Travel the Pacific with SPASIFIK

NZ Tourism teams up with Niue

The New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI) at AUT University is working with the government of Niue to make the most out of the beautiful tourist destination.



Rally of the Rock

The Rally of the Rock is an exciting mountain biking adventure across the challenging and beautiful tracks of Niue. Can you conquer the Rock?

Travel Feature
Seven days and nights in Niue

With Air New Zealand supplying the only passenger flight to Niue on a weekly basis, what is there to do for seven days on a coral island inhabited by 1500 people? Plenty, especially if you love the sea, as LISA & JOHN JAMIESON discovered on their wedding anniversary.

Attempts to log Niue cut down
The tiny island nation of Niue has lost most of its people to New Zealand. But the prospect of also losing much of its lush, tropical forest through logging severely divided those that have remained. One News reporter BARBARA DREAVER reports.

An Island Paradise Unspoilt and Untouched
In October 2006 ZORA FEILO-MAKAPA returned to Niue, her parents’ island of birth, for the first time in decades. It proved to be an inspirational journey in so many ways.

READ MORE

ISSUE 26 ARTICLE
Romance in the frangipani air

Stepping off the plane and smelling the frangipani as you step out onto the tarmac is the perfect welcome when you land in Rarotonga. You round the island heading towards the northern coast and pass the lovely township of Avarua before arriving at the Club Raro Resort. Your romantic holiday is about to begin

Issue 25 Article
Relaxing in Raro
The South Pacific invokes thoughts of unspoiled beaches and romantic tropical getaways, where magical islands with glorious mountain peaks and shimmering blue lagoons beckon.

ISSUE 23 Travel Feature
Beauty Queen turned model
Cook Islands beauty Krystina Kauvai’s reign as Miss South Pacific ends in November. But not before being chosen to model for an international magazine photo shoot, writes LIZ RAIZIS

Issue 21 Travel column
The return of the tata’u
Decades after the traditional body tattoo or tata’u disappeared from Cook Islands society it is back and flourishing in greater numbers than ever. FLORENCE SYME-BUCHANAN reports.

Issue 21 Travel feature
The warm Rays of Raro
With only a four or five day break away allowed from SPASIFIK, husband and wife team of INNES and ANNE LOGAN left a chilly winter in Auckland and headed to Rarotonga with their son Ben for some much needed sun, sea and local hospitality.

READ MORE

Issue 24 Article
Fiji untouched?
The military coup that struck Fiji over a year ago has had little effect on the country’s tourism industry writes MATELITA RAGOGO

FIJI: IN THE THINKING – A LETTER FROM SUVA
SPASIFIK’s Fiji based columnist CRAIG W. STRONG says the grass can be greener on the other side if skilled Pacific islanders were thinking of returning home.

READ MORE

Samoa Tourism Honoured in 12th Annual Webby Awards
The “Oscars of the Internet” recognized the Samoa Tourism website for its outstanding work setting standard for the Internet, using clean design and simple navigation to let the gorgeous destination of Samoa speak for itself.
 

PACIFIC BEAUTY SHOWCASE - Issue 24
2007-2008 Miss South Pacific - Apia Samoa
The Miss South Pacific pageant has celebrated its 20th anniversary of promoting Pacific women and tourism with last November’s event in Apia, Samoa showcasing just how far the event has evolved.

Issue 22 Feature
Mystical Manase
Tucked away on the northern coast of Savai’i are a throng of beach fale resorts that have quietly become one of Samoa’s best kept secrets. While visiting his mother, PETER REES attempts to unravel the mystique and secrets of the village of Manase.

Issue 22 Columnists -SAMOA
From ‘kikaka’ to café latte
As Samoa begins to modernise its hospitality industry, nothing epitomises this mindset shift more than the emerging café culture in downtown Apia. CHERELLE JACKSON reports.

Issue 21 Travel feature
Samoa in the spotlight
As Samoa braces to host the South Pacific Games and Teuila Festival in August/September, PETER REES takes a closer look at how the country has prepared for one of the biggest events in its history and what to expect.

Returning to Samoa
TUSIATA AVIA has traveled all corners of the globe. But returning to the land of her father in Samoa remains a unique experience for the Christchurch-born award-winning poet.

READ MORE

Hawai'i lights up
The fierce and acrobatic art of fireknife dancing returns to the Polynesian Cultural Center for the 16th Annual World Fireknife Championships in Hawai’i. LOUISA TE’I reports exclusively to SPASIFIKmag.com.




Issue 24 Article
Where Haka meets Hula
Hawaiians are embracing Maori culture like never before as LOUISA TE’I finds out at the annual Te Whanaketanga performing arts competition held in O’ahu.



Issue 23 Travel Feature
Fiery Traditions
The World Fireknife Championships at the Polynesian Culture Center in La’ie, Hawaii is becoming a must-see event in the American state’s cultural calendar. LOUISA MOSESE TE'I covered the 15th Annual event this year where the competition was more diverse and fierce than ever.

Mighty Mauna a Wakea
During his trip to Hawaii to attend a business conference in November 2006, editor and publisher INNES LOGAN visited the big island of Hawaii, home of SPASIFIK Hawaii columnist Ana Currie and the second tallest mountain in the world.

HAWAII: THE BIRTH OF A MAOLI MARAE
New Zealand based artist Filipe Tohi visited Hawaii and added an ancient Tongan touch to its first marae. ANA CURRIE reports.

READ MORE

Tonga tourism push for second-generation Australians

Pacific Blue will promote Tonga as a holiday destination to affluent second generation Australians of Pacific Island backgrounds.


Issue 21 Travel feature
Tonga’s Treasures
The Kingdom of Tonga has appeared reluctant to follow its Pacific neighbours in competing for the tourist dollar. But that’s about to change, as INNES LOGAN discovers.

READ MORE