Martin Clunes: Islands of the Pacific

-Seen from space, it's just one vast expanse of blue -- 63 million square miles of water that cover a third of the globe.

And yet, the Pacific Ocean is littered with islands, tens of thousands of them, from reef-fringed sandbars to soaring cliffs to rumbling volcanoes.

Home to extraordinary animals... Oh, blimey.

[ Laughs ] ...and countless vibrant cultures.

Thank you, sweetheart.

-[ Laughs ] -Now I've returned post-pandemic to resume my travels around the Pacific... Hello.

Hello.

[ Chuckles ] ...to places long thought of as paradise on Earth.

So lush and vibrant.

But as the forces of change wash every shore, what happens to paradise, and what does the future hold?

To find out, I'm continuing my epic adventure in search of the real Pacific.

Come with me and explore its magical islands.

Three years ago, a worldwide pandemic brought my journey across the Pacific to an abrupt halt.

We're off again.

But now, thankfully, I'm back exploring.

This is Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.

This Pacific island nation sits just above Australia and is its closest neighbor.

From here, there are 600 islands to explore.

I'm heading to one of its most isolated and inaccessible areas -- the Trobriand Islands.

These islands remained largely unknown until the early part of the 20th century.

Since COVID, there's been no tourism here and no commercial flights, either.

Oy.

Oh, everyone's here.

If my arrival causes a stir, it's because islanders here have seen very few outsiders since the virus.

Morning.

Morning.

-Welcome.

-Good morning.

I'm the guest of the villagers of Tilakaiwa on Kiriwina, the main island of the Trobriands.

Pastor Michael leads the way.

There are currently no hotels on the island, so the villagers have built me my own house.

So beautifully decorated.

This is the traditional form of building on the Trobriands, and usually designed for a whole family.

Oh, I love my house.

[ Laughs ] Thank you so much.

Thank you.

I don't want to get it wrong.

I want to show enough respect, so when I speak to him, I refer to him as "Paramount Chief"?

-Mm-hmm.

-Mm-hmm?

Before I do anything, I need to present myself to the most important person on the island.

-Paramount Chief.

Oh, it's a great pleasure to meet you.

Thank you very much.

I brought you this gift from the U.K.

I've been told that Trobriand Islanders are fanatical about cricket.

It's a huge honor and a real pleasure to meet you, sir.

-Thank you very much, on behalf of the Paramount Chief, and I'd like to welcome you in the Trobriand Islands.

-That's very kind, very kind.

Kiriwina is 40 kilometers long and just under 13 kilometers at its widest point.

When I flew in, all I could see was a green canopy, but underneath the trees, it's filled with villages.

It's thought that 26,000 people live on Kiriwina, but no one knows for sure.

-[ Speaks in native language ] -Families live close together, sharing the cooking and the childcare.

There's no power on the island except in the main town, so villages like this have no electricity and no running water.

Washing and toilet facilities, which is a hole in the ground, remain a discreet distance away.

[ Conversing in native language ] -People here are subsistence farmers, which means that they grow everything they eat.

Their diet is mostly root vegetables -- yams, sweet potatoes, and taro.

Josh and his family are showing me their garden.

You light a fire in the garden first thing in the morning for what reason?

Okay, yeah.

Good system.

It's a form of insecticide for the plants, with the hope that the smoke also keeps the mosquitoes and endemic malaria away.

Oh, you're weeding at the same time.

-Yeah.

-Oh, I'll give you a hand.

Everyone is encouraged to farm from an early age.

And Jerome's learning the whole time he's coming out, watching you garden.

Was that the same when you were his age?

You were out with your father, gardening?

And he followed his daddy.

-Yeah.

-That's the way to do it.

Yeah.

Trobriand children are also encouraged to carry knives from an early age -- big knives.

Oh, thank you.

That's an honor.

That's a real honor to me.

I'm gonna come back in 20 years' time and say, "Hands off my coconuts.

Those are mine."

[ Chuckles ] Word of my arrival on the island has reached the neighboring village of Kabwaku.

[ Children shouting ] The villagers have invited me to spend the day with them, just a short walk through the bush.

