As I queued at the domestic air terminal at Fa‘a Airport, on Tahiti, waiting patiently to check in for my flight to Rangiroa atoll, I saw a middleaged, stylishly dressed European man swoop in from the right and jump the queue to the checkin counter. Two pretty Tahitian girls pushed his luggage trolley ahead of him. I vaguely recalled that I had seen the man somewhere before, but this thought was superseded by my indignation that anyone could so blatantly jump the queue.

Striding up to him, I tapped him sharply on the shoulder and said loudly, "You‘re jumping the queue. All the rest of us are waiting patiently, what gives you the right to do that¬¡± The man turned, gestured towards the girls and with a look of faint embarrassment, replied, "Well, it wasn‘t really me. The girls are in charge, you see.¡±

I gulped. I had seen the man before. It was James Bond, also known as the actor Pierce Brosnan. After he semi­apologised, we made up and I learned that he was checking in for a flight to Bora Bora, an island which he loves.

Tahiti is like that. You never know who you‘re going to bump into, because it‘s a favourite territory of the rich and famous, for whom Tahiti and her sister islands are popular vacation playgrounds. It‘s also a place loved by unfamous people, because of its exceptional natural beauty and overlay of French culture and cuisine.

Tahiti and her 117 sibling islands, collectively called French Polynesia, make up one of the most spectacularly beautiful environments on earth. A mixture of high volcanic islands and low­lying atolls, these 118 specks of land are strewn across four million square kilometres of ocean, an area the size of Western Europe.

Sixty percent of French Polynesia‘s population is concentrated in Tahiti itself, and it is the location of the capital, Papeete. But this island is just part of one archipelago, the Society Islands. The four others are the Austral Islands (to the south of Tahiti), the Tuamotus (in the centre), the Gambier Group (to the south­east) and the Marquesas (to the north­east).

Each group shares a distinctive history and culture, but all 118 islands have in common a beguiling blend of Polynesian and French cultures and a tropical climate. In 2004 the islands, formerly an Overseas Territory of France, were upgraded to the status of an Overseas Country of France.

Ocean voyagers, Polynesians who had come originally from South­east Asia, settled the islands from about 2000 years ago. For centuries these people cultivated tropical crops on the islands, fished the surrounding seas and worshipped their traditional deities.

Then, in 1767, an Englishman, Samuel Wallis, became the first European to discover Tahiti. The following year the French navigator Louis­ Antoine de Bougainville visited the island, and in 1769 Captain James Cook stayed for a period on Tahiti to observe the transit of the planet Venus across the sun.

The published journals of these three navigators, who extolled the physical and human beauty of Tahiti and her other islands, aroused intense interest in Europe. Tahiti came to be considered as New Cythera, the equivalent of paradise on earth. Over the following years missionaries, traders, beachcombers, mercenaries and assorted ne‘er­do­wells descended on Tahiti and her islands, establishing a permanent European presence there.

In 1880 King Pomare V of Tahiti approved the annexation of Tahiti and its dependencies to France, and from that time onward French culture, language and law became dominant throughout the five archipelagos. French cuisine, incorporating local ingredients like fish, pork and tropical fruits, also became part of Tahitian culture. Chinese influences added to the cultural melange. Tahiti has thus become a conflation the cultures of Polynesia, Europe and Asia.

Tahiti itself is the point of entry and departure for all air travellers to French Polynesia. Most visitors then move quickly on to the islands of the Society Group, particularly Moorea, Tahaa and Bora Bora. This is a pity, for several days can be fruitfully spent exploring Tahiti itself. Most of the hotels and resorts on Tahiti are within a short drive of Papeete, which is easily reached by cheap public transport, either modern buses or sturdy older vehicles known as le truk.

Papeete is a busy, crowded town separated from its harbour by Boulevard Pomare, along which the traffic races throughout the day. Le marche, the public market, is at the heart of the town.

The biggest and most colourful market in the South Pacific, the stalls sell a huge range of goods, including colourful pareu, shell necklaces, traditional carvings, black pearls, coconut soap, monoi oil, takeaway food, Chinese vegetables, vanilla pods and chunks of fresh tuna.

The Robert Wan Pearl Museum in Papeete‘s stylish Vaima Centre has fascinating displays of the role of pearls throughout history, from the ancient Egyptians to Tahiti‘s black pearl industry of today. Along with numerous black pearl boutiques, Papeete has many Chinese­run stores, as well as art galleries, cafes, restaurants and snack bars.

In the evening a great place to stroll is Vaiete Square, a paved area on the waterfront. Mobile food vans known as "les roulottes¡± set up for business, selling reasonably priced pizzas, steaks, fish, Chinese and other meals. Musicians also play in Vaiete Square to entertain visitors and passers­by.

At the western end of Papeete, beside the harbour, is To‘ata Square, where Tahiti‘s House of Culture is located. This area is the focus for the island‘s performance arts, as well as traditional craft displays.

It is the site of Tahiti‘s annual Festival International du Film Documentaire Oceanien, a festival of documentary films from the Pacific every January, and the Tahitian dance and choral performances during July‘s spectacular Heiva I Tahiti festival.

