Located 2,600 miles to the south of Hawaii, and about 160 miles northwest of Tahiti, what has been labeled as the most beautiful island in the world can be found; Bora Bora.

Discovered in 1722, this tropical paradise has been the stuff that dreams are made of, and has been a popular tourist destination for over 40 years. The name Bora Bora, meaning “first born” in Tahitian, suggests that the original inhabitants of the island are from Tonga, as Vava’u, the ancient language where the name comes from, indicates this.

Estimated to be around seventy million years old, the island is volcanic in origin. It is surrounded by smaller islands around it, as well as beautiful corral reefs, serving as biomes to countless marine wildlife. The island has been made famous over the years, through “exposure” in books and movies.

The main island of Bora Bora can be circumnavigated by means of a 32 kilometer coastal road, which would take about an hour in a moving vehicle. The sights in Bora Bora are simply nothing but spectacularly breathtaking, and going around the island would be a great way of getting to know these sights.

Viatape is the main town of Bora Bora, and is the main source of general information regarding the island, among other things. Information about island activities, general information regarding the island’s history, souvenir and souvenir shop information, general information regarding vehicle rentals, as the islands center, one would find anything about Bora Bora here.

The tourism center of Bora Bora can be found in the southern tip of the island. It is known as Matira Point, and has a stretch of white sand beaches along its shores. The InterContinental Hotel, along with Sofitel Marara and other world renowned beach resorts/hotels are located here. Snorkeling in the northern side of Matira Point is famous, as it is the best place in Bora Bora for snorkeling. Bora Bora’s famous lagoon reaches to this point of the island, and is extremely shallow, making spectacular overwater bungalows extend out into the water. Truly luxurious accommodations for any guest in the island.

West of Matira Point, the Matira Beach can be found. As a public access beach, Matira Beach gets busy during weekends and legal holidays. As the water here is deeper compared to that in Matira Point, swimming here is much more ideal. Water sports are also much more fun.

Travel agencies, as well as hotels and resorts, hold significant general information regarding Bora Bora, and are actually the best source of general information should one have plans in spending one’s vacation there.

Visit your preferred travel agency of choice, should you find the general information written above to be of interest.

The city housing the Taj Mahal offers a lot of things to the visitors traveling from various parts of the globe. The scintillating Taj Mahal is a wondrous gift to the entire world that represents the beautiful essence of love. This architectural grandeur is one of the proudest creations of the mortals. Built entirely of white marble, it is embellished with various precious and semi-precious gemstones. This stunning beauty should be experienced at least once during the entire life. Basically a mausoleum, this monument looks ultimate during the sunrise and under the light of moon.

If you are planning a trip to Agra, there are certain things which you should keep in mind before traveling to the heart of the erstwhile Mughal Empire. This beautiful piece of monument looks wonderful when it is not crowded with people. Visit to the marble monument during the early hours of morning is a great experience. You can see the golden view of the Taj Mahal when the first rays of sun fall on the white structure; the monument is open to the visitors from six in the morning and remains so till seven in the evening.

Have the pleasure of spending the whole day exploring and enjoying the beauty of the Taj Mahal which stands high on the bank of the river Yamuna. Taj Mahal displays different moods though the varied shades it presents from dawn till evening. Make sure not to visit this monument on Friday as it remains closed for the prayers. One should also be aware of the fact that petrol and diesel vehicles are not allowed near the monument. You can have an awesome ride on horse-driven Tonga or on a rickshaw. The battery operated buses and other pollution free vehicles are also available there which will take you near the entrance of the Taj Mahal. The basic Taj Mahal information helps in making your visit to the Taj Mahal a pleasant one.

Entry to this world famous monument can be made from different gates; the rate of the entry ticket is different for domestic and foreign visitors. With a wide variety of hotels available in Agra, you can choose according to your choice and budget. If you stay in a hotel near the Taj Mahal, you will have a wonderful opportunity to have a bird's view from the hotel itself. To save your precious time in choosing the hotel of your choice, online bookings are also available in many hotels. For those who don't want to plan all these on their own, there are various reliable and experienced travel agents to serve you who will make the trip a fabulous one.

