Pacific Insider
There's no time like 'island time'…

May 31 to June 2 sees the 5^th International Samoan Tatau Festival. One of the most important aspects of Samoan culture is the Tatau. This traditional art form has been around for thousands of years. The festival’s theme is From Roots to Rebirth: Celebrating the Art and will showcase the works of Samoa’s master tattooists as well as demonstrate the age old craft. It’s on at the Tanoa Tusitala Hotel.

Tonga’s Fafa Island Resort now has free wi-fi for all guests – the service is offered around the bar so people can enjoy a relaxing cocktail as they check in with the rest of the world. Australian rep, Richard Skewes says, “We may be a remote island offering all you need to forget the modern world – but if you have to check emails or simply make your friends jealous with a facebook comment, then we offer that ability as well”. Fafa has 13 private bungalows set within the 18 acres of the island atoll.

People swear by Trip Advisor, I swear at it.  Firstly, if it is being used legitimately, people are more likely to post negative comments.  That’s human nature.  As a travel agent I know a lot of resorts and I know a heap that have used TA to post fake positive reviews about their own property and, on some occasions, post fake negative reviews about the competition. 

I once stayed at a resort in Fiji and witnessed hotmail addresses that had been generated for various staff members being handed out with instructions to both praise that resort and rubbish two nearby island resorts.  I won’t mention the resort by name but I have never booked anyone in there and never will – I was sitting in the bar (right) when it happened.  And, despite what has been said, Trip Advisor does NOT vet comments – here is an article in the UK Daily Mail.

Never seen a deal like this before!  Toberua Island Resort in Fiji has a terrific special – book and pay for five nights and then pay F$1 for each additional night (till end march 2012).  Toberua is a little gem of a resort off the east coast of the Fiji mainland and a bit of a well-kept secret.  Billy Connolly is a regular and he always takes a guitar or two for the boys!

12 April – 10th May – Dancer of the Year Contest (Te Mire Ura)
12 May – Air NZ Rarotonga International Triathlon
15 May – Round Raro Cycle Race
25 – 29th June - International Kite Surfing Contest, Aitutaki
July – October – Whale watching
26 July – 4 August – Te Maeva Nui (Cultural festival of music and dance, and celebration of the constitution)
22 – 26 September - Round Raro Road Race
1 November - Turama (Celebration of All Souls Day)
16 – 23 November – Vaka Eiva (Canoeing festival)
1 December – Te Mire Tiare (flower festival)

Great value in a fabulous location! 

Muri Beach Hotel has an amazing offer on sale to end June and for travel to end March 2013 – book five nights in a Deluxe beachfront Hotel Room and receive a free tropical breakfast daily PLUS a Club Classic Wedding package for free.

Email just in from the Sheraton and Westin Hotels on Denarau Island in Fiji.  There is still heavy flooding in the region but at least the sun is out.  With the weather improving over the last 24 hours, all roads in and out of Denarau are open and accessible by car – and for the Denarau hotel guests, it is business and leisure as normal.  Things at the Outrigger on the Coral Coast are also back to normal so I’m guessing it would be the same everywhere… apart from some cleaning up!

Beer & snags – they were made for each other, just like strawberries & cream, Romeo & Juliet and Charlie Sheen & substance.  Seeing January 26 is Australia Day, why not drop down to the Anchor Inn after work and have a free snag off the barbie and a free Aussie beer (or a bubbly!) courtesy of Bryan & Val.

Bryan tells me he’s got a tough dog.  He interrogated the mutt for three hours straight the other day and he still didn’t find out “Who’s a good boy?!”

From April, Palm Grove Resort will have a new three-bedroom beachfront villa. Good value for families, the house can sleep up to eight if the kiddies are small. Upstairs is the master King bedroom, ensuite and balcony and downstairs, living, dining, kitchen, deck and two bedrooms (King or two singles).

There is nothing more romantic than a wedding in the tropics, but organising it from a distance can be a tad daunting. That’s where Mandi Forrester-Jones comes in. Mandi is a Brisbane based wedding celebrant who is also a travel agent who specialises in organising wedding for couples in Fiji. Mandi also married there! She knows the people as well as the places and works directly with the wedding coordinators and resorts to not only make the Big Day perfect but to also get the best possible fight and accommodation packages for couples and any guests attending.