Just some musings on the "paradise, remote coral atoll fantasy"...

Inspired by the "Remote Northern Cooks Now Accessable" thread above...

Puka Puka... Suwarrow.. The stuff of dreams... Or is it?

I do believe one of the greatest human fantasies, especially in our wound-up, psychotic western world and promote as soul-saving by the travel industry, is to be sitting on "that" beach... On a coral atoll... Hundreds of kilometres from anywhere... The overhanging coconuts, the cyan water, the bleached white, powder sand... You sit down... and go "Ahhhh".

For about 2 hours.

Then what?

Most people who have this fantasy don't realize that life on these remote atolls is far from paradise... Life is incredibly hard there for locals and would not be paradise for the casual visitor. 1 month there just as a visitor could end up being hell for the traveller who has built up too much fantasy in his/her mind.
Even if there were good facilities for visitors, I really don't think it would be a place, at least for me, that I would want to spend 1 month.
I do believe you have to be a certain type of traveller to want to spend this amount of time here.... The history of the S. Pacific has led us to many of these individuals... They were not travellers... They were misanthropes, loners and eccentrics....

I remember having the opportunity to spend an afternoon on one of the remote "motu" on Aitutaki... It was lovely... For 2 hours.... The weather got bad, I ran out of drinking water and I had badly stubbed my toes on coral with cuts... The situation went from heaven to hell in minutes. I remember thinking to myself, "Here I am, out in the middle of the Pacific ocean... thousands and thousands of kilometers from any continent... My fantasy fullfilled" Indeed. Sometimes you get what you ask for.
I was, of course, fortunate enough to be able to return to the "mainland" of Aitutaki (and civilization) in short order once the weather cleared, but the fantasies of living on Puka Puka, Rapa Iti, Ebon were quickly dashed.

One only needs to read "An Island to Oneself" or "The Book of Puka Puka" to understand that this image of paradise is quickly thwarted.

you don't get it.

Pretty sure he does - Greg's been hanging out in the Pacific for a while now.

(Good to see that you are still here - haven't been in for quite a while until the last couple of days!)

Personally, I'm not sure that I'd like a month with any mod-cons, but I know my tolerance factor is definitely more than two hours - the couple of hours I spent on an island in the middle of Aitutaki lagoon was nowhere near long enough (speaking of which, Aitutaki was on a TV travel program here last night - judging from the resorts and facilities that were shown, it looks like the "secret" is out, and it appears to have changed quite a bit from the sleepy little place it was it was way back in '88 - but the colour of the water is still the same - a shade of blue so beautiful that it can't be real!)

And the "new" islands probably aren't as undeveloped as we imagine (is anywhere, anymore??) - the Manihiki Lagoon Lodges ( http://www.ck/outhotel.htm ) look like a nice spot to spend some time, and I'm sure Kora and Nancy could find plenty of opportunities for guests to really learn about the island and meet the locals - and if it all got too hectic, you could settle into a chair and watch the Black Pearls grow!

Rob

Cruzando13: I certainly do get it... Why do you think I did this as a seperate post?

Lots of folks are going to believe that just because these islands in the N. Cooks are now more excessable, they are also, for what ever reason, going to be wide open to tourism... I think it would be a disaster for someone who did not make the right choices and decisions before going there and then realizing they would be stuck there for 1 month.

We see the same situation here in Canada... Europeans, Japanese and others from crowded, highly urbanized nations with little nature left in their own lands often want to see if they can fly into remote Arctic communities in N. Canada to stay for a long time, view wildlife, local culture and just hang out... They often assume that just because one can get in there that there will be a sufficient tourism infrastructure for them and things to fill their days there as well as a situation to fullfill their fantasies. I can't imagine how many holidays have been ruined by some who book to go to Nunavit for a month only to realize it could be a living hell socially, mentally and economically for the unprepared. All that one has to do is hang out on the Canada branch on here for any length of time to see how frequently this comes up.

Edited by: islandboi321

I think everyone's a tad different when it comes to the ability to enjoy/tolerate solitude.

I've not been to the Northern Cooks but I've been to all of the islands in the southern group. I've spent a couple of days on Akiama Motu in the Aitutaki lagoon and could have been happy there for a week.

All of the islands I've been to have their own individual personalities. I could easily spend a month or two on Mauke but a week is long enough on Mitiaro. It all depends on the person, the island, the people and the weather.

I've also spent weeks at a time in Alaska's remote villages and in the bush. There's a big difference between spending a week in Maui and being in a truly isolated place like the Alaskan bush or a remote Pacific island. Being physically, mentally and gastronomically flexible is a big advantage.

You need to understand your own tolerance and have a capacity to find the best in the places and people you come across. You might arrive at a destination and find that the freighter is two weeks late (not uncommon in the Cooks) and all you have is canned spaghetti for breakfast, no coffee, no petrol for the scooter or boat, roaches crawling over you at night and an outdoor shower you share with the pigs and chickens.

I like walking all the way around an island and meeting no one or climbing up on a hill to look all around and appreciate the fact I'm standing on a tiny speck of land in the middle of the ocean. It's a lot like climbing up to a high vantage point in Alaska and seeing just wilderness to the horizon. With no sign of man whatsoever.