Hello.

This is the village's elementary school.

Oh, hello, hello, hello.

The children are calling out "dim dim."

It's their affectionate term for a person with pale skin.

Hello.

Hello.

Yeah, hello.

Hello.

[ Chuckles ] There's another very important and very sad reason why I'm here at the school.

-Assembly!

-Today we woke up to the news that Queen Elizabeth II had died.

-So we will sing our national anthem.

- O arise, all ye sons of this land Let us sing of our joy to be free -Their singing is lovely, and it's in English.

As a former British colony, English is taught here, but the children's first language is Kilivila.

That's just one of more than 800 languages spoken in Papua New Guinea, making it one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world.

It's also part of the Commonwealth, so the Queen was head of state, but Papua New Guinea is fiercely proud of its independence.

- We are independent, we are free Papua New Guinea [ Cheering ] -But today is also a day of celebration for the people of Kabwaku.

[ Cheering, shouting ] I'm greeted by Chief-in-Waiting Toyana with a traditional Trobriand welcome.

Those spears are very real and very sharp.

I'm not sure what etiquette dictates, but I'm resisting the urge to run.

[ Shouting continues ] I'm the guest of the village of Kabwaku, but first, I must meet its chief.

-This is the chief and our wife.

[ Conversing in native language ] -This is Chief Tokuguwa.

-Tokuguwa, thank you.

-The Lowland Chief.

This is the wife.

-This is his wife.

[ Conversing in native language ] Thank you for having us here today, and thank you for making us welcome.

Thank you.

[ Conch shell blows ] The chief has invited me to help the village to fill the yam house.

This is a huge honor for a dim dim.

Lucky I'm tall.

-[ Speaking in native language ] [ Shouting, cheering ] -Yams are a staple food in the Trobriand Islands.

So very, very special food, used for barter, trading.

Inland people like us, we take food to the coastal people and we exchange fish.

And also yams are used for marriage.

When a lady from your family get married to other family and then she can carry this food to the husband's family.

-I see.

This is a good harvest?

-This is a good harvest.

That's why you see the yams are filled up in the yam house.

Very good harvest.

-Good.

Toyana is the chief's nephew and next in line.

Are you going to be a good chief?

-Well, I think so.

-Good.

I think so, too.

[ Laughs ] -No, I'm still learning.

-He has a lot of natural authority about him with his warm smile.

-Yeah.

-All the Trobriand Island, entire Trobriand Island, they are very scared of him.

-Are they?

-Yeah, because he's a warrior chief.

Before, while he was young, he fights a lot of fights in the village.

-Oh, really?

-Now he's old, so... -He's got that out of his system.

-While he was young, when he carries this one, people will get scared and take distance from him.

-Has this killed people?

-Well, yeah.

This is for spearing people.

-So this has seen some action?

-That's right.

-Wow.

-[ Laughs ] -I'll give it back to you.

[ Both laugh ] Tribal chiefs still wield ultimate power here.

Their word is final.

They settle land disputes and hand out punishments, which can result in violence or even death.

Absolute loyalty to both tribe and chief is still very much the way of life, as are the bitter tribal rivalries which sometimes break out.

[ Drum playing ] The Trobriand Islands were first introduced to the world thanks to the pioneering anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski.

He was sent here from the London School of Economics during World War I.

There's a memorial to him on the island.

He seems to have become a bit obsessed with the Trobrianders' sex lives, even writing a book on the subject.

He documented their seemingly open relationships and their use of what he called "bachelor houses."

It led to the misconception that the Trobriands was a sort of love island.

But missionaries who had a position on such matters were arriving on the island in increasing numbers, and were determined to root out the unseemly practices and replace them with Western values.

They met with mixed success.

[ Singing ] Today, as with much of Papua New Guinea, Trobriand Islanders are still very religious, but they mix Christianity with their own belief systems.

[ Singing together ] Josh has swapped his machete for a guitar this evening.

[ Singing continues ] So what does the future hold for young Trobriand Islanders?

I'm chatting to 22-year-old Veronica Moya Bono.

Wow.

Oh.

