Blogs from Vanuatu, Oceania

Here is my second entry on Vanuatu. I have to admit, exploring an active volcano and diving one of the biggest WWII wreck is a little too much for me over a single blog. My trip is soon turning to an end. I came back home in Bali last night, and yes, it feels good to be at home! Espiritu Island, also known as Santo is a 45 minutes flight from the capital Port Vila to Luganville. The flight is on the local Air Vanuatu ATR72. The are few things to see or do around Santo. I'm here only to dive the US President Coolidge wreck, so I have to admit I didn't do it all the way to Champagne Beach. This beach is one of the only cool ones around. Yes, cool beaches are not ... read more

Day 7 We were escorted to the tender by Francisco on to a boat and off to Mystery Island. The weather was hot and sunny. We had a couple of swims and Kevin did some snorkelling. I took the goggles and had a look at the fish. Brilliantly coloured and plentiful. Bright purple, yellow and green. Huge coral. Bought another necklace to use up our last Vatu. Gave some kids the pencils that we had bought over. Back to the boat for a shower and lunch. It rained again this afternoon. Went to see the Boys in the Band show. 3 guys singing tributes to male groups eg Franki Vallie, Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel. A great show... read more

Day 5 We had to wait to be allowed off the ship as we needed clearances from local authorities because of coronavirus. When we got off we negotiated a scrum of touts to get a Water Taxi in to town $5 pp. A lovely ride which took us past boats that were shipwrecked during the last cyclone. Nothing has been moved to cleaned up. Nowhere to put the wrecks presumably. Easily found the yellow building which housed the Duty Free store. Very cheap prices 1.75 litre Hendricks ($85). Decided to come back to it after a bit of exploring. We found a cafe and had a Tusker beer and used the wifi. We then went for a walk around town and through the markets. Bought two pieces of pineapple wrapped in banana leaves. Juicy and sweet. ... read more

Blog 30 Part 1: Port Vila, Vanuatu, April 18 ,2018 – Weather forecast: partly cloudy; temperature 28°C, wind 28kts (7 Beaufort) – overnight gusting to 44kts – 2 to 3-meter swells Today’s port of call is Port Vila, the capital city of Vanuatu, which was a former French/British colony. They jointly ruled the island chain from 1906 until independence was achieved in 1980. Of the 82 islands that make up this island nation 62 are inhabited and are home to approximately 300,000 inhabitants, some of whom actually practiced cannibalism as late as the 1960’s. There are approximately 105 different indigenous dialects spoken by this population. Today the islands are a peaceful tourist destination with a rugged coastline and a rolling verdant rain forest. Our tour today took in the magical and mysterious world of ancient Melanesia ... read more

Sorry for the week or so of not blogging, rest assured I have been celebrating in the mean time and now that I've got internet, I shall get back to daily blogging from today (and also be typing up notes from the missing days). But for now, today. Starting with the death of Buddha. Parinirvana is celebrated by Buddhists who remember the death of Buddha and think about their own mortality. I attempted meditation - I am not good at it. For starters, the guided meditations I tried annoyed me almost instantly - the soft voices speaking very, very slowly. So I learnt to breathe from a Buddhist monk's youtube video (proof the internet has everything). I read the rest of 'Introduction to Buddhism' that I began on Friday. Describing the life and death of Buddha. ... read more