Rapa Nui. Aku Aku from Afar
by Helene Martinsson-Wallin
Rapanui Press, Museo Antropologico Padre Sebastian Englert, and the Kon-Tiki Museum, 2007, US 25 236 pages, soft cover, illustrated
Review by Georgia Lee</p

Lee, Georgia

English

eVols at University of Hawaii at Manoa

1978 and today he is still "on the road," researching one ofhi favorite part of the world. His knowledge about thevariou i lands and i land group is a tonishing, and the e,hi late t guides, are remarkable for their coverage of uchcomplex areas. As one who once wrote a guide book (fortiny Rapa Nui), I find the concept of covering thousands oftiny islands to be an daunting project (for the Fiji group,orne 322 i land are large enough for human habitation butonly 106 of them are actually inhabited. That's a LOT ofi lands! And the Tahiti book covers the Australs, Gambier,Marque a , Society and Tuamotu archipelago of FrenchPolynesia - an immense area).I'll begin with Moon Fiji. This book has separate sec-tion for adi and the Mamanucas; Southern Viti Levu;Suva and Vicinity; orthem Viti Levu; The Yasawa Is-land; the Lomaiviti Group; Vanua Levu; Taveuni; and theLau Group and Rotuma. Right up front (a "blue section")are 12 pages of color with excellent maps and picture towhet the appetite of any traveler. One of the 65 maps ha avery user-friendly feature: a map that is color-coded byarea/group, with a key to relevant page numbers, and dis-cussions of each.Stanley suggests a two-week visit as a minimum re-quired to ee a cro s- ection of Fiji (but a month would bebetter). With that in mind, he break trips down by thosede iring a beach vacation, or one focu ing on cuba or urf-ing, or hiking and biking. One i called the Best of Fiji;another is the Island-hopper Special.10 following ections, Stanley discuss specific part ofFiji, with details about how and where to arrive, islandhighlight, detail maps, ite to ee places to stay and foodto eat. Each section ha margin tabs to help the reader sorthis/her way through the variou islands in thi complexarea. The last section, "Background" contain general infor-mation, climate, natural history, government coups, andeconomy, and ethnic groups. Under "Es ential " one findinformation about getting there, tours, and getting aroundthe islands, followed by Art and Entertainment; Accom-modation ; "Tips for Travelers" and, finally, "Resources"which include aGio sary Phra ebook, Suggested Reading,Electronic contact, and IndexMoon Tahiti is a 6th Edition. In 1989, the chapter onFrench Polynesia was spun off from Stanley' South PacificHandbook (fir t publi hed in 1979). Today the guide hasbeen expanded and revamped and also has a "blue ection"up front, as does Moon Fiji, with color photograph ande ays. Moon Tahiti isn't just about Tahiti; it encompa ea va t area from the Society I lands to the Marque a . theGambier to the Austral and the Tuamotus. There is up-to-date information on economics, politics, food, tran porta-tion, hiking, cuba, and camping. Accommodation are de-cribed and priced and internet and email addres e are em-bedded in the text for ea e of reference. From the be t nor-keling sites to the best hamburger joints in the outer i lands,it is all here. There are essays on history, famou per on ,French nuclear testing, black pearls, you-name-it. Every-thing anyone needs to know, presented with clarity andRapa Nui Journal 69staggering detail. Highly recommended. For anyone headedto the Fiji I land or anywhere in French Polynesia, a wordof advice: Don't leave home without these books!!Rapa ui. Aku AIm from Afarby Helene Martins on-Wallin.Rapanui Press, Mu eo Antropol6gico Padre SebastianEnglert, and the Kon-Tiki Mu eum, 2007, US 25236 pages, soft cover, illustratedReview by Georgia LeeTHI SMALL BOOK, 6x6 inches, i lavi hly illu trated withblack and white photo plu some color. The photographare mainly of the fir t Heyerdahl expedition to the island,include many images of excavations and Rapanui islanders,several of whom worked with the project, plus artifacts thatwere collected. The publication wa inspired by the 50-yearjubilee exhibition at MAPSE, pictures of which are showntoward the end ection of the book, and in collaborationwith Olaug Andreassen. There are some great old photo-graphs in thi book, many previously unpublished. Someerrors are evident: the photo caption of a picture of GonzaloFigueroa identifies him a Claudio Cri tino (p. 188), andediting by a native EngLi h peaker would have eliminatedmany grammatical errors. Nonetheless, this is a great littlestroll down memory lane.'PU~LIC.~TION~Bologna, M. and 1. C. Flores. "A simple mathematicalmodel of society collap e applied to Easter Island."EPL, 81 (2008) 48006. Copyright 2008 PhysOrg.com.Bowerma ter, J. After the Fall. Adventure, February2008:68-76.Scanning Ea ter I land' Moai. Technology & More 2007-3: pp. 42-44. Dayton: Trimble Engineering & Con-struction.Le Bulletin du Cercle d'Etudes ur rile de Ptiques et laPolynesie. o. 97, fevrier 200 . CEIPP % A.P.M.C.14, Square de l'Alboni, 75016 Pari France.Krutak, Lar . 2007. The Tattooing Arts of Tribal Women.London: Bennett & Bloom/De ert Hearts. Paperback,6x9 inche ,282 pages, profu ely iliu trated.Kirch, Patrick V. & Jean-Louis Rallu, eds. 2007. TheGrowth and Collapse of Pacific Island Societies. Ar-chaeological and Demographic Perspectives. Univer-sity of Hawaii Press, ISBN-978-082483 1486.Parker, Philip M. 2005. Webster's English to Rapa NuiCrossword Puzzles: Level J. San Diego CA: Icon Pub-Ii hing. Paperback, 8.5"x II" and i 115 page long,with 100 puzzle , 11 pages of olution , and a prefaceby the Webster's editor. Price $14.95. By enjoyingcrossword puzzles, the reader can enrich his vocabularyin anticipation of an examination in either Rapa Nui orEnglish.Vol. 22 (1) May 20081Lee: Book Review: Rapa Nui, Aku Aku from AfarPublished by Kahualike, 2008

Book Review: Rapa Nui, Aku Aku from Afar

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