-Divorced.

-Oh, I'm sorry.

What's that?

A certificate of what?

So you still want to keep studying?

Further education?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

How hard is that for you?

Is it a lot of work?

-Mm.

-Especially when you've got two children?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Can you do that on the Trobriand Islands?

Oh, I see, right.

And would you like to go there?

-Mm.

-But that would be difficult with two children, wouldn't it?

Are they happy for you to go?

Oh, great, so that's good.

The future is looking good.

Yeah.

[ Rain pattering ] It's my last day living with the people of Tilakaiwa on the Trobriand Islands, and today, we're due to play cricket.

But rather predictably, if you follow cricket -- which I don't -- it's started to rain.

I can see why the islanders built their houses on stilts.

But just as suddenly, the rain stops, and play can commence.

[ Rhythmic whistling ] [ Chanting together ] My village are playing against neighboring village Kaulagu.

[ Chanting continues ] The Trobriand Islanders have put their own spin on the traditional game.

[ Singing together ] They don't bother with white flannels, preferring their own dress.

They take sledging, the cricket term for intimidating your opponents, to new heights.

There's no limit to team numbers, and the game only ends when everyone is out.

[ Whistles blowing ] [ Players exclaim ] But cricket had a serious purpose when it was first played here, because the islanders used the game to settle disputes.

Where once they might have picked up their spears, instead, they played cricket.

The way I heard it was they were shown Western cricket and thought, "Yeah, that's fine, but we can make it better."

Is that kind of...?

That's it.

Yeah.

Yeah, I'll go with that.

[ Cheering ] -6.

-6.

The 6 is recorded on an environmentally friendly scoreboard.

And then it's my turn.

Okay, now I'm scared.

[ Cheering ] A 6.

Or maybe it's a 4.

[ Laughs ] What happens now?

[ Singing ] [ Attempting melody ] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Hey, hey, hey.

Me again?

-Yes.

-Ohh!

Damn.

Caught.

On the boundary, at least.

But it doesn't matter.

I hit it.

Oh, I'm dead.

Potentially a 6.

Being out is regarded as a death for the team.

As my side mourns, I join in the funeral dance.

Dim dim's dead.

Oh.

Oh, I didn't do badly, did I?

Hit it.

[ Laughs ] In the end, the home side beat us, but I think we made a good fist of it.

[ Conversing in native language ] My time on the Trobriands, staying in the village of Tilakaiwa, has been really eye-opening.

These are people who, by our frame of reference, don't have a great deal.

There's no airline landing there.

The cruise ships don't go there.

They don't have industry.

They don't export anything.

They subsistence farm.

They grow what they need to eat.

There's a fierceness there that we saw with the greeting of the village, with the yam house, with those guys with the spears, they're for real.

You know, tribal problems have tribal solutions.

And yet, I've just been blown away by their generosity and their kindness.

And they accepted us into their village and they gave and shared with us everything that they had.

And I consider myself very lucky to have experienced that.

My next stop in Papua New Guinea is New Britain, which sits in the middle of the Bismarck Sea.

It's only 250 kilometers north of the Trobriand Islands, and yet this small island, far from being remote, is no stranger to world headlines.

Melanesian people first came here 40,000 years ago, and more recently, the uninvited colonial powers of Britain, Germany, and Japan.

But it is New Britain's spectacular volcanoes that have literally shaped this island.

September 1994, two volcanoes simultaneously erupted, spewing out millions of tons of volcanic ash which fell on Rabaul, the island's capital, with a population of 17,000 people.

This government building still stands, but all the surrounding houses were destroyed, their roofs collapsing under the weight of the ash.

A good 2 meters of ash is here, upstairs, and there's all this plant life.

Look at that tree.

Upstairs trees.

Nature's just consuming even this concrete.

Extraordinary.

A poem has been painted on the wall of the ruins.

"Ode to Rabaul."

Twine gently, vines about this vanish'd town.

Bloom on, O flow'rs' in riotous array.

Lie gently, leaves as you come tumbling down.

Who knows?

Rabaul may live again someday."

