The 25th of October, 2009 was a historical moment for a Polish expedition TX5SPA and TH5SPM. The Polish team returned home safe and sound.
 And here is how it all started…During a last year’s Convention of the SPDX Club, Wojtek SP9PT offered me a joint expedition to Nauru.  I myself was rather thinking of organizing a journey to French Polynesia, namely to the archipelago of Austral and Marquesas Islands. After some discussion and analysis of the two possibilities, we chose my option as it seemed more demanding, difficult and attractive at the same time. Another argument for was the fact that after my journey to Ducie Island (VP6DX) I had a friend named Michel (FO5QB) who is a great man and an excellent organizer. He immediately decided to join us in our undertaking and without any delay started to take care of any formalities on the other side of the globe.
 By then we had a team of five people: Michel (FO5QB), Janusz (SP3CYY), Wojtek (SP9PT), Jozek (SWL), and me, Leszek (SP3DOI).

  The aim of our trip was to make as many qso as possible especially with Europe and on low frequency bands. Of course, we did not want to ignore any radio users from other continents.
 I committed myself to the task of designing and preparing the antennas and other equipment for the expedition.
 We booked the tickets and applied to Polynesian authorities for special signs allowing us to carry out our tasks. So I pulled up my socks and got down to preparing the antennas.
At the same time, Michel was conducting some reconnaissance on Austral Islands (our main aim), where he found a perfect place for our undertaking, received a permit for our stay, using electricity, and a promise from the army to borrow and put up a tent. Finally, he also booked us some rooms in one of few guesthouses in a nearby area. (we called it “At Yolanda’s”).
 From our preliminary estimates it turned out that we had to take about 250 kg of equipment. That’s a lot as for four members of the trip, but both archipelagoes are extremely difficult to make connections from with Europe.
 To avoid any accusations that we were trying to have a holiday for someone else’s money (namely sponsors), we decided that we would pay the expenses ourselves, primarily for our sheer pleasure.
 In early spring 2009 the antennas were ready. The only factor preventing us from carrying out field testing was the weather. However, once the weather improved, we carried out the tests successfully and I had a chance to convince my partners that lugging all that clutter is worth the trouble.
 Some time later we received information that we were granted the sings we had applied for. Then Michel bought out the tickets for a local airline Air Tahiti.
 During our meetings before the trip we settled numerous organizational issues and we decided that a maximum weight of our personal belongings would be 5 kg plus the things everyone would have on them.
 The last meeting, on the 23rd of September, took place in Topola Mala. We packed our equipment, had a short night’s sleep and left for Warsaw Airport. We were driven there by my son, Robert SQ3DOI.
 At the airport we were seen off by two other friends of ours, Robert SP5XVY and Jacek SP5EAQ. Everything went nice up until the point where we were ‘taken care of’ by the Air France staff who completely ignored the fact that we had entered the information about our extra-dimensional luggage to the system. As a result, we were obliged  to pay 900 euros instead of 300!
 Next, there was a flight to Paris, waiting, a flight to Los Angeles, customs clearance and waiting, and finally a flight to Papeete. And there we received a warm welcome (at 3 am, after 33 hours of travelling) from trustworthy and reliable Michel and  his friends, short-wave radio users from FO. After that we found ourselves in Michel’s house having breakfast. The following two days were a delightful stay with Michel and his wife Marie-Odile. Of course, waiting for our flight to Tubuai (Austral Islands) we worked on Michel’s station as FO/SP and made about 1,500 connections.
 One of the our greatest attractions was a visit to a ship called BRAVEHEART harbouring in Tahiti, the best known ship famous for carrying the expeditions of short-wave radio users (for example VP6DX).
 On the 27th of September we flew out to Austral Islands. Unfortunately the antennas did not come with us. Luckily, they flew in the next day.
 Meanwhile, from early morning of the 27th of Sep. we went with Michel to visit Armie. After a few hours we had our tent put up, and Michel managed to turn on the power (we were on the port area where a special permit is needed).
 Unfortunately, to our surprise we found out that the place was full of silt from the port dredge. Moreover, we encountered a cyclone with gale-force winds and heavy rain. The wind was so strong that it blew off the crests of waves and splashed salty water on our tent and even antennas. The temperature fell dramatically, with 15 degrees Celsius at night.
 The port service told us that the silt was not a problem and that they would level the entire area. And in fact during the next two days a bulldogger, working 10 hours a day, surfaced the whole area to the height of about 1 meter.
 Our tent did not have a floor and even though it was located on the seemingly highest place, there was water under our feet. For this reason we had to move our table from one place to another, since we were fighting with leaks and water dripping on our equipment.
 On the 28th of September we set up our equipment and put up a few antennas. I have to admit that in that bad weather I would never have put anything up in my house.
 However, all these problems were made up for by the good propagation. During the first few days, in spite of an incomplete set of antennas and a huge number of equipment-related problems we managed to make a number of connections with Europe, particularly with the stations 100w/dipole, on low frequency bands.
