Like Bora Bora without tourists, Austral Islands in French Polynesia gives occasional visitors an extra special welcome

A cargo/passenger ship makes occasional trips from Tahiti to the Austral Islands of French Polynesia, where tourists are rare and receive a warm welcome

Each island in the chain has its distinctive allure, from one considered the ‘Bora Bora of the Australs’ to another with a unique lorikeet. There are no hotels

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Paradise awaits those who – travelling on the cargo/cruise ship Aranui 5 – visit French Polynesia’s Austral Islands. Photo: Aranui Cruises

Published: 7:15am, 24 Jun 2022Updated: 3:38pm, 25 Jun 2022

It almost feels like a scene out of the movie musical South Pacific. Our landing craft – a World War II vintage front-loader – alights onto the sugar-sand beach with a soft thump, and we step off into a crowd of musicians and women with armfuls of flower leis.

“Bienvenue a Raivavae,” says one, as I stoop to accept one of the fragrant leis, made with tiaré gardenia blossoms, basil shoots and local flora.

Raivavae (pronounced rye-vah-vah-eh), is the third stop of our tour through French Polynesia’s Austral Islands on board the combination cargo/passenger cruise ship Aranui 5.

The arrival scene has become familiar: musicians with ukulele and drums, children and dogs darting between legs, coconuts hacked open for refreshing drinks, stalls with local handicrafts staffed by smiling women in woven palm-frond hats accented with intricate flower crowns.

A World War II vintage front-loading landing craft deposits passengers onto a beach in the Austral Islands. Photo: Aranui Cruises

Each of the Australs has its own distinctive allure. Raivavae is known as the “Bora Bora of the Australs” – akin to what tourist-favourite Bora Bora was decades ago.

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