Feb 2, 2010 - Port Vila, Vanuatu

Greetings from Port Vila, Vanuatu (after a day at sea from Fiji)! Each island (or country/port) is more beautiful than the last port and has endearing sites and memories that will forever be with us in our mind's eye (and to some degree the interpretation of the photos that we take). This morning was somewhat mystifying but welcomed from the "resort" type, popular tourist mecca of Fiji. Lots of Australians & Japanese vacation in Fiji because of the relatively short flight from either countries. The "tourist mecca" part of Fiji is that that...

Nov 8, 2009 - The reckless are all out wrecking ....

A quick iPod Touch update. I'm in Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. It is spectacular! I've been diving a WWII wreck, the SS President Coolidge. It was a luxury liner that became a troop transporter at the start of the war and sunk after hitting a "friendly" mine entering the bay here. It is huge, 200m in length and sits in crystal clear water 25 - 70 meters deep. I did my deepest dive yet at 40m this morning to keep a date with "The Lady". Tonight it is a night dive into "Cargo Hold 2" to check out the Flashlight Fish! Tomorrow I dive...

Oct 22, 2009 - The old NEW HEBRIDES

“I have no doubt that it is part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came in contact with the more civilized.” - Thoreau Today we pulled into Port Vila, the capital of the independent country of Vanuatu. Vanuatu’s 83 islands make up the southern end of the Melanesian Archipelago. The islands are volcanic in origin as were all the islands we have been visiting on our journey. The nutrient-rich soils have given rise to...

Jun 24, 2007 - Vanuatu,Espirito Santo Island, Lonnoc Beach, 10 weeks in paradise

Espirito Santo Island, Vanuatu We stepped off the plane in Santo exhausted, dirty, and starving. The four extra landings and take-offs in the tiny propeller aircraft between Pentecost and Santo proved to be too much for us both and we were frazzeled with nerves on edge due to the extremely strong winds and turbulence. Keep in mind here that we have not really slept well in 8 days, we have eaten only yams, yes yams, and our bodies and clothes are covered with red mud. Tom and I had stopped speaking many hours ago back in Bunlap due to sheer...

Jun 14, 2006 - Port Vila, Vanuatu

Port Vila, Vanuatu - Friendly, Warm and Welcoming Locals Eighty- three, lush volcanic Melanesian Islands sitting in the South Pacific Ocean, largely untouristed, with locals living out life as they have for hundreds of years. Sure the majority now dress like westerners and not in their traditional clothing, and the capital city of Port Vila has a lot of foreign owned businesses bringing in the western culture, restaurants and shops. However, overall the country is largely untouched by the Western world, especially on the outer islands. The...

Jun 14, 2006 - Port Vila, Vanuatu

Port Vila, Vanuatu - Friendly, Warm and Welcoming Locals Eighty- three, lush volcanic Melanesian Islands sitting in the South Pacific Ocean, largely untouristed, with locals living out life as they have for hundreds of years. Sure the majority now dress like westerners and not in their traditional clothing, and the capital city of Port Vila has a lot of foreign owned businesses bringing in the western culture, restaurants and shops. However, overall the country is largely untouched by the Western world, especially on the outer islands. The...

May 18, 2005 - Vanuatu- Camille& Mike

Well, what a great island paradise... maybe I won't go back to Perth forever afterall.... WEll if I thought I was coming here for a relaxing, cheap holiday, I was very much mistaken. Camille whipped me straight from the airport to the golf course where I managed a very dismal first half round where I could barely hit the ball, to a sensational second half where I caught up again. Sweet! Then we hit the restaurants at the start of a very long week of eating out at all the best resorts in town. What a way to live. Then I had to organise some...

Nov 9, 2004 - Vanuatu

Lots has happened since last entry. Cairns to Brisbane, several days in Brisbane and on to Vanuatu for 5 wonderful days. This was New Herbides until indenpendence in 1980. It lies between PaPau New Guinea and Fiji, about 1500 miles NE of Australia. The interisland airline lost my booking so I got to spend the first night in Port Vila, where all international flights have to land. Next day on to Santo, the big island to the north. The shipwreck "SS President Coolidge" is a shore dive just outside town where I stayed, so I got to dive it 5...