Vanuatu/New Caledonia - September October 2007

Hello Again from Cool Bananas

We had an uneventful sail between Vanuatu and New Caledonia. There was a notorious passage we had to come through just off New Caledonia which I had done much research to get wind and tides right for. We sailed through there at dawn, with the seas a slight roll, doing 10 knots!!

When Jenny arrived we headed to Isles of Pines. On the way we had a fantastic experience with some whales. We had stopped to watch them and they came up close to us. They hovered for quite a while until we decided they were getting a little too curious. Such huge creatures!!

The water is a little bracing to get into, (25 deg.), but we brave it a few times to make sure Jenny got the New Caledonian snorkelling experience. The water was soo clear. We saw turtles above the water and turtles below.

To get the lay of the land we hitch hiked around the island. Yes - what we tell our children not to do - we did!! We were picked up by fantastically friendly people, some with little English, but we got there. So much fun.

On the way back we stopped at Amedee Lighthouse, which Daryl and I last visited 20 years ago. The snorkelling there was great, a reserve, so the fish were generally big. Met some cruisers there, got invited to a birthday celebration, and have spent time with them since, which has been nice.

We are feeling well travelled when we invite a cruising couple, that anchored in a bay with us, over for a drink and then establish we last saw them in Antigua!!! It is a small world. They are also from Hamilton but were on a friend's boat in Antigua and now cruising on their own. It was like a reunion.

We have to say that things here are expensive. They have a 40% sales tax added to everything. A loaf of 'Natures Fresh' bread is $13, steak is over $40 a kilo, scallops $90 a kilo at the fish market, asparagus $50 a kilo. Needless to say we are not eating those particular foods and have found cheaper alternatives. The local baguettes are always good and the pastries a cheap lunch.

I gave myself a haircut yesterday. Oh how I miss my own hairdresser!! I braved it and had a cut in Vanuatu, but the language barrier here was a little great to risk it. Daryl thinks it looks fine, but I can imagine when my hairdresser will say when I get home.

We have had a bit of time in Noumea. I've enjoyed people watching - the French - they have such a 'stylie' way of dressing!!! Their clothes, fabrics, shoes are so…. classy.

We have had a change in our original plan. We have decided to stay on in New Caledonia, not go to Australia, and then sail back to NZ in mid November. That way we can continue to enjoy New Caledonia and hopefully get out to some of the outer islands which we missed coming in because we came in later than first planned.

Best Wishes

Vanuatu - August 2007

Cool Bananas in Vanuatu

Yes, we are still in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Since our last communication we have sailed our way back down to Port Vila having two main stops. The first was Bannam Bay, Malekula Island.

Here we were in an isolated village with no tourism except the yachts. They were extremely hospitable and we had some great experiences in village life. They took us (that's all bar me) for a walk to a beautiful waterfall, picking ripe fruit from trees as they went. The children are so agile, shimmying tall coconut palms for their fruit. Their hospitality extended to an afternoon tea spread on the way back. The village put on their traditional dancing just for us. A real treat.

We then had a good run down to Lamman Bay in Epi. This is where you can swim with the dugong, sea cows. We saw and swam with one. Photos courtesy of Dynes.

The village there was quite large and looked relatively well funded compared with anywhere else. We joined in their Independence Day celebration - run on 'island time'. It's funny but you ask 3 locals what time something starts and you'll probably get three different times. We've learnt to just go with the flow.

From there we were going to visit a couple more islands but the wind was so good, and I was rapidly declining in health, so we ended up making a hasty track straight into Port Vila. Turns out I had a chest infection and asthma – nothing a good antibiotic wouldn't fix. No subsides here – a course of augmentin cost $60!!!

We then farewelled Lyn and Dynes from the boat, Dynes having had about 9 weeks on the boat this season. They have been fantastic crew and great company.

Debs got a great job in Australia which they encouraged her to go to, sooner rather than later, so she hasn't returned to the boat. So Daryl and I had a couple of weeks on the boat, catching up on maintenance and looking for crew. We now have Greg aboard, who has flown from the States to help us with the next two crossings. His friend Lena will join us in Noumea.

Friends from Opotiki, Julian and Nghaire Lowe have been on the boat for the last 10 days. John Connor also came and stayed locally, joining in the days activities. So we had a week of playing tourist and then went sailing for a few days around the coast.

Coming back we hit some bad weather on the notorious "Devils Point" at the bays entrance. The decision to tow the dinghy turned out to be a bad one. The rope broke and it was too rough to turn back and get it, so we had to let it go. A hard call and Daryl is still mourning the loss of a loyal friend.

