Blogs from Tanna, Vanuatu, Oceania

Port Vila on Efate is a world way from our days in Papua. Port Vila is laid-back and safe. They grow coffee here so we wander along the harbour front to find ourselves a coffee shop, Nambawan Cafe. It does serve excellent coffee, Vanuatu-grown of course. The harbour setting reminds us of the Caribbean, with yachts, large and small, from all over the world . In the South Pacific many islanders speak a form of Pijin English. By phonetically saying what we read, or listening carefully to what is said, we can understand a lot. Nambawan = No 1, meaning best; U no kam insaed = Keep out; Tabu sitapon step = Don’t sit on the steps. We have a kitchen here, so shop for fruit and vegetables in the market. People are invariably friendly and ... read more

In September 2012, Paul and I had one of the most amazing holidays in Vanuatu. We had the pleasure of staying three nights on Tanna Island where we had the chance to snorkel with sea turtles, climb an active volcano, smoke with a ‘real’ village Chief, experience the way of life with the welcoming Lowinio village people and much more! Tanna Island is such a beautiful island and quite different from the rest of Vanuatu. It was truly another adventure of its own. Just a short 35 minute flight from Port Vila, it’s the home of Mount Yasur– the world’s most accessible active volcano. The Island is surrounded by the blue waters of the South Pacific and is one of the southern-most islands of Vanuatu. There is a lot to see and do in Tanna – ... read more

Awe. Terror. Excitement. Fear. Amazement. Disbelief. Never before have I experience all these emotions coursing through me simultaneously. But then, never before have I stood on the craters edge of an erupting volcano. Every time the bubbling lava pool let out an ear deafening blast followed by a fountain of bright orange lava shooting 300 feet into the air, my body would want to run but my mind couldn’t get enough of this natural firework show. In response to each eruption, my conflicting emotions would burst to the surface in the form of uncontrollable giggles. Giggles of terror! When we set sail from Fiji to Vanuatu, we planned to arrive on the island of Tanna where we could check into the country and see Mt Yasur, an easily accessible active volcano. We heard from other cruisers ... read more

Alright, where to begin. My flight from Tanna to Port Villa was supposed to fly out at 10am. When we got to the airport we were told there was a delay. Apparently, the workers had decided to go on strike 30 minutes before our check-in and were refusing to refuel or load the baggage. The president of Air Vanuatu had to fly down settle things. About 4 hours later we were taking off. We arrived in Port Villa and the police escorted us all aside to get statements for their investigation...Whatever that means. A few hours later we were on our plane to go from Port Villa to Nadi, Fiji. As we were taxiing on the runway to turn around and take off it felt like all the tires on one side of the plane exploded. ... read more

Jaha, då ska vi se om jag möjligen kan författa något som är kortare än Gamla Testamentet. I begynnelsen skapade Gud himmel och jor.... Nähä, nu blev det inte riktigt rätt här. Jag börjar om. Vi har alla våra hang-ups: för en del är det Malt-whiskey, för andra handväskor. För mig är det Dugonger. - Dugungvadå?? En Dugong är ett stort vattenlevande däggdjur som lever i samtliga tropiska mellan östafrika och Oceaninen. Den ser ut ungefär som en snäll farbor som någon stoppat i en ovanligt stor strumpa. Eller möjligen en säl på steroider. 3 meter långa och 300 kilo tungar tillbringar dessa harmlösa djur sina dagar med att i med att i maklig takt beta sjögräs och sova. De kallas även sjökor och sägs vara upphovet till legenderna om sjöjungfrur (hur i hela världen det ... read more