"Just the thought of people dating the same culture, Polynesians dating other Polynesians. You never see it nowadays. It's always been kind of like ... a taboo."

Liz Light checks out the delights of Noumea and finds plenty to catch the eye in the lush capital of French territory New Caledonia.

Paul Rush samples the simple pleasures of Robert Louis Stevenson's Samoa.

As the explorer noted, the islands of Tonga are truly the 'Friendly Isles'. Jane Jeffries is captivated on her visit.

To the people of Beqa Island sharks are friends. Nicholas Jones tested that trust.

Paul Davies stays at a full-service lifestyle hotel close to Waikiki Beach.

Go local when it comes to food, Nicholas Jones discovers at a cooking school in Fiji.

Paul Rush discovers the enigmatic beauty and brilliance of black pearls in the waters of Fiji.pacific

Paul Rush meets creatures both noble and dangerous in waters of astonishing clarity.

Fijian nationals will be eligible to register for a residency ballot under the Pacific Access Category for the first time since the military coup in 2006.

Kim Palsenbarg revisits a past hobby and is entranced to find the world beneath the waves as welcoming as ever.

Laura Hutchins cherishes the easy-going pace of Cook Island life because she knows when she's home it'll be what she misses the most.

Further New Zealand aid has arrived in Vanuatu to help in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam.

All his courage gathered, Nicholas Jones ventures underwater for an eye-opening scuba dive.

It was a tale of two villages. In one, rice, food and water provided by aid agencies, in another, nothing at all.

The deputy chairman of Vanuatu's natural disaster committee has launched a stinging attack on NGOs in the cyclone-struck nation.

There are fears tuna are teetering on the edge of survival as an excess of boats fight over a decreasing number of fish.

New Zealand aid worker Andrew Finlay takes Kirsty Johnston around the island of Tanna, where the destruction is wholesale.

The threat of disease from dirty water has affected "absolutely everybody" in Vanuatu in the wake of Cyclone Pam.

The first aid planes arrived to find scenes of "utter destruction" on the Vanuatu island of Tanna, where residents are in desperate need of emergency supplies.

The first aid planes arrived to find scenes of "utter destruction" on the Vanuatu island of Tanna, four days after taking a direct hit from Cyclone Pam.

Hanging up the backpack has converted Stuart Condie to the feared 'package' holiday and he couldn't be happier.

Doctors at the hospital performed an emergency caesarean in the middle of the cyclone - and delivered a baby they named Pamela.

Families in Vanuatu have returned to their homes only to find the nightmare of Cyclone Pam isn't over.

Cyclone-torn Vanuatu is in desperate need of food, clothing, medicine and basic shelter - and a full recovery operation could cost hundreds of millions.