One week in the Pacific - where to go?

Hi,

I'm going to NZ to spend some weeks then heading to the US westcoast. I'm thinking of doing one week or so in the Pacific on the way to LA, maybe Cook islands?
What do you suggest? I am 35 single woman. Let me know!

You might enjoy this. http://amsamoa-busycorner.blogspot.com/ From Tutuila, American Samoa. BC

Any of the Pacific islands countries is safe for lone female traveller. If you only have a week, I would choose one that is a short flight from where you are in New Zealand. Look at websites for Air New Zealand, Air Pacific and Pacific Blue, and you may find cheap flights or packages.

The islands that could be stopovers on the way to LA, without backtracking to NZ, are Fiji, the Cooks and Tahiti.
Of these, I've only been to Fiji, which is certainly the cheapest of the 3 to visit, and probably the most diverse culturally and geographically, so I can only recommend i most highly.

All three are well developed for tourism though, which makes any of them an easy stopover for a week.

Having visited the three islands groups mentioned by Laszlo, I also feel that Fiji is probably your best choice. We found that there were more single travelers(of all ages) there to mingle with. It is definitely the cheaper option, although there is a cost factor to getting to the islands, which is usually recommended. The Cooks were the most like my idea of "the South Pacific" - more laid back and not as many tourists. FP has amazing scenery - the Bora Bora Lagoon was just beautiful - lots of honeymoon couples - locals not as interested in interacting with you. Good luck with your plans.

I'd recommend:
For socializing with other tourists... Fiji... maybe a run over to the Yasawas

For mingling with the locals... the Cook Islands, esp. the outer islands

For a classic luxury resort holiday.... FP

I also found Fijians extremely sociable - more so than Polynesians in any of the countries I've visited.
In fact on my very recent trip to Polynesian Tuvalu, I ended up being invited to stay with a Fijian family even there!
Of course socializing with them won't happen in resorts, but anywhere with a local population it is extremely easy.