Huon Reef - November 2008

As you can see we finally got out of Port Vila Harbour. We left on a forecast that should have given us moderate winds, but alas, we haven't seen them. it seemed also as if we had currents against us, so we have motor sailed practically all the way.



Huon Reef - what can we say. We have arrived at this remote paradise amidst huge turtles lazily swimming about in clear blue water. It is mating season and in the late afternoon the females make their way onto the sand atoll to lay their eggs.






They share the atoll with hundreds of birds, many nursing eggs or chicks. We feel privileged to see nature taking place before us with so little human intervention.



Some of the gannet chicks are larger than their parents. Many parents look thin and tired while their chick are loud and demanding.
Sadly we see dead turtles who didn't make it back to the sea in time before baking in the fierce sun.

Sharks eagerly hover close to shore waiting for some easy meals.




Sascha and I madly gather shells, feeling as if we we are the only people on earth to have access to them.

Vanuatu - Port Vila, Santo - October 2008

This year Vanuatu has been much kinder with weather and sea conditions so getting from place to place has been far easier and more comfortable.

We revisited the dugong in Lamon Bay. The locals said they were seeing less of him and thought he was spending time away from the bay looking for a mate .But we were lucky enough to spot him surfacing near the boat, so we had a couple of hours snorkeling with him as he fed and mooched along the bottom.

He didn't seem bothered by our presence and if he thought we'd got a bit close he just swam along a few metres to put some distance between us. Swimming with creatures like these is something I don't think we will ever tire of.

It certainly is true that many places you visit it is the people you meet that makes it memorable. This is the case in Port Sandwich. The weather was forecasted a strong blow for a couple of days so we, along with a couple of other boats, tuck ourselves up in the upper harbour of Sandwich Bay. Well, up there lived an elderly man with a small church he used for the family worship. He had a far off dream that his church would one day have a bell. When Arnie and Cam on 'Jade' hear this they decided to forfeit a beautiful brass bell they had on board to make Iziki's dream come true. We all went in, complete with drill, screws, and maintenance polish, and installed the bell. He held a short service which included the hymn 'Ring the bells of heaven' and he ceremoniously rang the bell as we all sang. He was ecstatic, for probably he has the flashest bell in the district.

He asked us all back in at 4pm as he would prepare a gift for us. At 2pm we hear the sound of a yelping pig and …..yes…… by 4pm there was a leg of pork, vegetables and fruit for each boat. The generosity of these people, who often have so little, is amazing. And I must say pigs reared on coconuts sure do have a great flavour!!!!

Daryl and Sascha did a night snorkel in Banam Bay, a first for Daryl. The thought of swimming underwater at night only being able to see what is lit up in the beam of the torch has never appealed to him. A surprise really considering all the other crazy activities he's enjoyed doing over the years!!! He said he was last in, first out and could still skite about catching a big crayfish. The really big one that Sascha spotted got away (which Sascha was secretly pleased about, as she said he looked sooooo grand in his old age).

Last year we met a local teacher on one of the small islands north of Malekula called Atchen Island. With the generosity of an Opotiki Service group we took a big box of books to him for the school. I'd also gathered stationary in the 'back to school' sales before we left NZ, so we gave him a box of notebooks and other bits.

Do you know a kindy teacher in Vanuatu gets wage of NZ$15 a term from the government!! The government promises a rise in 2010!!

Daryl and Sascha dived the famous wreck of the President Coolidge while in Santo. Sascha said it was a great experience but she didn't think that wreck dives were going to be her thing….. while Daryl thought the engine room was just amazing!!!!! Maybe a man thing…….

A Teachers Training College friend of mine, Chris, spent 3 years in Ambae, Vanuatu as a VSA teacher about ….mmmm…… 25 years ago. So we decided if the wind was right we'd sail up to see if we could find and revisit the school. Luck was with us (most of the way, anyway) and we made our way to Lolowai Bay, which in itself was fascinating, as the bay was an old volcanic crater that the US navy in WW2 blasted a side out of to create an entrance. Scenery in the bay was fantastic.

We had little trouble finding the high school, which still has NZ VSA volunteers. Incidentally the school has been running since 1902 and has so far survived hurricanes, corruption, crooked heads, unfulfilled promises and mismanagement to name a few issues. We spent a lovely morning at the school. The students seemed committed and the teachers said they work hard.

There are many teenagers in Vanuatu that aren't getting a college education because the parents have no money/ income with which to pay the school fees. Then to see the barriers that this school faces to provide an education are heart breaking.

We were quite surprised to realize that books/stationary are often not what's needed in these schools as they don't have waterproof storage and much of what is donated perishes. In fact quite a lot of what is donated, with the best intentions, isn't what is needed and can't be properly utilized. We've seen computers given to schools that don't have power???

Complex and no easy solutions.

We took photos and hope that some buildings that survived the hurricane are ones that Chris remembers.

On the next island we found a village, Asenvari, which was generating hydro power from a nearby waterfall. Daryl was impressed. Simple and effective. The chief and son knew about the system and were effectively maintaining it.

Daryl changed a seal so they now have a backup pump also. A local took us snorkeling to a spot that he reckoned would give us 20 crayfish in 10 minutes in 6ft of water. The depth was right, the other two numbers a little shy but a easy haul all the same. He also gave us a turban shell with the creature still in it which we cooked up. Who else amongst us could say they have eaten turban fritters?

