S1-E41: Tuamotu Archipelago: Return to Calypso

Podcast 08 October 2025

After weeks among barren reefs and tense island encounters, the crew of the Resolution longs for healing. For Georg Forster, struck down by a gall illness, the sight of Tahiti on the horizon is more than a return—it's salvation.

In this episode, we sail with Captain Cook through the low-lying atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago, a region once feared by early Dutch navigators and described as “the labyrinth” or “the evil sea.” On Te-Aukea, the crew meets a wary group of islanders. Dogs are traded for nails, but mistrust simmers beneath every gesture. The shadows of earlier European violence—especially John Byron’s—linger in the background.

Above the scarlet reefs of Te-Aukea, the HMS Resolution lingers off a coral shore. Island warriors gather near the palms, spears in hand, while cautious sailors wade ashore to trade coconuts for nails. — Above the scarlet reefs of Te-Aukea, the HMS *Resolution* lingers off a coral shore. Island warriors gather near the palms, spears in hand, while cautious sailors wade ashore to trade coconuts for nails. – Click on the image to listen to this episode on YouTube.

Amid coral sand and coconut palms, scientific curiosity meets cultural misunderstanding. Local plants used to stun fish, intricately tattooed bodies, and the use of stingray-barbed spears all paint a vivid picture of life on these remote atolls.

But it is Tahiti—verdant, remembered, and longed-for—that draws them onward. For Forster, weakened but watchful, the island is nothing short of a modern-day Calypso’s realm: a place where paradise and pain coexist beneath the same brilliant canopy.