Qualla: South Pacific

Païta

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit J Brew, CC BY-SA 2.0. A commune in the suburbs of Nouméa, New Caledonia, home to the territory's international airport and to petroglyphs possibly carved 3,000 years ago by the Pacific's earliest Lapita settlers.

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Image: J Brew | CC BY-SA 2.0

Maré Island

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit William S. Kessler (BillyKwiki at en.wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0. A raised coral atoll in the Pacific where the former lagoon became the island's interior, 29 chieftaincies guard their boundaries from outsiders, and two independence leaders were assassinated after signing the peace accords they believed would save their people.

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Image: William S. Kessler (BillyKwiki at en.wikipedia) | CC BY-SA 3.0

French Polynesia

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit veromortillet, CC BY 2.5. A scattered constellation of 118 volcanic and coral islands sprawled across 4 million square kilometers of the South Pacific, where turquoise lagoons, black pearls, and ancient Polynesian traditions blend with French sophistication.

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Image: veromortillet | CC BY 2.5

Pitcairn Islands

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit wileypics, CC BY 2.0. The most remote inhabited territory on Earth - four islands in the South Pacific where forty-odd descendants of the Bounty mutineers live at the edge of possibility.

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Image: wileypics | CC BY 2.0

The Mutiny on the Bounty: The Rebels Who Vanished to Paradise

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Makemake at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Where sailors mutinied against Captain Bligh in 1789, set him adrift in a tiny boat across 3,600 miles of ocean, and hid on a remote Pacific island where their descendants still live today.

Read more: The Mutiny on the Bounty on Qualla

Image: Makemake at German Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

American Samoa

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Dr. Matt Kendall, NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA/BGB., Public domain. The only US territory south of the equator - where Pago Pago's dramatic harbor cuts into volcanic mountains, ancient Polynesian traditions trump constitutional norms, and one of America's least-visited national parks protects pristine Pacific ecosystems.

Read more: American Samoa on Qualla

Image: Dr. Matt Kendall, NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA/BGB. | Public domain

Cook Islands

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit NASA, Public domain. Hawaii before the hotels - fifteen Polynesian islands scattered across two million square kilometers of Pacific, where lagoons glow impossible turquoise and more Cook Islanders live in New Zealand than at home.

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Image: NASA | Public domain

Fiji

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jaejay77, CC BY-SA 4.0. An archipelago of 332 islands scattered across the South Pacific - a place where volcanic peaks meet coral reefs, where Indian and Melanesian cultures blend, and where the world's new day begins.

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Image: Jaejay77 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Tonga

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The last Polynesian kingdom - 169 islands scattered across the South Pacific where a living monarchy rules, humpback whales breed in crystal waters, and Sunday silence still falls across the entire nation.

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Samoa

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sonja Pieper uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Teinesavaii, CC BY-SA 2.0. Where Polynesia began - volcanic islands wrapped in three thousand years of unbroken culture, where Robert Louis Stevenson found his final rest and villages still gather for the 'ava ceremony as their ancestors did.

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Image: Sonja Pieper uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Teinesavaii | CC BY-SA 2.0

Rarotonga

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The green volcanic heart of the Cook Islands - a 32-kilometer circle of reef, lagoon, and jungle-clad peaks where the road goes around, the bus runs both ways, and the Needle pinnacle stands sentinel over an island that feels like paradise forgot to modernize.

Read more: Rarotonga on Qualla

Image: Public domain

Bora Bora

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Duncan Rawlinson from Vancouver, BC, CC BY 2.0. A volcanic remnant rising from an impossibly turquoise lagoon - the South Pacific island that defined the word paradise and invented the overwater bungalow.

Read more: Bora Bora on Qualla

Image: Duncan Rawlinson from Vancouver, BC | CC BY 2.0