A good friend of mine had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with Dr. Charles Garnier who is a government research scientist in French Polynesia who specializes in researching Morinda citrifolia (noni). He received a Masters Degree from UCLA with his thesis on the components of noni. He also holds a Doctorate in agronomy science. His specialty is to analyze plants and break down all the materials that are contained in the plants, including all the minerals, vitamins, nutriceuticals, and so forth. He has proven that the materials contained in plants come directly from the soil in which they grow. The makeup of the terrain, the weather, geographic locale, and other factors, also affect what is contained in the plant because they affect soil conditions.

He has shown that soil has such identifiable traits (with regard to what it contains), that a specific piece of ground leaves its "fingerprint" on plants that grow there. The combination and levels of minerals, vitamins, and other trace materials in the plant will be found in a certain configuration if the plant grew in a specific spot. Thus, a plant that grows in one location on an island can be distinguished from a plant that grows in another location. And it can be proven, by meticulously analyzing the soil and other plants in the vicinity, that the plant grew in a very specific location.

Dr. Garnier has applied these same principles to the study of noni around the world. For many years he has carefully analyzed the makeup of noni plants from various tropical locations, including among others, all the islands of French Polynesia, Hawaii, Tonga, Samoa, Central and South America and various parts of Asia.

In fact, Dr. Garnier's research has shown that some noni plants growing outside French Polynesia can actually be harmful to the body. He found that noni plants growing on islands that are relatively active volcanically (such as many places in the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines) absorb high levels of mercury and lead. Some of these levels that he measured were dangerously high, enough so to make a human ill.

When a person ingests this noni containing high levels of heavy metals, the mercury and lead poison the body. There have been numerous reports of people in the Philippines becoming ill when they drink homemade noni juice produced from local noni plants. About five years ago, the government closed down a noni capsule business (Japanese owned) in Hawaii because the product was making consumers ill.

There are no active volcanoes in French Polynesia, and have not been for a long, long time. In fact, the French Polynesian Islands are geologically millions of years older than the Hawaiian Islands. Dr. Garnier also found that noni plants which grow on flat terrain contain fewer beneficial nutrients than noni that grows on sloped terrain. Also, noni growing where there is too much rainfall (which leaches out the soil nutrients) or too little rainfall (which doesn't allow for adequate plant growth), produced inferior fruit.

Dr. Garnier noted that even among the 118 islands of French Polynesia, there is a difference between the noni plants, depending on which island they come from (and even which area on the island they come from, such as in the valley or up on the ridge ).

To make an effective noni product a company must first have a thorough understanding of the science of noni, including the ability to analyze in minute detail all the materials that are contained in the various noni plants. Second, the company must have available a wide cross-section of noni plants, grown under optimal conditions, that they can harvest and scientifically blend to provide the ultimate natural product to bless the body.

Noni is a very complex gift of nature – you be the judge.

At character level 11 you should already know where Far Watch Post is in the Barrens. Go into the center of the Barrens and on the way find Grol’dom Farms. Then keep traveling until reaching the center of the Barrens at the Crossroads. Go to Zharg near the camp fence and get an easy quest to deliver meats to Ogrimmar via the flight master in the camp (Meats to Ogrimmar). Find the Crossroads flight master. Part two is actually taking a flight to Orgrimmar (Ride to Ogrimmar). When you find the Ogrimmar innkeeper and deliver the meats the innkeeper then gives you a letter to take back to Zharg, but first you need to find the Ogrimmar flight master (Doras the Windmaster Rider). Finding him is not hard since you found him on the way into Ogrimmar in the first place. He then gives you the final leg quest back to Crossroads (Return to Crossroads). Find Zharg back at camp and finish the quest.

Sergra, the Crossroads camp leader, wants you to kill enough Plainstriders, ostriches, to gain 7 beaks (Plainstrider Menace). Sergra then directs you to kill enough Zhevras to bring back 4 Zhevra hooves (The Zhevra).

At the Crossroads go to the alchemist troll Helbrim in the middle of the camp and get his delivery quest to Ratchet, a port south of Crossroads (Wharfmaster Dizzywig). You gain points for finding the goblin Dizzywig on the Ratchet wharf. Helbrim also asks you to find some mushrooms for him near the Barren oases (Fungal Spores). You find the mushrooms at the Lush Oasis southwest of Crossroads. You can take out some centaurs at the same time for other quests (Kolkar Bracers).

