"The Pacific, greatest of oceans, has an area exceeding that of all dry land on the planet. Covering more than a third of the planet's surface--as much as the Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic oceans combined--it's the largest geographical feature in the world. Its awesome 165,384,000 square km (up to 16,000 km wide and 11,000 km long) have an average depth of around 4,000 meters. Half the world's liquid water is stored here. You could drop the entire dry landmass of our planet into the Pacific and still have room for another continent the size of Asia. It's believed that, in all, some 30,000 islands dot the Pacific basin--four times more than are found in all other oceans and seas combined." (the opening paragraph from Moon Handbooks South Pacific, 8th edition, 2004) David Stanley David Stanley 803 - 225 Rosehill Street Nanaimo, British Columbia V9S 1E1 CANADA www.southpacific.org www.gonanaimo.com Publications: Moon Handbooks South Pacific (Avalon Travel Publishing, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1989, 1993, 1996, 2000, 2004) ISBN 9781566914116 Moon Fiji (Avalon Travel Publishing, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007) ISBN 9781566919821 Moon Tahiti (Avalon Travel Publishing, 1989, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007) ISBN 9781566918046 Tonga-Samoa Handbook (Avalon Travel Publishing, 1999) Moon Handbooks Micronesia (Avalon Travel Publishing, 1985, 1989, 1992) Alaska-Yukon Handbook (Avalon Travel Publishing, 1983) Eastern Europe on a Shoestring (Lonely Planet Publications, 1989, 1991, 1995) Lonely Planet Cuba (Lonely Planet Publications, 1997, 2000) Lonely Planet Canada's Maritime Provinces (Lonely Planet Publications, 2002) BIO: David Stanley is the author of Moon Handbooks South Pacific, Moon Fiji, and Moon Tahiti, published by Avalon Travel Publishing of Berkeley, California. Stanley's career as a travel guidebook writer began in 1979 with the 1st edition of South Pacific Handbook. In 2004 it was decided that the 8th edition of Moon Handbooks South Pacific would be the last due to changing travel patterns, competition from the Internet, and rising research costs. In 2007 Avalon Travel Publishing brought out new editions of Moon Fiji and Moon Tahiti authored by Stanley and it's hoped these books will remain in Avalon's front list for many years to come. In addition to the South Pacific, Stanley has written travel guides to Micronesia, Alaska, Eastern Europe, Cuba, and Canada. He researched and wrote the first three editions of Eastern Europe on a Shoestring, the first two editions of Lonely Planet Cuba, and the first edition of Lonely Planet Canada's Maritime Provinces. His association with Lonely Planet ended in 2002 when Stanley decided that researching guidebooks for a flat fee wasn't in his best interests. His earlier Eastern Europe and Cuba guides were produced on a royalty basis. Stanley and his wife M.E. de Vos currently live in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. One of his websites GoNanaimo.com is a mini-guide to Nanaimo and he also blogs about the city. His second blog, the South Pacific Travel Blog, is about travel to the Pacific islands. Stanley will be working on new editions of his Fiji and Tahiti guides through 2009 and 2010. David Stanley is a veteran world traveler who has visited 196 countries and territories. Each year he tries to get to a few of the 49 countries still on his to do list. Stanley prefers to travel incognito and rough, using public transportation whenever possible, and staying at inexpensive hotels of the kind he recommends in his guidebooks. Travel has been a central part of his life since he left university in 1973, and he is now enjoying his semi-retirement on Vancouver Island.