South Pacific Travel – Rakahanga South Pacific Vacation Getaway
Rakahanga – A Hard to Get To Paradise
The atoll of Rakahanga lies near the larger island of Manihiki. However, access to this atoll is very difficult. Without an airstrip, the only access is by boat from Manihiki or Rarotonga. The atoll comprises nine islands surrounding a central lagoon. The main islands are Akaro, Moto Ngangie, Huananui, Motu, Mahuta, Motu Okakara, and Te Kainga. The total population of all the islands is just over 120. Many islanders choose to leave for better economic opportunities on the bigger islands. The total amount of land is just over 1.5 square miles. The land is rich in many forms of tropical foods and it keeps the local population well fed.
The main village of Rakahanga is Matara, which lies on the southeast corner of the atoll on the island of Te Kainga. The people of the island speak the Rakahanga-Manihiki language. Europeans first spotted the island sometime in the sixteenth or early seventeenth century. Some claim Magellan saw it first, but there is no historical proof of that claim. The first proven sighting was by Pedro Fernandes De Queiros in 1606. Visits continued throughout the next couple of centuries. When New Zealand became an independent country in 1901, this island was included in its boundaries. It is now part of the Cook Islands.
People rarely visit Rakahanga due to its remote location. Information on the island is hard to come by at times. Locals find the fishing to be excellent both inside and outside the lagoon perimeter. Coconut crabs make their home in the shallow waters of the lagoon. Sea turtles often find places to nest along the shores. Tuna fishing is a popular pastime and a supplement to the island diet. The islands are home to many forms of tropical fruit such as breadfruit and coconut. Taro is also part of the common diet. The local population can exist without external goods.
The islands have people from two separate tribes. Each tribe has seven divisions within its ranks. Many natives have left the island to seek work at Manihiki with the pearl industry there. For those left on the island, they have many modern amenities yet still preserve their old way of life as much as possible. One common custom is to erect a tiny hut over graves. Mourners place the dead person’s belongings in the hut to help them into the next life. That is just one reason to visit this unique place.
South Pacific Vacations – Polynesian Islands
South Pacific Vacations – Polynesian Islands – The International Border of Culture not Politics
There’s no one nation named the Polynesian Islands. The islands make up several nations and protectorates. These include New Zealand, Samoa, Kingdom of Tonga, Hawaii, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna, Easter Island, Cook Islands and Niue. There are what some name outliers such as Norfolk Island and the Pitcairns. Not all the islands of the Pacific Ocean fit into this class though. There are groupings of islands in regions of Micronesia and Melanesia that don’t fit. All the same there are islands in both that conform to the definition of Polynesian.
The primary way to distinguish the Polynesian Islands from others is discovering whose aboriginal population comes down from a civilization that arose in Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa about 2000 years ago. As the populations boomed in these domains, the amount of citizenry grew overlarge for the islands occupied. This is but one agent pressed individuals to search other islands for new habitations. This contributed to undulations of migrations over the Pacific Ocean to the different islands that at present constitute those in this bigger grouping. They dispersed from Hawaii south to Rapa Nui and southwest to New Zealand. They brought their language and culture with them.
The Polynesian Islands bear a basic chronicle of individuals removing and discovering new bases to live on islands far beyond the visible horizon line. The most urgent cause why these individuals moved outbound is the developing populations on their initiating islands. As the islands’ populations grew, they frequently lost complete reach with the domains that they originally came from. Their posterity formulated clear-cut civilizations on each of the islands they occupied. The effect is a rich diversity of civilizations that came from the same commencing point.
In spite of this wide assortment that developed, the Polynesian Islands hold an exceptional place in world culture. A lot of these people hold many of the traditions and customs of their antecedents. They work to incorporate modern ideals with these to carry on equilibrium. This deep tapestry of individuals and culture make a call to these islands a must on any traveling devotees list. From the stone heads of Easter Island to the luau of Sandwich Islands, a rich chronicle supports all the culture that visitors discover nowadays. From the rich family unit culture of Samoa to the rich mythology of the Maoris of New Zealand, the tapestry is thick and rich for those that want to share.