Gazrog, near the camp inn, wants you to kill 12 raptors for him for stealing his silver (Raptor Thieves).

Thork at Crossroads gives you a quest to fight the Razormane pigmen in the area. You are to kill 8 thornweavers, 8 waterseekers and 3 hunters (Disrupt the Attacks). The hunters are tougher because they also have a pet wolf with them.

At level 12 you go to your class trainer in Orgrimmar, Sorek, who directs you to seek out Veteran Uzzek at Far Watch Post, on the border of Durotar and the Barrens (Veteran Uzzek). Uzzek then wants you to go get 5 thunderlizard scales. Uzzek then tells you to find Thungrim Firegaze, and orc hermit on one of the hills in the Barrens (Thungrim Firegaze). Thungrim then challenges you to get his iron box back from Razormane thieves in Thorn Hill (Forged Steel).

In the meantime Sergra at Crossroads wants you to kill prowlers and gain 7 prowler paws after you completed your Zhrevra quest (Prowlers of the Barrens).

On the way west of Crossroads you find Rethgar’s base. He gives you a charge to kill Kolkar Centaurs while in the area (Kolkar Bracers).

Tonga at Crossroads asks you to find a source of power leaking from one of the Barrens’ oases (The Forgotten Pools). You need to get in the pool, go underwater and swim around until you find a bubbling crack in the bottom to complete the quest.

Level 13 requires 11,400 points. This is a grind level on anything that moves in the Barrens.

At level 14 Manrik at Crossroads wants you to find his wife lost in battle near Camp Tourajo (Lost in Battle). Manrik also hates the Bristleback Razormane near Camp Tourajo and wants you to kill enough to bring back 60 tusks. Do this while doing other quests on the Razormane (Consumed by Hatred).

The troll apothecary in Crossroads wants you to make a delivery to Zamah in Thunder Bluff. You have 45 minutes to complete the quest (Apothecary Zamah). Simultaneously, Tonga at Crossroads wants you to take seeds and place them in a fissure in the Stagnant Oasis, southeast of crossroads (The Stagnant Oasis).

The numerous quests continue with Tonga asking you to go kill snapjaw turtles in the Oases so he can examine them. He needs 8 shells (Altered Beings). Tonga then guides you to talk to the druid Hamaal Runetotem in Thunder Bluff (Hamaal Runetotem). Use a flight master to get there quick. He is in the Hall of the Elders. Hamaal then tells you to talk to Nara Wildmane (Nara Wildmane). Nara is in the same tent so this is an easy quest. Tonga also asks you to talk to Mura Runetotem at the Sepulcher. The Sepulcher is in undead land, and you will need to return to Ogrimmar and take the blimp to Tirisfal Glades to get to the Sepulcher (Mura Runetotem).

You find an empty keg among the loot of a razormane. The solution is in Ratchet (Chen’s Empty Keg) when you find the orc brewmaster. The brewmaster then gives you a quest to get some of Chen’s brew. You have to get 5 plainstrider kidneys, 5 prowler tusks, and 1 stormsnout horn (Chen’s Empty Keg 2).

You meet Sputtervalve the Goblin near the Ratchet flightmaster and he asks you to figure out the Venture Company samophlange. The Venture Company site is to the north of the Crossroads near the mountains (Samophlange).

At level 16 through 18 you can gain a couple hundred points just exploring the lands around Ratchet. The Goblin Mebok in Ratchet needs 5 raptor horns from sunscale scythclaws (Raptor Horns). Also you need to kill 12 pirates and 6 cannoneers south of ratchet (Southsea Freebooters). Gazlowe then wants you to take a ledger down to the dock (The Missing Shipment). The dockmaster tells you to return to Gazlowe with the response (The Missing Shipment 2). Gazlow thinks the missing items were stolen by the pirates so charges you to recover the item (The Stolen Booty).

Thork at Crossroads charges you again to kill 8 Geomancers, 8 Defenders, and Greenig Karlsnout the leader of the local Razormane (The Disruption Ends). Thork advises you to report to Kadrak at the Northern Barrens watch post (Report to Kadrak).

