I'll start with the Cook Islands, a little-known (at least to most Americans) island chain with 15 don't-blink-or-you'll-miss them blips of land spread out over 756,000-square-miles of the South Pacific, most of which is protected as a marine park.
The city's offerings extend far beyond fancy white-tablecloth dining and Vegemite sammies. I grew up in Sydney, and although I've been living abroad for years, with each visit back home I'm pleased to witness an increasingly diverse and cosmopolitan foodscape that celebrates authentic, global cuisine on an everyman budget.
Over the centuries the Marquesas' allure has proven particularly compelling to adventurers, artists, musicians and writers.
