Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) comissioned Auckland artist Arthur Thompson to create a series of "Fly TEAL" posters promoting it's Pacific destinations in the 1950s. These included stops on TEAL's famous Coral Route, such as Fiji, Samoa and Tahiti, as well as New Zealand, Australia, and Norfolk Island. Below is a selection of my favourite images.
I like the use of colour and the simple graphics. Somehow each poster seems playful and slightly mysterious. Of course, they play to 1950s perceptions of the 'exotic other' that wealthy air travellers might have imagined could be found at each destination.
The weather has been bad lately. This week I watched a rare snowfall from my office window. We may be on a little island in the south Pacific, but the winters are cold. Despite the consolations of winter - such as warmed sake and clear mornings with snow covered hills - the mind turns to warmer times and places across the Pacific.
I was reading about the 'Coral Route' run by TEAL, a forerunner of Air New Zealand. From 1951 to 1960, their Solent 'flying boats' skipped across the south Pacific, from Auckland to Fiji (Suva), to Samoa (Apia), to Aitutaki to Bora Bora in Tahiti and back again on a fortnightly run. How romantic is that! Island hopping and landing on a lagoon inside the reef, with the plane swaying with the waves. I imagine stopping for a swim in the warm waters at Aitukaki while the plane refuels nearby. No immigration or customs. Back on board, a full service awaits with drinks before dinner while the captain sets course for Bora Bora and another day in the warmth of the sun.
Wild life in the Pacific can contain flashes of brillant colour. The flutter of bright feathers. Hibiscus flowers. Schools of iridescent fish in the lagoon. There are also signs of a re-emergence of that most rare and exotic creature, the lesser-spotted speedo boy.
During a recent stay in Fiji, at the Octopus Resort on the island of Waya, a pair of speedos came to roost next to my bure, boldly sunning themselves on the beach. Their sleek form and confidence was inspiring. Previously thought to be endangered, perhaps this signals a return to their natural habitat.
Fiji is its own galaxy of islands. Flying into Nadi on the main island of Viti Levu, its straightforward to 'island hop' out west through the Mamanuca Group and then up into Yasawa chain in the northwest. Coming to rest at the Octopus Resort on the island of Waya, we took a thatched bure right on the shore with a little veranda in front and, at the rear, a shower open to the sky.
It was all golden sands, tropical fruit cocktails, and snorkelling in warm, clear waters. Schools of coloured fish swam among a bewitching coral wonderland of spiky bright blues and purples, and lilly pad-like discs in green and yellow. We were also joined by an old friend, Captain Morgan - a pirate chief and distiller of a fine spiced golden rum. At night, half-asleep under a mosquito net, the sound of the waves lapping on the shore felt close enough as to be virtually on the door step.
Fiji, definitely the way the world should be.