The cruisers have been fantastically supportive in getting a replacement. One boat offered to swap us a dinghy (along with holes) for a carton of beer. The boat yard dug up an old motor he'd never got round to fixing up and another boat found some old oars belonging to his long- gone dinghy. We're back in business!! Great considering you can't buy a dinghy here even if we had wanted a new one. We'll choose a new one when we get to Australia.

The weather has been fairly wet and wild. We are hoping to leave for New Caledonia in 3-4 days time.

Laurel & Daryl _/)

Vanuatu - July 2007

Hi Everyone,

We have now had nearly two weeks in Vanuatu and are starting to get a feel for the place. From Fiji we had a quiet crossing, 450 miles motor sailing in light winds from behind with little to no swell. Certainly not a sailor's dream, but easy.

Vanuatu is surrounded in fairly deep water on most islands, so anchorages are few and far between. We had nearly a week at Port Resolution in Tanna. To clear customs and immigration we took a two hour ride on the back of a ute, across rough roads (tracks) to the other side of the island. What a way to see a country. We had struck market day so we were able to stock up on fresh organic fruit and vegetables, and sooo cheap.

Tanna hosts the most easily accessible active volcano in the world so you couldn't imagine us missing that opportunity. Even Daryl was checking the escape routes as the hot, lava boulders were landing within 100ft of us. Most impressive.

In Port Resolution we had opportunities to interact with the locals. Daryl repaired a few stereos and attempted a few torches. I took some family photos for a family, which we printed for them (we now have a printer on the boat). They are such lovely people. We came away loaded with gifts of fresh veges, fruit and hand woven bags.

From Tanna we sailed north to the island of Erromango. Because the wind direction was from the west (unusual) and very gentle, we chose to sail up the eastern side of the island. The village in the bay where we stopped had seen only two yachts this year, us being the second. They were very excited to see us, especially the children. We had caught a big tuna on the way in, so we presented it to the chief as a gift. Probably 50 people came to greet us when we came to shore in the dinghy. The only contact the village of 400 people has is a trading boat visit once every three months otherwise it is a 21 km walk over the hills to the next village. They had dolphins living in the bay which we swam with briefly. The dolphins were very wary of us, which makes us suspicious that they may be hunted by the locals. In Fiji and Vanuatu the locals in the villages were quite open about the fact that they hunt and eat turtle. Sad. Our stay of two nights was far too short but we needed to move on.

In Port Vila we waved goodbye to Debs who has gone back to the UK for about a month and picked up Dynes and Lyn who are back on board for a short 3 weeks. They are fantastic crew and we thoroughly enjoy having them.

Leaving Vila we did 2 day sails to get up to Santo in the north. Yesterday Daryl and Dynes went on 3 commercial dives on the Coolidge wreck, a luxury liner commissioned in the Second World War. They felt it deserved its reputation of being one of the best dives in the world. Daryl took our new underwater camera and is pleased with his shots. They will dive on it again tomorrow.

Today we have had snorkeling and diving at 'Million Dollar Point' where the American forces pushed all the machinery, vehicles, equipment, tanks etc at the end of the war. Santo had seen 500,000 military here during the war - 40 picture theatres. We have enjoyed the history.

We stopped a some remote little islands on our way back to Port Vila. Aitchen Island was very interesting. It is known for the building of canoes - there were hundreds of them. It was relatively highly populated (1000 people) compared with other islands. We do wonder how long since cannibalism has been practised?? The cook houses looked pretty well maintained. Leben, a local school teacher gave us a wonderful tour of the island. He gave us alot of interesting local history and information. There is obviously still much grappling between westernised religion and their old cultural beliefs (custom beliefs). There are still practising witch doctors who can influence the death of an individual. The locals are still using natural medicines more than doctors. Due to isolation the beliefs and practises between islands varies considerably.

I took photos of some elderly people and when I offered them the camera screen it became evident that they had no idea to look for their image on the screen. The children knew however.

It had to happen!! I have had my first unplanned swim while attempting to get into the dinghy from the yacht. The good news is: the bag with the camera in it didn't get wet and my shoes float. The bad news is I clipped my tail bone on the way down and am having trouble sitting down. The good news is: after a few drinks Daryl and Dynes devised a doughnut cushion in the form of a life jacket. If I sit with my tail bone in the head hole there is no pressure. So keen were they to have my company at dinner that Dynes walked into the restaurant with the bright orange life jacket on his arm!!

It has rained a lot up here but we are not letting it stop us. The water is warm and clear.

Cheers for now

Laurel and Daryl, Dynes and Lyn