Notes from the Road Travelogue
Magenta bougainvillea blossoms and green leaves against a soft, pale tropical background.

Field Notes from the Pacific Islands

Notes from Oceania

Of all human migrations, none is as mysterious as the peopling of the Pacific — islands bound by navigation, now facing rising seas and declining fisheries. These are my notes on island cultures, reefs, and the birds that journey here each year.

Stories from Oceania

Kealakekua Bay Bluewater

Paddling
Kealakekua Bay

In Hawai'i's legendary bluewater bay, I envision how an ancient Hawaiian battle unfolded.
Jellyfish in Tikehau

Tikehau of the Tuamotus

On the small French Polynesian atoll of Tikehau, I discover a ringworld of life.
Hawaiian Garden Spider in Kauai

Roundup and Runoff in the Hanalei Valley

In Kauai, I discover a dark cloud hanging over the local coral reefs, one that is all too familiar.
Kauai Sketches

Kauai Sketch Journal

Illustrations, sketches and notes from my travels to the island of Kauai.
Kauai Moleskine

Kauai Moleskine Journal

My Moleskine journal sketches from the north shore of Kauai Island in Hawaii.
French Polynesia Moleskine

French Polynesia Sketch Journal

My Moleskine journal sketches from the Tuamotus and the Society Islands.
Line map of Oceania on black, from Australia and New Guinea across Melanesia and Micronesia to the Polynesian triangle of Hawaiʻi, New Zealand and Rapa Nui, with the island groups named: Palau, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Pitcairn and more.

Oceania at a Glance

A Continent Made Mostly of Ocean

Oceania covers a third of the planet’s surface, but most of it is water. Its land adds up to Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand and some 25,000 islands, home to about 45 million people and fourteen independent countries.

  • 14independent countries
  • ~25,000islands
  • ~850languages in Papua New Guinea alone
  • 1250 CENew Zealand, the last large land settled by people

Melanesia

The “black islands,” northeast of Australia: high, forested islands with hundreds of distinct cultures and languages.

Countries Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
Also New Caledonia (France), Western New Guinea (Indonesia)

Micronesia

The “small islands,” north of Melanesia: thousands of atolls and volcanic islands scattered across the western Pacific.

Countries Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau
Also Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (U.S.)

Polynesia

The “many islands”: a vast triangle with corners at Hawaiʻi, New Zealand and Easter Island, settled by the greatest voyagers in history.

Countries Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, New Zealand, plus the Cook Islands and Niue (in free association with New Zealand)
Also Hawaiʻi (U.S.), French Polynesia, American Samoa, Easter Island (Chile), Pitcairn (U.K.), Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna

Australasia

The continental heart of the region: Australia, home to people for at least 50,000 years, along with New Zealand and the great island of New Guinea.

Countries Australia, with New Zealand and Papua New Guinea often counted here too

My Stories from the Islands

  1. HawaiʻiThe northern corner of the triangleThe most isolated island chain on Earth, from the reefs of Kealakekua to the wet valleys of Kauaʻi.
  2. French PolynesiaThe heart of the triangleAtolls, lagoons and high islands at the center of the Polynesian world.

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