Rethgar then charges you to kill the Kolkar leader Barak Kodobane (Kolkar Leaders). Barak is located near the forgotten pools. Bring back Barak’s head. Rethgar then wants you to get Verog the Centaur’s head. He’s located near the stagnant oasis (Verog the Dervish). Grind on raptors, hyenas and centaurs.

Segra at Crossroads gives you her final warrior assignment to kill the king of the lions (Eechekayaa). The lion is located south of the Venture Co. mining in the north barrens. Sergra then decides it’s time for you to tackle scythclaw raptors (The Angry Scythlaws). Grind on raptors to finish off level 18.

For level 19 and when done with your Crossroads quests, Sergra tasks you to find Jorn Skyseer in Camp Tourajo (Jorn Skyseer).

Jorn tasks you to kill the king of Raptors and bring his fang back to Jorn (Ishamuhale). The dead tree south of the razormane and east of the crossroads is his lair. Kill a zhevra for bait, and then wait for him to appear. Jorn then wants you to kill thunder lizards and return with 3 blood samples (Enraged Thunderlizards). Jorn then asks you to find and hunt an Thunderhawk and bring back its wings (Cry of the Thunderhawk). Just find a Thunderhawk hatchling outside of Camp Tourajo.

After killing the raptors near the Crossroads, Gazrog is happy but still wants his silver. He directs you to find the raptor nests south of Ratchet and get his silver (Stolen Silver). Finally, grind on pirates on the merchant coast south of Ratchet to close out level 19. Congrats, you made level 20.

Dr. Aziz, the main character of the novel, is a young Muslim Indian Physician who works at the British hospital in Chandrapore. He has got certain distinct qualities which make the study of his character interesting.

He is a skilled person in his profession on one hand and a man of contradictory emotions on the other. He can’t look into matters without emotions and because of this quality he distances himself from rational and logical approach towards the realities of life.

The element of contradiction is the most distinctive feature of his character. Many a times, he behaves in a quite contradictory manner. In the first chapter, when he is called by Mr. Callendar he leaves the dinner instantly and prepares to get Mr. Callendar at his home. On this, Hameedullah asked him to clean his teeth before paying a visit to his senior doctor. Aziz, in return, replies, “If my teeth are to be cleaned, I don’t go at all. I am an Indian; it is an Indian habit to take pan. The civil surgeon must put up with it”.

This is his first emotional response to a suggestion made by Hamidullah but on his way to Callendar’s home, he cleans his teeth thus contradicting his own commitment.

Another example of contradiction is that in the tea party given by Fielding, Aziz first invites the two ladies, Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested, at his home but after a while he changes his mood and asks them to have a visit to Marabar caves.

Dr. Aziz’s judgment of females is based on the appearance and physical shape of ladies. If a woman is beautiful Aziz thinks of her to be worthy of respect whereas he does not give much importance to women who are not prettier. For instance, Mrs. Callendar and Lesley’s taking away his tonga without even acknowledging him is a snobbish act but Aziz forgoes it thinking that both the ladies are fat and weigh the tonga down behind. Here if the women were beautiful, only then we would have felt pain of being neglected. Forster says,” Beautiful women would have pained him”.

The second instance in this regard is his being too frank with Mrs. Moore and Adela at Fielding’s tea party. On this occasion he treated them like men. In fact, both the ladies do not qualify his definition of beauty. To him, “Mrs. Moore was so old and Miss Quested so plain that he was spared his anxiety.

Dr. Aziz is an emotional person who sometimes sets aside rationality and behaves as per his emotional impulses without thinking of consequences. Because of this habit he have had to regret upon his beahviour. His rash nature surfaces in the first part of the novel when he meets Mrs. Moore at a mosque. He was standing in a mosque when he saw an English lady was approaching towards him. He at once shouted ” Madam, this is a mosque, you have no right here at all; you should have taken off your shoes; this is a holy place for Moslems”. At this Mrs. Moore replied “I have taken them off”. Thus he realized that he was rash in asking for removing shoes and asked her “I ask your pardon”.

