Blogs from Efate, Vanuatu, Oceania - page 5

Hello All, This is our first entry on behalf of our service in Vanuatu with the Peace Corps. It is partly to distinguish this portion of the blog from my entries from Mexico and partly to alert those who are still on the e-mail list that they are still active subscribers to this blog. I'm sure that action can be reversed if you are uninterested in our upcoming adventure (imagine...). We'll be leaving September 17 for 3 days of preparation in California. Then we depart for our island home in the South Pacific. Further contact information is available through our parents. Peace until later!... read more

August 4th, 2008 Port Vila Harbor The past few weeks in Port Vila have been quite an adventure in logistics. After arriving so much earlier than planned, I had some time to survey they scene before diving headlong into purchasing supplies. The time proved to be invaluable. Most of the industrial supply shops here in town sell the same general items for about the same general prices. Certain stores have certain specialty items, so hunting for what you need takes a lot of trips to a lot of places. In the first week of our time here I must have met with a dozen store managers from a dozen different shops. In the end, it was all worth it. The shop owners and managers all seemed pleased to help out with our project. Some offered advice, ... read more

9/6 After a nerve racking start – I’ll spare you the details of my anxiety attacks, we left Adelaide at 6.00am on Qantas. They even serve breakfast on the 1 ½ hr flight. There was a reasonable amount of turbulence because of the rainy weather, but I survived. From Sydney, we caught Air Vanuatu and also had a 3 course lunch, - which I actually ate and it was delicious! We touched down in Pt Villa at about 3.00pm Vanuatu time and were surprised to find that it was warm but not hot and humid like we expected, however we had travelled a lot earlier in the year than we normally do. Coconut Palms Resort was lovely but almost deserted. We went for a swim in the pool and despite the lack of sleep, we were ... read more

‘The happiest place on earth’. That is how Vanuatu is officially known, whether it is because it has friendly smiling faces and warm personalities, year round sunshine and crystal blue waters, or because it is a tax haven remains to be seen. Even arriving off our plane late at night was pleasurable, as we were welcomed by a local band in grass skirt playing happy island music, while we waited in the queue for immigration, which followed up with beaming smiles. Nothing like Heathrow eh? It was all with a sense of relief that we were even in Vanuatu as we had originally arranged to go to PNG arriving in Port Moresby to move onto New Ireland. But we had heard so many horror stories of violence, crime and difficult situations for independent tourists that led ... read more

Ohh man, Im brand new to this fancy schmancy blogging thing, but Im going to give it my darndest. Ill try to use this format in order to let any of my family and/or friends ( basically anybody who cares to read some sometimes incoherent babble and waste 10 -15 min of their perfectly good time) know what is going on around this side of the planet. I hope that I dont let ya down... Here goes.... Well, after just around 40hrs of sitting on planes, but mostly in airports, my traveling partner and new attorney , The Benn and I arrived in the land where strong Kava flows like wine and where it is said that some of the natives still practice the culinary art of cannibalism. Ahh, Vanuatu! We made it and I have ... read more