Sept 28, 2009

Arrived in Vanuatu! This is the 33rd country I have been to. We came into Port Vila on the island of Efate. It is ridiculous to keep rating the places that we are experiencing. All I am going to say about being here is that it is another wonderful island country that is full of wonderful people and lovely areas.
I don't know what I expected. The name Vanuatu always sounded so mysterious and primitive to me. There are many islands here that are very tribal and untouched by modern civilization. But, there is also a community that is a mixture of ex-pat influence, a blend of French, English, and the native Melanesian cultures. There are about 220,000 people throughout the 83 islands, which is less than a quarter of the population of Fiji. Port Vila is a nice town with chic little cafes along the waterfront, beautifully supplied grocery stores, thanks to the French and their fabulous cuisine, and there are some nice museums and sites to see in the area.
I know I mentioned before how much I love to walk around the towns. There is just something special about occupying with the tread of your footwear! There's a feeling of melding with the place as you trek about it. I love peering into all the little stores and eateries, taking in all the details, enjoying the uniqueness. It's great fun to talk with the storekeepers and owners, hear their stories and get the pulse of the community. By the time we have made our exploratory circuit, we could draw our own little map from taking in all the fullness.
Abbey went with a family from another boat yesterday to visit a nearby waterfall. She had the best time, said it was the most beautiful waterfall she had ever seen.

Clint is wrestling with our SSB radio. He has traced the ground through the entire hull, tested all the wires and connections, and we still can't transmit, and we are not able to get emails in and out easily now. He literally spent 14 hours straight the other day crawling in and out of the bilge spaces and playing contortionist trying to fix everything. So, we will have to get this sorted out somehow.
Our camera broke which is a bummer and somehow Clint's brand new underwater camera mysteriously disappeared, so we are without a lens to capture this entire splendor. Meanwhile, we download others' pics that we are with.
We caught a nice wahoo while we were sailing into the island group. It's nice to be eating fresh fish regularly again. Surprisingly, Vanuatu has some of the best beef in the world, though. There is all kinds of excellent veal and lean, tender meat for great prices.
We are traveling up to another island tomorrow. They are holding an annual three-day festival that represents all of the culture of the nation. It should be a lot of fun.
I don't think we will stay long in Vanuatu. We are pretty certain that we will try to get up to Hong Kong by December 15th. That's a lot of nautical miles! We will spend about 2 more weeks here, head off to the Solomons, and be there for 2-3 weeks then head for Papua New Guinea and Palau.
Internet service is very expensive here, and communications are limited. I'll try to get off a few more updates. Lots of love, Janet