Some of my friends feel sorry for me when I tell them about my vacation. Others envy me.

You pay your money and you make your choice. It's a great world!

You are absolutely right. People have fantasies about the white sand beach and the palm tree. Atolls have no fresh water, little to speak of in terms of agriculture other than the occasional tarro patch, and if some emergency should happen you might be days or weeks away from help.

You forgot the library and bar! And the waiter to bring luscious pu pus when you need a pick up.

Actually staying on one of these deserted places does get old. We spent 3 days- that was wonderful. But after walking around the island (that took 10 minutes), we had lots of water time. I have spent lots of times on islands that are about a step up- other people, water barrels in place, and I had a real something to do (treat patients). I chuckle when people talk about island fever on the islands of Hawaii- that is complete civilization. We spent long periods of time in some pretty isolate places, and 4 years in Micronesia, but most of that wasn't time quite what you were describing.

I am with islandboi on this one.

While I can live without western conveniences for a month or longer, and have done so, being stuck on an atoll with little to do would drive me insane by way of boredom.

But I know some people do enjoy being alone on a desert island doing nothing.
However even if I were one of them, I could easily find islands that are in fact prettier, less accessible (no flights, no guidebooks!) and still far cheaper to reach than the Northern Cooks. OK, that would also mean no accommodation - but that's just part of being "truly" unspoilt, right? ;-)

I believe some places, notably certain parts of Polynesia, simply have the image of being such far-flung paradises.

You mean places with star hotels around the corner don't count?

Hi there by the way- my quarterly check in here to see how life progresses.

I have a plan on sailing from Japan to Australia via the islands south of Tokyo to Guam and then along the atoll chain. Compared to the Japanese volcanic islands that are just that, Volcanoes mountains that rise out of the sea, the atolls are what I look forward to. Im sure the crew & I will get cabin fever so a case of atoll fever will be a nice change.

waves to Waldos

waves back

by the way- are your ok? that other thread over on YC kinda got to me- even having largely abandoned TT I find I have not abandoned the people.

This last post by Waldos prompted me to take a quick look at ib's latest postings on YC (stalker-types just must love this new TT!), with some, err, unexpected finds for that branch.

Oh, and indeed, to me islands with 5 star hotels on them certainly don't count as remote paradises, but then everyone's idea of paradise is different. I bet many of my candidates to the title would be hell to many others (no AC, no cold beer, no other tourists to hang out with...)

For me, being alone on a motu is paradise. (The varying blues of the water, seeing rays, reef sharks and giant turtles plus a million stars at night.) However, the flights to the northern Cooks, the atolls of French Polynesia and all the other exotic destinations don’t go to deserted islands. They go to places where people live and live quite close together. (A couple of the atoll nations actually suffer from overcrowding on their main islands.) Effort still has to be made to find that beautiful deserted beach. And likely that beach will be out on a motu so just like on Aitutaki or other less remote islands, you will have to find someone to drop you off there or obtain a boat to paddle yourself out.

Reading more about the northern Cooks it seems that Manihiki and Penrhyn have a tourist infrastructure, more than I would like with guided tours. The attraction is being able to communicate with the locals, which I am unable to do on a French atoll.

The other downside to some remote islands is dress code. I was shocked to read that women on the Marshall Islands not only wear Mother Hubbards but slips underneath them so the shadow of a thigh can’t be seen.

Pictures of atoll paradise

Yes, exposing yourself as a pillow washer or a coffee freebie snatcher is quite shocking...

It certainly couldn't have been the car cleaning thread.

We all have hidden lives.

Laz- that was a joke. I say only because some people do see remote island paradises as those with the perfect island resort.

Do the Marshallese wear the Mother Hubbards? Ah the trip our ancestors laid on the islanders! Now the outer islands of Yap have no such idiotic dress codes. Lava lavas for the ladies, bright yellow or blue thules for the men. Took a bit of getting used to driving around and then there was the time that my kids attended a ceremony and their teachers and some of their friends were there in traditional clothes. They were not prepared for that.

And jeeze Lazlo- you have some stories too. mum bears and stonefish and elephants- oh my.

;-)

BTW, how would you atoll lovers rate this pair of islands ?

I want to see what is just to the side of the pic- I spy an umbrella so although it is gorgeous, I am suspicious.

There are a grand total of 2 of those "umbrellas" placed there by the regional tourism authorities a few years ago, as well as a disused wooden jetty, plus 3 decaying, bare cottages. All these must have been placed there as excuses to gain some government funding for "developing tourism", and then promptly abandoned to decay once the budget was spent, and obviously with no tourists ever arriving to advantage of them.

So, suspicions confirmed?
And, BTW, story familiar from elsewhere, or unique to this country? ;-)

No- suspicions denied. I had visions of a mega resort just off from view. In that case it really is lovely. and the 2 umbrellas are fitting.

I suspect it is not a unique story- one sees these kind of things sprinkled around. Usually the story is not known- you just bump into something and wonder.

but now I am getting this itch- just mild at the moment but it is going to grow I am sure. I want to go back to an island. But no way at this moment. Soon. soon.