He also behaves in a quite rash manner when Mr. Fielding visits him two years after the trial. At this, he does not meet him in a friendly manner as he thinks that he ahs betrayed him and got married with Adela. After a pretty while, his emotions once again proved wrong and it becomes clear that, actually, Fielding’s wife was Stella, the daughter of Mrs. Moore.

In short, Dr. Aziz is a person of multiple characteristics that distinct him from other character in the novel. He exhibits contradictions and rash attitude and represents the whole Indians. It is therefore a reader develops interest in the study of his character.

When you take advantage Westpac online banking, which is one of the largest banking institutions in Australia, you will become a contented and satisfied customer.

Westpac, also known a Western-Pacific banking Corporation, is actually a global financial organization which is ranked as one of the biggest institutions nationwide. This combined with two other institutions – New Zealand and Saint George, also makes this bank one of the 'big four' institutions of the Quarterly report.

At the time when this financial company merged with St. George in December 2008, they had in excess of millions of customers to become one of the biggest department with 1200 divisions as well as 2800 ATMs (this institution will be second biggest company affiliated with home financing as well as wealth platforms through Government funding in Australia ). The bank is also the second biggest institution for consumer banking in addition to being a lender not just by assets.

Westpac had been also acknowledged by Dow Jones Sustainability Listing as the top eco-friendly bank worldwide for five straight years, before this title was earned by ANZ in 2007. This Australian bank also operates in other countries such as Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Solomon Islands, Tonga, China, Singapore, Philippines, USA and Great Britain. This was put together with earnings of about $ 22.075 million AUD, in addition to a net income for about $ 3.859 billion AUD.

Some of the primary advantages of consumer banking on the internet using Westpac resources would be that it is possible to see free layouts of personal finances in a single account. As a result of carrying out online banking, clients have the ability to view all their open accounts, current expenses in addition to accessible resources. Consumers also have the ability to look at practically all their acquisitions from a hundred days before and after that print the last seven year claims without hardly any charge. Westpac online banking also guarantees internet security by using their Protect Sms System code.

He lives in Bali, on the Indonesian island. He suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. His particular obsession is glass. More accurately, broken glass.

Should he break a glass, then he writes down in a special notebook, the exact time he broke it, the hour, day, month and year, what type of glass it was. He double checks all this information with the utmost care and only when he’s completely satisfied, does he close his notebook and put it away.

Recording broken glass is far from his only obsession. He must know the name of every person who passes his house, and if he sees dead chickens lying along the road, he must visit them and inspect them in the most minute detail. If he fails to find the name of someone who has passed his house, his obsession is so strong that he wants to commit suicide.

The terrible tragedy is that his condition is completely ignored, as is that of people with other mental illnesses. He works for the Government, but receives no help from them for his crippling condition.

There are healers to whom he can go. One of them told him that he was the victim of black magic. The cure was to give him a gold amulet, imbued with white magic, and he had to undergo a purification ceremony. As may be expected, these treatments left him feeling no better.

Researchers are studying the ways in which mental illness in general affects people in other countries. For instance, the OCD suffered by this man is totally different from that of an American. It’s vital to know the culture of the patient you’re treating.

If a native from the island of Tonga walks into the psychiatrist’s waiting room, it’s no good whatever for the doctor to treat him in the same way as he would a Westerner. Supposing the patient comes from a land where demons seem to reign supreme and are all-powerful. To Western eyes, the poor man would appear to be psychotic, but perfectly normal in his own country, where he’s fighting real demons.

As I’ve pointed out, OCD varies from country to country. In the West, cleanliness seems to be a major problem, whereas in the Middle East, the observance of religious ritual is of vital importance. Another Western fear is that the person with OCD will commit some terrible sexual act. In effect, they need to be guarded against themselves.

It’s estimated that around 3 million Americans suffer from OCD. These ‘rituals’ that victims of OCD put themselves through; repeated hand-washing, or hoarding useless items, are found mainly in the West.

The key is to try to join the meanings of OCD and other mental illnesses from the West to other countries.