This isn't actually referring to the volcanic eruption of 1994, but is a poem written by an Australian prisoner of war held captive here by the Japanese during World War II.

It's an eerie reminder of other events that have played out here in the past.

The 2-meter layer of ash smothered everything in its path.

The international airport, thousands of houses and shops -- a whole town, gone.

On the old main road, Mango Avenue, there was just one building left standing.

This is the Rabaul Hotel, and it's still open for business.

-Hi, welcome.

-Thank you.

-Welcome to Rabaul Hotel.

-Thank you.

-Lovely to see you.

-Susie McGrade's family have owned the hotel for over 30 years.

-It was here during the Japanese invasion, bombed back to rubble, and then rebuilt after the war, around the 1950s.

Two years into paying off the mortgage, boom, we had the twin volcanic eruptions.

And my father, the ever optimist, said, "Oh, great opportunity for redevelopment," and got on the roof and started shoveling off the ash.

All our staff got up on the roof, we all shoveled.

-So what sort of a hit did you take here?

-We got ash from the volcano, and then the worst thing was the acid rain.

Nothing survives the sulfur.

When it rained, the ash became like concrete, and so heavy, the flat roofs collapsed.

-Oh, my God.

-Pushed all the mud all through here.

-So it wasn't just like an eruption, it was an ongoing -- -The first day was kind of fine.

We all said, "We'll get it straight."

But then there was eruptions after that.

It went on and on and on.

We thought it would stop within 24 hours.

It kept going and going.

I used to wake up in the morning and then I would remember, "Oh, we've lost our town."

-Rabaul was abandoned, and the capital shuffled further along the coast... ...out of reach of the Tavurvur Volcano, which continued to erupt for the next 20 years until 2014.

But it still remains active, and along with Papua New Guinea's other volcanoes, requires constant monitoring.

Five people lost their lives in 1994, but it could have been much worse had it not been for the early warning from Rabaul's volcanologists.

You've got a great spot here.

-Oh, yeah.

-Ima Itikarai leads the Rabaul Volcano Observatory.

-Where were you?

Bad luck.

Or good luck?

-Yeah.

-Is it likely to erupt again?

It will happen again?

100%?

-Yeah.

-While the people of East New Britain keep a wary eye on the twin peaks across the bay, another species has actually taken advantage, adapting their behavior to embrace the volcanoes.

I'm in the company of Joe, crossing from old Rabaul by dugout canoe.

Hot springs warm the inky, dark blue waters of the bay, which teem with fish life.

We're heading for the slopes of Mount Tavurvur.

This landscape of bush and volcanic sand is home to the megapode bird.

Megapodes don't nest.

Instead, they find a convenient heat source for their eggs.

And here in East New Britain, megapodes have evolved to take advantage of the volcano, burying their eggs in its hot volcanic sand.

Is this all their digging?

-Yeah, bird.

-Yeah, wow.

-They come morning, afternoon.

-Oh, right, yeah.

But do they dig with the...?

-They dig with the -- -Their feet, yeah.

-Yeah.

Be careful.

-Yep.

Eggs from the Bismarck megapode are left to incubate and hatch on their own.

Unfortunately, megapodes haven't factored in Joe and his brothers.

-Yeah.

Got one again.

-So they bury them quite deep, then?

Yeah, yeah.

-Six feet down.

-Six feet?

-Yep.

-Megapode eggs are, by all accounts, delicious.

They are highly sought-after, and they fetch three kina each.

That's about 1 U.S. dollar.

But it's dirty and dangerous work.

Who died?

Really?

-Yeah.

-What, from digging?

Gosh, yeah.

They get that deep.

-Dangerous.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

[ Birds calling ] -Joe, are these all where you've dug for eggs before?

-Yeah.

-Oh, I see.

Wow.

That's a lot of digging.

This morning's work earns the three brothers 20 eggs, as well as the discovery of an indignant baby megapode, newly hatched.

It's carefully put back into its sandy nest.

The megapode is under threat throughout the Bismarck Peninsula, principally due to the destruction of its habitat, invasive predators like snakes, and the overcollection of eggs.

