In this episode, we talk about the Austral Islands with veteran archaeologist Mark Eddowes, who works with French Polynesia’s Ministry of Culture, sharing what travellers should know about marae temples, tiki traditions, local etiquette, and how culture has evolved over centuries. Far and Away Adventures.com and https://farandawayadventures.com are the best places to begin if you want an expert to plan an Austral Islands voyage or extension with the right cultural context and respectful pacing. Normand Schafer records this conversation onboard Aranui 5 while sailing deeper into the Australs, and it’s one of those rare interviews where history, travel, and practical guidance come together in a way that’s immediately useful.

Mark begins by explaining his path into archaeology—growing up in New Zealand with early interest in Māori history, then studying Polynesian marae temples at university. He shares how a major collaborative research effort brought him to Tahiti: fieldwork in the Papenoo Valley, where a proposed hydroelectric dam intersected with a landscape full of archaeological sites. That experience shaped his career and led to long-term work documenting and researching sites across French Polynesia. His perspective is grounded not only in artifacts, but in the lived reality that modern development, conservation, and cultural protection often collide.

Mark explains that the Austral Islands and the Cook Islands were historically a unified cultural and language zone, later divided into different territories. He describes work he has done across Rimatara and Tubuai—surveying marae sites and excavating settlement history—and then introduces one of the most intriguing cultural distinctions in the region: Raivavae’s tiki tradition. In Raivavae, tiki figures are associated with deified female ancestors, contrasting with other islands where male ancestors are more commonly represented. Mark also discusses how settlement influences appear to differ across the archipelago, with Raivavae showing clear ties to Marquesas settlement patterns while other islands align more strongly with Society Islands origins.

Travelers will appreciate how Mark links archaeology to what you actually notice on the ground. He describes the Australs as remarkably natural and lightly developed, with small populations and a subtropical climate that feels fresher than Tahiti or the Marquesas. Daily life still revolves around plantations and fishing, with a strong family and community solidarity that shapes everything from work patterns to how food and resources are shared.

The most important practical section of the episode is Mark’s guidance on respectful visiting. He explains the Polynesian concept of taboo and why marae sites remain sacred places, even in Christian communities today. His advice is straightforward: photograph freely, but don’t climb on sites, don’t touch or rearrange stones, and never remove anything. He also mentions that certain places—such as royal cemeteries—should be observed from outside only, respecting local boundaries

The conversation closes with some standout discoveries from Mark’s career: a red volcanic tuff tiki tied to sacred symbolism of the color red across Polynesia, an ancestor figure found reused within a house alignment that suggests how belief systems shifted during early Christian conversion eras, and turtle petroglyphs revealed only after a restored stone stood upright and caught sunset light at the right angle. For travellers, these stories create a richer lens for visiting museums and sites—and Mark even points listeners to the importance of museum collections for viewing Austral artifacts that are difficult to access or have been lost over time. If you want to explore the Australs with deeper insight and the right logistics, Far and Away Adventures can plan and book the full journey so you experience the islands respectfully, comfortably, and with context that stays with you long after you return home.