Vanuatu -Tanna, Port Vila - September 2008

We had a good sail across from Fiji, not a lot of wind and what there was, was from a direction which is hard to do anything with. We've been seriously low on fuel due to the excessive motoring but the conditions, for Vanuatu, were great. We were treated to a visit from a curious sperm whale which approached right up to the boat before doing a magnificent dive, flicking up his tail and disappearing under the boat.

In Tanna a small group of us were lucky enough to get invited to a circumcision ceremony in a local village. The circumcision had been done several months ago (two boys aged around 10 yrs) and the ceremony was to welcome the boys back into the community. Locals with good English explained to us what was happening. Some mum's apologized for some of the younger children being frightened of us but they explained that the children hadn't seen white people before, let alone a camera. We were made to feel very welcome and Sascha and I had our faces painted along with all the village females. A great cultural experience, although Daryl thought my 500 photos was a little excessive!!!!

That evening we went up to see the volcano and, although it was fairly active, we feel the truck drive up was more dangerous than the volcano itself!!!!

We left Tanna after dark and were treated to a fantastic view of the erupting volcano as we sailed past. Winds were light (and so was the fuel) but with a full moon it was a beautiful, albeit slow, over night sail to the next island, Erromango. We sailed into the bay amidst a large pod of spinner dolphins.

By 8am we had our day planned including guided trips to burial caves and an ancestral cave with rock drawings.

If you don't think you're into viewing us with human bones, then skip the next two photos. As previous generations in Vanuatu were cannibals, some even up to 1969, they are somewhat more casual than us about the sighting and handling of human bones. In early times they also used the bone to make tools. We found the history fascinating.

The customs and traditions on each island in Vanuatu are quite different and it takes a while to get your head around it all. Adding to this is the change that is occurring due to westernization (for want of a better word). Two boys approached us in Tanna in their dug out canoe and asked whether we could charge their cellphones!!!! Things are changing and makes for some interesting discussing on what is actually the best for these people.

We spent time with the dolphins, did a bit of snorkelling, had time in the village, celebrated Erika's birthday from 'Oz Magic', traded fish hooks for bananas and then it was time to move on.

Fiji - Vanua Levu, Yasawas - August 2008

Cool Bananas reporting in with an update once more.

When last we wrote we were making our way around the main island of Fiji, Viti Levu (with a few island deviations).

We spent a night at a small gorgeous island called Vanualele, which incidentally, for those that are interested, had red footed boobies. They must be relatives of the blue footed boobies we saw in Galapagos. It's always exciting to see something you weren't expecting. Not so easy to get a good photograph though, when you're in a dinghy in lumpy seas.

We also spent a few days in a bay outside a great backpacker typed resort called Robinson Crusoe's. While there Daryl and Sascha went for a dive just outside the entrance by the reef. As they were finishing the dive Sascha tugged on the hose to get Daryl's attention as five humped back whales swam around them. Daryl felt they may have been drawn by the noise of the dive hooker's motor and were curious. The 50ft whales swam around them, then under them and away. Daryl struggled to get photos as they were so big and so close. They both came back buzzing. I'd say it was one of those once in a lifetime experiences for both of them and one they will dine on for some time to come!!!!

Sascha then left us for three weeks to catch up with family and 'find her roots. She had the opportunity to go and see the village where her mother was born and spend time with friends of her late grandmother. She has great photos to take back to share with her Mum – aren't digital cameras wonderful!!!!!

Meanwhile, we were also getting a family 'fix'.

Amanda and Matt flew in for 10 wonderful days aboard. The wind and seas were kind to us and the sun shone. Amanda coped amazingly well considering how motion sensitive she is. She even gets seasick snorkelling!!!! We had lots of R&R – time to catch up on news from home, bridal magazines, wedding planning, games, village visits and water activities. It's funny but it felt like a holiday for us too.

Their highlight was swimming with the manta rays. We spent hours - drifting in the pass with them swimming by…..dinghying back to the entrance…..drifting down……dinghying back. We hadn't realized that the time the manta rays spend feeding there is seasonal and we were there within the last few days before they left, not to return for 7 months.

We spent time in Nalauwaki village and caught up with a family we had met last year. We met and photographed their new addition to the family- a 3 month old baby girl. Amanda gave the older daughter a pile of her old clothes we'd brought over.

We then had Kelly and Daryl's sister Jenny for a week. We cruised in the same area but unfortunately they missed out on the manta rays. Lots more R&R and chatter.

It was lovely to have our 'social' Kelly all to ourselves for a whole week. We caught up on all her career changes and decisions – staying single and travelling amongst them – Go Kelly!!!

This year we feel 'we got to know' Fiji a lot better. We bought newspapers, spoke to locals and expats and gather views on the political and economic situation…..wait for it….yes…. Daryl got quite keen on doing a little investment project…. maybe. He got offered a real estate job but the lure for travelling on coupled with the uncertainty in Fiji won over.

We've now got Sascha back on board, we all agree we've been doing too much eating and relaxing so…… we're checking out and moving on to Vanuatu (and on a diet). Vanuatu is a revisit for us but last year we feel we only just touched the surface and hope that we'll get better weather conditions and can explore further.