The egg collectors of Rabaul now have to balance life here, and so Joe and his brothers collect for just six months of the year, ensuring the birds' and their own survival under the volcano.

It's not just megapode birds and the egg hunters that dig deep into this island.

Under New Britain, there are hundreds of kilometers of tunnels and caves extending deep beneath towns and up into the mountains.

They are the legacy of warfare which would come to this island and engulf its people.

-The Emperor reviews his magnificent fleet, which for months after Pearl Harbor wields undisputed rule over the greatest of oceans.

Now its mission is to build a mighty base in the Bismarck archipelago -- Rabaul on the island of New Britain.

-On the 23rd of January, 1942, the small Australian garrison based on the island was quickly overwhelmed by invading Japanese forces.

They immediately started expanding the airfield in Rabaul in an attempt to dominate the skies and seas around New Guinea.

The intention was to cut Australia off from America.

New Britain was so strategically vital to the Japanese that they stationed over 100,000 men in Rabaul.

But they were relentlessly pummeled by Allied bombers, forcing them underground.

I'm meeting Veronica Turang at the entrance to a tunnel complex built into the hillside above Rabaul.

These were Japanese living quarters, but they were all dug by hand by prisoners of war and local men.

-There's a small bomb over there where they told us not to put fire close to it.

And also don't drop it, because it's still... -Oh, lovely.

That's a bomb.

-Yeah, that's a bomb.

-Gosh.

The work -- I just can't get over how much labor, how much work, backbreaking work to dig into this rock.

There are five levels, climbing all the way up to the top of the hill.

It's a warren of kitchens, barracks, and stores.

Oh, my God.

It just keeps coming.

-Yeah.

-I mean...

There's even a hospital.

-So this is the treatment room.

They used to treat the patients here when they get injury.

And only one live here.

This is where they used to hang the drip.

-Oh, I see.

Yeah.

-So we've got only these few things.

This is the drinking water, and this to clean the wounds.

-Just outside the tunnels, in the middle of a small compound, there's a low concrete structure.

This was where the Japanese soldiers executed their prisoners.

God.

Nobody knows exactly how many local men and prisoners of war on New Britain were executed or died of disease, starvation, and overwork.

What was your family's involvement?

Because this was their land.

-Yeah.

-Tell me about your grandfather.

-He was 9 years old and he was a small boy.

He can speak Japanese and also he can sing their song, but they use him to fetch sea water through the tunnel and they cook it to make salt with it.

And he goes inside.

That's why he knows everything inside.

-He was obviously quite smart, wasn't he, to get a bit of their language and make himself useful.

-They were bad people.

-Yeah.

-They want to use our ladies, our great-grandmother.

-Not good.

-They took them and they raped them.

-Must have been a terrible time, appalling.

In a bloody war of attrition, the Japanese held out for two years... ...before the Allies liberated New Britain in March, 1944.

A more recent worldwide disaster, COVID-19, highlighted the resourceful nature of the main tribe who live on the coast here.

It was one of the key traditions of the Tolai people that helped them get through the pandemic.

Hi.

Samantha, Rodi, and the other women are making shell money.

These shells are very hard to find, which gives them their value.

Once cleaned and drilled, they're threaded onto reeds.

A meter length is worth 10 kina, �2.50.

-Shell money is still used today because the people here are very cultural.

They still value their culture.

-Are there some things you can only buy with shells?

-Young boys in the village, when they want to get married, they have to buy the women with the shell money.

-And the traditions are still important, even in the modern times?

-Yes, very.

I think in some years' time, it might fade out, but now our little generations that are coming up, they're very interested in the culture.

-Are they?

Are they?

With jobs and hard currency difficult to come by, the Tolai people continued to trade as they had done for generations, using their shell money.

-During COVID-19, plenty have lost their jobs.

Here in the province New Britain, people found it hard to purchase, you know, food with money, because, without a job, where would you get the money from?

-Yes.

-So most of the people turned back and they look to the shell money now.

If I cannot buy a packet of rice with money, I can always know that I can run down to a nearby shop in the village and purchase one with this.

-Right.

-It's still just the same.

