02 - Vanuatu

Having set sail from Cairns, it was going to take about 5 days to get to Luganville, the second largest town in Vanuatu. To keep us busy, there were a number of activities. Apart from the nightly movie or games evening in the Bridge Deck Lounge, there were also a series of lectures by our on-board experts, Clive and Jacquie. These were really informative and gave us a picture of migration and colonisation of the South Pacific region.

Then there were the visits to the engine room , the bridge (we'd done these before on Coral Adventurer when going through the Kimberley) and a visit to the inside of one of the lifeboats. On top of all that, there was FOOD! With three chefs and an apprentice to cater for only 30 passengers (plus crew), we were spoilt rotten!

Above: The upper deck - great for just watching the sea and free-loading seabirds.
Left: The aft deck outside the Bridge Deck Lounge for pre-dinner drinks and a chat about the day's activities. Why so serious, Sue?

Above: The interior of one of the lifeboats with Capt Miles encouraging folks inside. You'd have to all be very good friends and not be claustrophobic to fit 85 people in here!
Upper Left: Lifeboat, 1 of 2.
Lower Left: Captain Chris at the lifeboat's helm. Big Red Lever is to launch the lifeboat. Captain Chris was NOT tempted!
Below: Great sunsets

Left: The navigation officer (Alex) gave us lessons in plotting our position and course. She seems to think we're a long way from I think we are?
(Photo: AP)

Right: Even in the middle of the Coral Sea, we seem to have been an attraction for dozens of wandering sea birds.

Left: Pre-dinner drinks with Rick and Mario.
(Photo: CS)

On arrival at Luganville, we moored off the harbour and got ready for our first snorkelling adventure at a place called Million Dollar Point. It is so named because at the end of WWII, the US armed forces had accumulated a massive amount of stores in the form of tanks, trucks, small boats, etc. When America left here after the war, the remaining goods - everything from weaponry to bottles of Coca-Cola—were offered to the French and British at a very low price, 6 cents on the dollar. However, the colonizers were going on the assumption that should they refuse to buy the items, the U.S. military would be forced to simply leave them behind for free.

The Americans were having none of this. To spite the British and French, the military made the rash decision to drive all of the vehicles, food, clothing, drinks, and other equipment to a wharf on the southern coast of the island. The army then drove all of the vehicles into the sea, used bulldozers to dump the rest of the supplies over the wharf, before also driving the bulldozers into the sea, ensuring that the European countries would not be able to get their hands on the items at all, free or otherwise. (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/million-dollar-point) It now sits quietly degrading in about 30m of water, but some are closer and can be seen from the surface.

Left: Ancient and modern watercraft

Right: Getting ready to snorkel.

Below: Million Dollar Point - 67 years later.

Left: Santa gave me a GoPro for Christmas. It's waterproof to 16m. I'm not, hence the video is all shot from just under the surface. This was my first attempt at underwater video. Don't be too harsh. :-)
Below: Frank, Chris and Lynne seem to agree on something - snorkelling? (Photo: CM)

Below: One of the options here was to dive the wreck of the SS President Coolidge. near Million Dollar Point.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_President_Coolidge)
As we're not SCUBA divers, we didn't participate, but some did and here are a few shots. Note that the vessel is on its side. (Photos: CS)

Above and Right: After lunch on board, we took the Xplorer (landing craft) over to the town and boarded minibuses for a trip north along the coast to one of the Blue Holes. These are spring-fed fresh water basins that eventually form small streams and run into the ocean. While the ocean temperature was about 29°C, the water here was about 22° or so - VERY refreshing!

Left: A happy group leaving the Blue Hole after a refreshing dip. (Photo: AP)

That evening we set sail for an overnight trip to Nguna Island. It's just north of Efate, the island that is home to the capital of Vanuatu, Port Vila. Here we had a most wonderful welcome from the local villagers of Taloa.
Left: Cocktail of the day was Pina Colada. Madam is looking a bit windswept.

Above and right: Chief 'Welcomer'.
Below Right: Sue with a lovely lady handing out coconut water in handy hygenic recyclable containers.
Below Left: The village choir who gave us a couple of lovely Christmas Carols
(It was Dec 23rd).
Bottom Left: Another group of dancers.

After an explanation of how the village operated by the head of the local council (via an interpreter) and a guided walking tour around the village, we were treated to a song (See Below!) and fresh pawpaw, pineapple, bananas and macadamia nuts all laid out on banana leaves in the thatched roof meeting hut.