 That situation was unchanged for the next two weeks. There were only two days where the wind was weak, the sun was scarce and the temperature at night was quite cold. Another doubtful attraction was a hoax connected with the tsunami haunting the region of Samoa. We were given only 15 minutes to prepare for evacuation; however, after the next 15 minutes the alarm was called off.
 After the first seven days the propagation was smaller and smaller every day. Nonetheless, we managed to make an average of 2000 qso a day. And there were actually three operators, because Michel worked together with us as SSB/RTTY, breaking his personal qso records every day. Of course, we bore in mind our priorities, i.e. working on low frequencies primarily with the EU countries.
 A very nice thing for us were short openings for 10 and 12 m, with a few hundred qso on each of these bands (including the EU). It allowed many stations to contact us on all 9 bands.
 On the 12th of October, despite rain, we decided to go on a trip around the island. Next day, in full sun we packed our equipment and got ready for our return to Tahiti.
 On the 14th, after a short flight (90 min) we landed in Papeete. We picked up our stuff and send it to Nuku Hiva (Marquesas Islands). Air Tahiti accepts only 20 kg of luggage, so we had to send it as cargo and, of course, pay a small fortune. As always, after landing we were greeted by helpful radio users and after a few-minute drive we are at Michel’s place. Next, there was a refreshing swim in the pool, after which we repacked our stuff.
 Knowing that the conditions for putting up the antennas would be more simple on Nuku Hiva, we left some of them on Tahiti.
 Next day, after almost 4 hours of flying, we landed on Nuku Hiwa. It was raining. On site there were 2 Jeeps waiting to take us to a guesthouse Yvonne in Haiteu. The drive through the mountains took us 3 hours and was an unforgettable experience. When we arrived, it turned out that the antennas would have to be located among wet trees, away from the beach. Moreover, we found out that we were at the end on a fiord, between high mountains, and the window to the North was about 20 degrees. Nonetheless, we got down to business and after two hours we managed to make first connections.
 The propagation was weak, with no openings on 12 and 10m. In spite of the fact that one station was running on RTTY we made almost 2000 qso a day. Unfortunately, we were unable to put up our 160m antenna, but judging from hard conditions on 80m, that band seemed unlikely to bring positive results.
 It was warm and rainy here like in a sauna, with no wind, and mosquitoes even more aggressive than on Austral Islands. On top of that, a large number of flies was a pain in the neck. We bathed in the Pacific Ocean. On our last day there, however, in the place were we usually bathed we noticed a couple of triangle-shaped fins above the surface of water, so everybody immediately lost their zest for swimming.
 The food was great, though. We ate mainly seafood and fruit. The people there were very hospitable, and we became well-known after a few articles in Polynesian press. We sometimes received full bags of fruit from strangers. Everybody was really friendly to each other.
 We finished our work on the 22nd of October, a few days earlier than planned, because the electricity was cut off on the entire island. So, we finished with 12700 qso. Next, we packed our equipment and get ready for a flight.
In the morning of 23rd “our” two Jeeps came again to pick us up. So we packed and went to the airport. The way to the airport was completely different than that on our arrival; it was sunny and the views were breathtaking. And there were no alternative places for our QTH, which is comforting because we made our choice with the use of Google Maps.
 After the next 4 hours we were back to Pepeete. Unfortunately, without our cargo. It was quite a problem for Michel, because the cargo arrived after seven days, and he had to pick up over 100 kg of luggage, store it and send it to Warsaw by Air France. And I had to spend the entire day to get it back from Warsaw.
 It was time to say goodbye. We had our farewell dinner at Michel’s, but I could see that he was very tired and had some health problems. We fully admired him for his commitment and staying with us despite some problems, and of course for his logistic work prior to the expedition; and generally for his company.
 In the evening of 25th of October, after another 33 hours on the plane, we finally landed in Warsaw and were greeted by Robert. So we went straight home to Topola.
 Once we were at home, we found numerous letters with congratulations, which was really nice. Wojtek SP9PT received over 2,500 letters with cards within the next three days. It was amazing! It only proves that we had chosen attractive places for our journey.
 All in all, we made 40,200 qso. It is 30 percent more than our maximal plan. And, what’s rare, we could find hardly any negative opinions about our activities.
 I have two observations concerning the connections with Poland. One is that the level of operators and the quality of signals have improved a lot recently. We can observe a huge progress in these areas with every new trip.
 My second observation concerns a very limited access to information. I get the impression that the news in Poland is spread from mouth to mouth rather than via the Internet. We had announced our expedition in all possible mass media in spring, and in autumn I was invited by the members of SPDXClub to a meeting, which took place during our trip. From Austral Islands, where we spent twice as much time as on Marquesas Islands, we contacted fewer Polish stations than during our one-week stay with worse propagation on Marquesas Islands. But maybe I am wrong.
 Anyhow, I would like to invite everybody who wants to learn more about our trip to visit our web page (expedition FO2009SP) where you can find such things as an on-line log, statistics, some photos as well as daily updated news which are a sort of a chronicle from our journey.
 Now, I have already started to think what will be next…

[Special TNX Les, SP3DOI ]