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Exotic Islands Of Vanuatu, Fiji and Cook Islands?

Today Norm Goldman, Editor of sketchandtravel.com and Bookpleasures.com is honored to possess as a guest, Ian Heydon, author, travel writer, award- winning comedy writer, artist and expert on Vanuatu, Fiji and Cook Islands

Ian will be here to speak with us today about his expertise regarding these exotic islands.

Good day Ian in fact it is great to get you accept our invitation to participate in in this interview!

NORM:

Do you know our readers something about you as well as your expertise associated with Vanuatu, Fiji and Cook Islands.

IAN:

When i first went along to Fiji in 1993 and fell deeply in love with the tropics, the warm, picture-postcard waters and also the relaxed rhythm of life in general. I returned the following year but happened to be my PADI Open Water Dive accreditation and, to another handful of trips realised I had been working just about which has a goal to search more.

While i a fairly successful career as an author, I made a decision to ascertain if I really could reveal travel and kill two birds with all the one pen. In 1999, we took a family group holiday to Vanuatu, where my wife Annie and i also gave the other a Renewal of Vows' ceremony being an anniversary gift.

I felt automatically in your house in Vanuatu and, as luck might say, Annie was offered work teaching at Port Vila International School. We decided it could be an outing, particularly for your children (then aged 7 and 3). Our 12-month contract extended to a few fantastic years, when I managed to get to write down a good deal, including my travel book on Australia, Small Help guide to A huge Country.

After leaving Vanuatu I aquired a travel agent's licence to specialize in taking people, particularly honeymooners for this fascinating and rewarding place in the world. Some tips i thought will be a hobby quickly was a business as well as in early 2004 I visited the Cook Islands and fell in love with another Pacific destination.

2004 also saw appointments with New Caledonia, Fiji and three trips to Vanuatu. And i am really pumped up about my first pinkmontreal.com Samoa this year. When i haven't any actual publications about the Pacific islands, I've three comprehensive information websites, Vanuatu A to Z, Fiji A to Zand Cook Islands A to Z.

NORM:

Can you tell our readers where these islands are located and an idea to what differentiates one island from another in the standpoint of topography, climate, and other things you take into account different?

IAN:

For me, residing in Australia, Vanuatu and Fiji are very accessible, being just a few hours away. Seeing the Cook Islands means a stopover in Nz, however it is still just two meals and two movies. For Americans, the Cook Islands and Fiji tend to be more accessible than Vanuatu (requires a stay in Fiji to get in touch in order to be studied as being a side trip from Australia or Nz). The climate in every destinations is similar, tropical without having great range in temperatures however it will get very humid during the warm months months. These months are traditionally wet but El Nino appears to have changed that. Within the Cook Islands, if it rains, they refer to it as liquid sunshine. The warm water temperatures mean swimming can be done throughout every season.

� Vanuatu is certainly essentially the most primitive, if that is the proper word. While Port Vila is often a modern town with good infrastructure, excellent resorts and great restaurants, on a lot of the outer islands the ni-Vanuatu people live traditional village lives (ni-Vanuatu ways of Vanuatu).

Cannibalism is part of a brief history and the last recorded case is at 1969, the year Armstrong and Aldrin took that certain small step for man. Vanuatu even offers a number of active volcanoes, including Mt Yasur, that is accessible and rewarding. For this reason, small earth tremors are common. Until 1980, when Vanuatu became an impartial nation, the united states was referred to as the New Hebrides, a condominium, jointly run by the British along with the French. There were both French and English schools, hospitals, police forces and, for a time, they even can drove for sides in the road!

Fiji is similar in topography, minus the active volcanoes. To me, this really is more a resort destination. As there is certainly much to explore, most visitors usually choose one or two resorts for vacation.

The Fijian everyone is warm, outgoing (you cannot go anywhere without getting greeted which has a beaming smile and Bula) and therefore are a great deal more similar to living on island time as opposed to Indian population. It's actually a happy mix for tourists however, because Indians basically make the business side of things run smoothly.

The Cook Islands boasts rugged mountains, lush vegetation and pristine azure waters but an extremely different feel. The area individuals are Polynesian, not Melanesian, and comfortably marry the sensuality of Polynesia using a Christian lifestyle. It was from here that the Maori people followed migrating birds inside their canoes to learn New Zealand. Nowadays within the Cooks, English is spoken which has a Kiwi accent and also the currency is the New Zealand dollar (which makes it great value for people travelers). By comparison, the Fijian folks are around 50% Fijian and 50% Indian. The ni-Vanuatu people are far more shy and as friendly and welcoming. And, as their tourism slogan says, another time, another pace.

(Interviewer's Comments: If you would like more information on Cook Islands click this link)

NORM:

How safe is it to travel to these islands?

IAN:

I have discovered these destinations the safest on the planet. Yes, you might find petty crime, since you will anywhere, but overall everyone is much less expensive materially minded as well as perhaps more family oriented. Our 36 months in Vanuatu were an indication of if the world would have been a simpler and much more secure put the children would nip off around the lagoon to try out unsupervised so we knew we were holding safe& or a father would load endless weeks of frustration children to the back of his truck and head out for any beach picnic no seatbelts and also no worries& it was a location where kids were allowed to be kids.

NORM:

Why would you consider these islands great for an intimate getaway or wedding and honeymoon destination, if you'd to choose your preferred one, which might it be and why?

IAN:

Firstly, for that scenery there's really romantic about swaying palm trees, balmy weather and green-blue warm waters (I'm yet to see any artist reproduce these colours). But, a lot more than this, I do believe it's that rhythm of island time that I've mentioned. You absorb the slower pace and so are away from the routine of computers, traffic and deadlines. Choosing one place is actually difficult for me personally, however will go while using island of Aitutaki from the Cooks (in regards to a 50 minute flight from the main island of Rarotonga). This huge lagoon (a volcanic crater) is definitely stunning, the area everyone is welcoming and there are a few excellent accommodation properties and restaurants.

NORM:

Is there a best time for you to visit these islands through the point of view of weather, costs, and crowds?

IAN:

I'm going to take a fairly easy out and say if you desire to travel also to make use of a local saying, whatever the weather, use a nice day. I had been in Fiji and Vanuatu in December 2004. Traditionally this is actually the hot, wet and humid season. In Fiji it hadn't rained for seven weeks and I didn't use air-conditioning in both country. Some people avoid operating February and March due to possible cyclones but these are pretty rare. I'm betting that 2005 will likely be cyclone free the lake temperatures haven't risen much where there aren't a great deal of mangoes. For whatever reason the mango tree looks like it's in tune with weather patterns and the've an over-abundance of fruit if your cyclone is imminent. Cost and crowd-wise, I would steer clear of the Australian and New Zealand school holiday periods but, with that in mind, the three destinations have adults only accommodation options.