At the end of To‘ata Square, facing Papeete harbour, are a number of small restaurants offering pizza, fish, salads and meat dishes. Diners can look out over the harbour, where in the late afternoon and evenings local canoe paddling teams can be seen practising for the annual Hawaiiki Nui Va‘a, the nation‘s keenly contested canoe race through the Leeward Islands of the Society Group, held every October.

Once Papeete and its environs have been explored, the rest of Tahiti beckons. A loop road 114 kilometres long surrounds the island. The all­day Circle Island Tour goes clockwise from Papeete, taking in the historic district of Point Venus, where the European expeditions first came ashore in the 1760s. Point Venus has a long beach of black sand, and among the palms behind the beach is a lighthouse designed by the father of the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson.

From Point Venus the tour moves to the exposed, rocky eastern coast with its untamed black sand beaches and blowholes, before crossing the Taravao isthmus to the more sheltered western coast. Budding off from the main island Tahiti Nui, at Taravao is Tahiti‘s other, smaller sister island, known as Tahiti Iti, or Little Tahiti.

Tahiti Iti is much less developed and is not encircled by a road. It has several pretty villages and river valleys which penetrate deeply into the saw­tooth mountains. Here, on Tahiti Iti‘s western coast, is the renowned surfing site, Teahupoo.

Back on the main island‘s encircling road, at Papeari, is the Paul Gauguin Museum, a retrospective display of the life and works of the great French artist who spent his last years in French Polynesia. The tour then passes through lush plantations and the villages of Mataia and Papara until it reaches the district of Punaauia, and the Museum of Tahiti and Her Islands. The museum has a splendid collection of pre­ European artefacts, and fascinating displays of the islands‘ geography and ethnology.

MOOREA

Directly across from Tahiti‘s northern coast and always visible on the horizon is the neighbouring high island of Moorea, the Island of the Yellow Lizard. The pace of life is much less hectic and there are golden sand beaches and limpid lagoons, backed by towering mountains, the highest of which is Mt Tohiea, which rises to a height of 1207 metres.

Half an hour by catamaran or eight minutes by light plane from Tahiti, Moorea is the perfect recreational island, with swimming, snorkelling, diving, dolphin and whale­watching. There are also many hiking trails in the island‘s forested interior.

Most of Moorea‘s resorts are on the northern coast, particularly around the two great bays which indent the coastline, Opunohu Bay and Cook‘s Bay. There are also many small "pensions¡± on Moorea, providing quieter and more personal accommodation. Fare Te Ora Hau, at Afareatiu, near Moorea‘s ferry port, is one of the best of these.

In almost the exact centre of Moorea is Belvedere, a viewing site high above the island‘s twin bays with panoramic views of the island‘s interior and coast. Belvedere is also the starting point for several forest walks, while nearby are two restored marae, several centuries old, where the way of life of ancient Tahitians has been recreated.

HUAHINE

This lovely, uncommercialised island, a 40­ minute flight from Tahiti, is in fact divided, its two halves being Huahine­Iti and Huahine­Nui. The scenery is verdant, the interior mountainous, and there are some beautiful valleys in the interior and several secluded bays around the indented coastline. The only town, Fare, is everyone‘s idea of a harbourside South Pacific trading settlement.

RAIATEA­TAHAA

According to legend, the islands of Raiatea and its near­neighbour, Tahaa, were detached from one another by a sacred eel belonging to the spirit of a princess. Raiatea is a sacred island to all Polynesians, and its massive marae, Taputapuatea, is a place of spiritual pilgrimage. A deep, sheltered sound, Faaroa, penetrates the island‘s eastern coast. Tahaa, a much smaller, tranquil island, is known as the Vanilla Island because this fragrant orchid pod is cultivated commercially here. A de­luxe resort is now operating on the northern coast of Tahaa.

The shared lagoon of Raiatea­Tahaa is perfect for aquatic activities, including yachting ­ there are charter companies on Raiatea ­ diving, snorkelling and exploration by jet­ski.

BORA BORA

Located 240 kilometres to the northwest of Tahiti, Bora Bora is renowned for the beauty of its lagoon. Its waters display astonishingly different shades of blueness. The island‘s central core is a spectacular block mountain, 727 metre­high Otemanu, and the aquamarine lagoon is fringed with lovely, white­sand islets.

Only 32 kilometres in circumference, Bora Bora is great cycling territory. Highlights include passing several prehistoric marae, views of that hypnotic lagoon and a number of excellent seafood restaurants. The beach at Vairou Bay is one of the most beautiful in the South Pacific. The Society Islands are just the starting points for any exploration of French Polynesia. Beyond these islands are others just as alluring, though much less well­known.

The Tuamotu atolls lie scattered across the Pacific like stars in a galaxy, the Austral Islands are what Tahiti was like half a century ago, and the Marquesas offer some of the most spectacular scenery on Earth.

There are enough islands, in all, to keep an intrepid traveller busy for a lifetime.