Earthquakes can happen any time and without warning. Did you know that earthquakes that occur near the surface of the earth are more destructive than the ones that happen deep within the earth’s crust? Or that the HYPOCENTER is where the shaking actually happens in the earth, and the point directly above the earthquake’s focus on the surface is known as the EPICENTER? Being educated about an earthquake may one day save your life, since understanding the terminology and properties of an earthquake can help you be better prepared if perchance you were ever to be in one. Following are three basic components that can help improve your knowledge of, and possibly help you escape the destruction of, an earthquake.

1. PLATE BOUNDARIES. The earth’s crust is divided into large moving plates called TECTONIC PLATES. The lines where these plates meet are called PLATE BOUNDARIES. Most of earthquakes occur along plate boundaries. The largest is the Pacific Plate that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. It is known as the RING OF FIRE and includes the majority (more than 75%) of volcanic eruptions. The Ring of Fire isn’t actually a complete ring, only forming a horseshoe shape beginning with the Tonga-Kormadec Trench that lies northeast of the New Zealand islands and wrapping around to the Peru-Chili Trench in South America and the South Sandwich Trench just east of the South Sandwich Islands. The earth’s plates are always moving, bumping into each other. Whenever these plates move towards each other with enough pressure, and slip past one another, an earthquake occurs.

2. MAGNITUDE. The magnitude is how the power or intensity of an earthquake is measured based on the motion recorded by an earthquake-detecting instrument called a SEISMOGRAPH. The higher the magnitude, the more intense an earthquake is. For instance, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.1 is going to be much larger and, therefore, more destructive than one measuring at 2.1. The size of an earthquake can vary, depending on many factors including the geography and the depth of the quake. Usually a large earthquake also produces many smaller earthquakes following the larger sequence. These smaller quakes are called AFTERSHOCKS, and can continue for weeks, months, and even years after the main earthquake. The larger an earthquake measures, the more aftershocks can be produced and can linger for longer periods of time.

3. INJURY. The harm that can come from an earthquake is most often not from the initial earthquake itself but from natural and man-made structures that can collapse on people during the shaking. If you happen to be outside during an earthquake, move away from buildings,power lines, and anything else that could fall on you. If you are inside a building, get under a desk or table and protect your head from any falling debris. You can also stand against an interior wall for protection. Avoid exterior walls, windows, anything containing glass, fireplaces, and heavy furniture or appliances. If you are driving, pull off to the side of the road, out of traffic, and stop. Do not park under bridges or overpasses, and avoid trees, power lines, and any other potential hazards. If you are in the mountains, beware of the possibility of a landslide. If you are near an ocean, you may be in danger of a tsunami and should get to higher ground.

Earthquakes occur on a daily basis, yet most of them are rarely felt because they are so small. They can’t yet be predicted, which makes them all the more deadly in the case of larger earthquakes. If you live in an earthquake zone, where earthquakes occur often, it is a good idea to learn more and be prepared in case you were ever to experience one. It may be the difference between injury or even survival.

It’s been a long winter, and there have been so many demands made on your time this year, you feel washed out and more than ready to have your battery recharged.

How can you accomplish this? You have a need to be incommunicado for a week or so without phone calls, irksome texts or emails and above all leave your responsibilities in someone else’s hands and completely unwind.

Your partner desperately needs some regeneration and pampering too. You’ve ruled out lengthy international flights with dodgy connections, and the associated accommodation hassles, this is hardly relaxing!

Then you hear a whisper about a Pacific island cruise – not just an ordinary cruise, you know the usual type, a huge floating hotel with another thousand or so shipmates – but a small luxurious island hopping cruiser that caters for just a few like-minded adventurers discovering the little-known islands and bays of sun-drenched places such as Vanuatu and the lovely island kingdom of Tonga.

Discover the advantages of small ship cruising

• The minute you step off the plane you will find yourself in a warm tropical paradise far away from the maddening crowds where you are welcomed by a friendly crew and transferred to your floating holiday hotel.

• Your classy stateroom will be ready and waiting with your own private bathroom and shower that includes a range of toiletries. With individual climate control, doors that open out on to spacious deck and views over the crystal clear waters, you definitely won’t have any need for the television set and video entertainment program (but it’s there anyway – just in case)!

• Dining on a small luxury cruise ship is a magnificent affair. The clean Pacific air will stimulate your appetite for the delicious gourmet meals prepared by some of the best chefs in the world who use the fresh local produce and seafood to present you with gastronomic delights, all served with a selection of fine wines; alfresco dining is usually the norm to take advantage of the balmy evenings.

