Pacific purpose
TUNE in to see yet another celebrity enjoying a sunny paradise. We’re not at all jealous.
As this latest travelogue kicks off, Martin Clunes is swinging his legs into the Pacific ocean from a little sail boat as dolphins swim around him.
The actor is on an “epic ocean-wide adventure”, travelling 10,000 miles from East to West to discover the islands of the Pacific.
Of course there’s always a levered-in family link where possible – Martin tells us his voyage is inspired by a book he was given as a child by his father.
Kon-tiki And I, by Erik Hesselberg, was about four men and a little boat who sailed all the way across the Pacific. It led to Martin’s decades-long wish to travel in their footsteps.
There are stunning scenes here as he visits islands strewn with coral atolls, jungle-clad mountains, and lava spewing volcanoes, teeming with wildlife.
Starting in French Polynesia, he buys baguettes in a local bakery for sustenance before heading off on the taxing expedition of snorkelling in a lagoon followed by swimming with black tip reef sharks at ‘Shark City’.
Next, he moves to an atoll which is trying to improve the environment, thanks to Hollywood star Marlon Brando.
The film star came to Tetiaroa when he was filming Mutiny on the Bounty, and fell in love with the place.
Tetiaroa now has one of the world’s most exclusive, and first eco-friendly hotels, appropriately named The Brando.
Martin says: “Marlon Brando’s vision way back then was so revolutionary. I am increasingly falling in love with the Pacific.”