Blogs from Efate, Vanuatu, Oceania
January 13th 2012
Shore day in Port Vila Vanuatu. This is the capital and on the island of Efate, the south west of the group of islands formerly known as The New Hebrides as named and chartered by Captain Cook. A small capital of around 30,000 people from a mix of nationalities with the principal language of Bislama (pidgin type of language ) English and French. In the harbour lies the island of Iririki which has expensive looking resorts doted around. There seems to be quite a lot of marketing of homes and villa to expats, lots of real estates. The harbor had a constant sea mist today, not sure if this is usual. It was hot and muggy when we disembarked and we ran the gauntlet of the taxis and vans lined up and took one to town. ... read more
August 20th 2011
I've dragged myself to write today's blog, and yesterdays blog for what I can remember of it - well most of it was spent in the office so not much to say! I think there will be more periods where i'm just unable to write a blog every night, mainly due to being too tired or just too busy. So I might do it every other day or so. Yesterday (19/08/11) consisted of waking up at 6am again (naturally) packing my bags, having breakfast in my room, sorting out a few things with important things in safe pockets/distance from me and so on. I then checked out from the over priced hotel, 7,500 vatu per night. Which comes to something like £40-50 per night! Really isn't as cheap as i expected it to be at all. ... read more
August 17th 2011
So today I touched down in Vanuatu (17th Aug) it's some time in the evening here... must remember to change time on my phone. I feel like i've been travelling for years. It was so good to finally have a shower and brush my teeth after finally putting my bags down. Flight from London to Dubai went fine. Dubai to Brisbane was fine, I just didn't remember how long it took.. it went on forever.. was at least 12 hours flying.. the good thing was that it wasn't fully booked and i managed to secure 3 seats to myself next to a window... so yeah I was able to lie down and get a fair amount of sleep. Might go off on a rant now but I hate Australian customs, it's the most fuss in the ... read more
July 17th 2011
Hello again everyone! Today I find myself back in Port Vila in the hospitality of good friends and familiar faces. Project MARC's 2011 season will officially kick off in a couple weeks, but Dr. Hilbert and I are here early for prep and planning of our August expedition. Keep up with us here for further updates on our progress with the expeditions or follow us on Twitter for blurbs from the bush! Thanks for the support and for keeping interested in Vanuatu! ... read more
April 15th 2011
Turtles, turtles everywhere! The Kustom owners at Chrystal Blue Lagoon sure know a great location when they see it. We spent the day out there and discovered a turtle hatchery full of very cute little babies. We swam and snorkled in the lagoon and got up close and personal with lots of colourful sealife. Exhausted and ready to eat, the over-water restaurant was calling. Friendly staff happily prepared the most delicious seafood platter, freshly caught in the waters below. The other Gypsy taste tested Vanuatu's famously tender organic beef, BBQ’d to perfection … he wasn’t disappointed. Established and managed by local ni-Vanuatu Kustom owners on Turtle Bay Beach, just 20 minutes drive from Port Vila, Crystal Blue offers conference facilities, restaurant, workshop and a chapel (just in case the tropical ambience gets you in the marrying ... read more
January 27th 2011
Hey, Here're some pictures from my Vanuatu trip! It was really awesome, but quite adventurous. The full pacific experience inclusive earthquake and a tropical cyclone. Unfortunately, the sea was quite rough after the cyclone, which affected the visibility underwater for some days. I also got stuck on Efate (Main Island) as all flights where canceled, because of the weather. Nevertheless, it was really amazing. Very nice and very friendly people!! Made many new friends... The second part has the better UW pictures, which were taken several days after the cyclone, when the sea got quiet. Yu play play gut! Lukim yu! Stefan ... read more
October 7th 2010
Up at the crack of dawn for an early flight home. Of course the taxi driver overslept and we had to ring him! Dad Best trip - Mount Yasur volcano with the real custom dancing on the way home Best food - Fruit salad of pawpaw, native raspberry, apple and mini banana Best Friend - Peter of course! Most memorable moment - Snorkelling over the coral platform on the coongoola cruise. Funniest moment - Finding a crab in my bed Mum Best trip - Of course it was going to the volcano as I haven't done anything like that before but I also loved the day on Coongoola Best food - coconut prawns, sweet potato and steak Best Friend - my husband Most memorable moment - getting out of the car and the volcano gurgled and ... read more
October 6th 2010
We spent our last morning going to town. Grace had her hair braided again and Tom went looking for a string guitar and fireworks. Tom and Dad had lunch in the market, Dad had a fish curry and Tom had steak. There was some chilling sauce that was quite possibly the hottest thing on the planet, even hotter than Mt Yasur! In the afternoon we packed up and spent time sitting on the beanbags watching the sunset. We found a copy of a tv show called "meet the natives" which was all about some men from Tanna going to England. We had met the chief when we visited the custom village, the most unusual reality tv star you could ever expect to meet! Another night of strange beasts; seeing off a bin-raiding dog in the middle ... read more
October 5th 2010
We left in the morning to go to Eton Beach. The weather was unsettled and it rained off and on. The beach was gorgeous, with a cool stream running into it and a deep pool, the rest of the beach was taken up by a large shallow lagoon. The weather spoiled things a bit and the mixing of warm fresh and cold salty water made the snorkeling difficult. It was hard to see with all the refractive jumble, but that in itself was quite a thing to see. In the afternoon there was more mooching and fish feeding off our own private beach. ... read more