• Your ship will set sail to explore some of the most idyllic little islands and coves the world has to offer. To further investigate places of interest a landing craft is provided and for the more intrepid, sea kayaks are great fun

• Try snorkeling over the coral reefs, swim at the deserted white sand beaches or take a long walk through lush tropical vegetation. The fishing in the islands can be spectacular with your chance to try for a trophy fish. Tuna, mahi mahi and wahoo are often landed and then prepared in a delicious manner by the chef

• Meet the smiling local villagers whose lifestyle is largely unspoiled by tourists who will often perform impromptu local cultural dances and ceremonies, and if you are exceptionally lucky, the chief will invite you to take kava with him

The choice is yours – to do as little or as much as you like – take part in all the onboard or water activities provided or just lie back in perfect peace on the sun-deck with a tropical fruit cocktail and dream your cares away.

These luxury cruises have a fully trained crew who are dedicated to making your holiday enjoyable and relaxing from embarkation to departure.

A Vanuatu myth tells the story of a young man, after the untimely death of his sister, who sees strange plant growing from her grave. After seeing a rat gnaw the plant stock and die, the man, in his grief, decides to eat the plant himself hoping for the same result. He is instead contented and forgets his sadness.

A Samoan myth relays the story of the god, Tagaloa, who brings a kava plant to earth on one of his journeys in order to make a kava beverage. After the kava has been prepared using only the roots a mortal man gathers what was left over and replants them. It is said that thereafter "man enjoyed the god-like drink."

There are many fables from across the South Pacific from Papua New Guinea to Hawaii that tell origination stories of the sacred plant known scientifically as piper methysticum , or intoxicating pepper. Research shows that people in Vanuatu began using kava ceremonially, socially, and medicinally over 3,000 years ago before slowly spreading its use throughout Oceania. With the introduction of alcohol and Christianity to many of these island nations kava use ceased but in places like Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga, among others, kava drinking is still prevalent and is often consumed as an alternative to alcohol.

The reason for kava's popularity lies in its active ingredients; a series of lactones particular to the kava plant called kavalactones. These compounds generally provide a mild euphoria, a mental calmness, and a physical relaxation. Kava users often have a hard time comparing the feeling to other intoxicants because kava use, even in large quantities does not cause a loss of mental cognition similar to that of alcohol, marijuana, or other narcotics.

The mentally soothing and muscularly relaxing effects of kava lend themselves well to the treatment of ailments suffered by people the world over such as anxiety and general aches and pains. These same effects combined with the mild euphoria associated with the plant tend to make kava a possible alternative to alcohol. In the last decade many herbal remedy companies have westernized kava use by making concentrated pills and tinctures for use in Europe and the US

As popular and potentially healthy as the pills and tinctures are, some people believe that the use of kava in such forms isn't in keeping with the sacredness of the plant, root, and drink as it was originally used. Traditional preparation involves mixing ground kava root with water and squeezing the liquid from the fiber to create a murky, earthy tasting drink. Such drinking has traditionally been a social event where anything to be discussed was done so over a few coconut shells full of the drink.

In the US kava bars have been sprouting up from Oregon to Florida spreading traditional kava use far from where the plant grows naturally. Jason Bohanan a regular at an Oregon kava bar says he enjoys kava for its relaxing properties and because it is a way to socially drink without the use of alcohol which causes unwanted side effects.

Although kava bars have gained popularity in the US as of late, most people still aren't close enough to one to enjoy it. These kava drinkers have turned to the option to buy kava online for home preparation. More and more online vendors arrive on the scene regularly, but as with every product that gains popularity there is the possibility that some vendors will sell inferior kava. One owner of a leading online kava store, says that kava purchased anywhere should have been allowed to grow for at least five years, be grown organically, dried, cleaned, and stored in proper conditions, and have been harvested at the very maximum 6 months before it is sold.

Whether you enjoy kava at a local kava bar or buy it online to enjoy with friends and family at home, kava's introduction to the US markets makes many people happy that they are now able to enjoy this "god-like" drink far from the south pacific.