Pacific flies to a number of neighbouring countries in Polynesia, Melanesia and even to Micronesia, and offers fairly decent fares by Pacific standards.

If starting from AU/NZ, you could also fly on Virgin from to Tonga or Samoa, then on Air Pacific via Fiji to Vanuatu, then on to AU using Virgin again to avoid backtracking.

As said above, in the eastern Pacific only Easter Island, French Polynesia and the Cooks are connected, and in general, that's the more expensive side of Oceania to tour - certainly for backpackers.

Also, for anyone planning to visit at least 2-3 countries in the region I always recommend trying to visit both Polynesian and Melanesian ones, as they feel quite different. Fiji is the transition zone between the two regions, both geographically and culturally, so a Tonga/Samoa-Fiji-Vanuatu combination would be a good one, with cheap(ish) Air Pacific flights connecting them.