Delectations

Beyond Bali H’ai

Anyone who saw South Pacific is unlikely to have forgotten Bali H’ai—the tantalizing, exotic island-paradise (for officers only!) that Lieutenant Cable first glimpsed from the Seabees’ camp, and where later he had his tryst with Liat, Bloody Mary’s lovely daughter. Although its specific location was never pinpointed in the famous musical, no one who has seen the jagged silhouette of the island of Moorea (Mooraya) rising from the Pacific just eleven miles across the waves from the harbor of Papeete, Tahiti, can doubt that it was the inspiration for Bali H’ai.

WA

About the Author

William A. Rusher

Beyond Bali H’ai

Anyone who saw South Pacific is unlikely to have forgotten Bali H’ai—the tantalizing, exotic island-paradise (for officers only!) that Lieutenant Cable first glimpsed from the Seabees’ camp, and where later he had his tryst with Liat, Bloody Mary’s lovely daughter. Although its specific location was never pinpointed in the famous musical, no one who has seen the jagged silhouette of the island of Moorea (Mooraya) rising from the Pacific just eleven miles across the waves from the harbor of Papeete, Tahiti, can doubt that it was the inspiration for Bali H’ai.