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

Whale watching in Tonga goes extreme when Jane Jeffries hops in with the cetaceans.

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

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.

A week on from Cyclone Pam some sense of normality has returned - at least in the capital, Port Vila.

A Red Cross leader labelled Polyfest 'cold and mean-spirited' after it initially refused to let the charity collect at the event for Pacific victims of Cyclone Pam.

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

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.

New Zealanders in Vanuatu have been drafted in to help at the capital's main hospital after it was ravaged by Cyclone Pam.

The GCSB not only spies on the Solomon Islands using its Waihopai satellite interception base - it also had a secret listening post inside the country, according to documents provided by the United States National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snow

Kiwi Kylie Steel was in Port Vila when the cyclone struck. After the cyclone passed she went in search of friends. Here's her story.