-Except that you can't sit around and make money like this.

It's not just COVID that's helped this tradition flourish, but the sheer value of these tiny shells.

Just in this small area of Papua New Guinea, the circulation of shell money is equivalent to 8 million kina, �2 million.

Other tribal traditions are very much alive, too.

I've been invited to join the Baining people, who live further inland, to see an important rite of passage for their young men.

[ Singing together ] This is the Baining fire dance.

Yeah.

And what is that?

Is that, they just represent different birds or...?

Oh, right, right.

And is this a celebration of these spirits?

We seem to be in the dance a bit.

Should we...?

[ Laughs ] Should we?

This is so exciting, not just because it's men dancing and jumping through fires, but from what Gideon told us, each time the masks get burned, the songs get written, the rhythms get written, it's a one-off.

This is sort of fresh celebration of the gods of the bush.

[ Fire pops ] Bang.

It's really exciting to see that.

Papua New Guinea became fully independent from Britain and Australia in 1975.

My stay in East New Britain has coincided with this year's Independence Day celebrations.

This parade is part of the Frangipani Festival, celebrating both independence and the anniversary of the eruption.

[ Cheering ] It seems like the whole population has taken to the streets, perhaps because it's the first time the festival has been held since the virus shut the world down.

Are you having a good time?

-Yeah.

-Oh, I didn't know that.

-Frangipani.

-So we celebrate that?

-Yes.

-Oh, cool.

Oh, good.

Well, have a good day, guys.

-Same to you guys.

-I've never seen so many flags before.

Everyone seems incredibly proud of their country, their province, and where they come from.

[ Car horns honk ] What a history this island has had, yet the people of East New Britain remain resilient and resourceful despite everything nature and mankind throws at them.

But I tell you what, their sense of their tradition and their ownership of their heritage is fantastic and completely alive.

And I think it's in great hands, because the young people seem to want to take it on and take it forward, and I think that is what's going to keep them going.

Before I leave Papua New Guinea, there's one last place I want to see -- maybe before it's too late.

Back on the Trobriands, they're fighting an enemy that can't be easily beaten -- rising sea levels.

Gilibwa is a community of subsistence fishermen.

For centuries, their village has existed on the beach here, but not for much longer.

Pastor Peter is showing me what's left of his church.

-This is the old Methodist church.

-Was this your church?

-Yes, of course.

-And just recently, just this year, the waves washed it out.

-I see, and was it a storm or just waves?

-No, we believe that it's just climate change.

-Yeah?

-And there were some graves.

See?

Graves.

-Graves?

Oh, no.

-Graves of the grannies.

-[ Inhales sharply ] That must have been so upsetting for you.

-Yes, just the memory.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

-The whole village has been here before, but because of the climate change, all the people have been moved up to the upper land.

-And these guys are just sort of waiting till the last minute, and then they'll come on?

-Yeah, of course.

Some have decided to move, but a few decided to just stay here.

That's where they belong.

-Right.

-We believe that their hearts cry from moving from one place to another.

-Where once there was an entire village, now just seven families still live on the beach.

But that isn't the end of their problems.

The same storm that washed away the church, graveyard, and many houses on the beach also washed away the road.

With no road and a two-day canoe journey to the nearest town, the inhabitants here are largely marooned.

I'm making my way along the old road to the schoolhouse.

There's currently no teacher in Gilibwa, although Pastor Peter is trying to do what he can to educate the children.

Quite telling that all these lessons are still up on the blackboard, and there's been nobody teaching the children here for four months, any of these subjects.

And the bush is beginning to take over around the building.

Poor things.

But I believe a teacher's on the way.

I hope so.

Over the centuries, the people of Papua New Guinea have endured armed invaders, exploding volcanoes, well-intentioned missionaries, and now, rising sea levels.

My time on Papua New Guinea has come to an end, and I'm reminded how living on a Pacific island is a fragile existence and how humanity needs to adapt to survive in such a changing world.

Next time, I'll be exploring the spectacular Philippines...

Isn't that just stunning?

...from rice gods in the mountains to creatures in the forest.

Oh, my God.

[ Laughs ]