The Coral Isles – day five
December 30, 2009 by Bruce · Leave a Comment
Port Vila, Vanuatu. I was here for 24 hours in 2006, on my way to Tanna. It was fun to revisit the place, and to see some of the changes which have occurred since.
Prior to embarking on this voyage, Cath had done some research on the web as to how best handle tours of these various ports. The consensus had been not to book your onshore activities through the ship, as you end up paying around 2.5 to 3 times the face value of the activity in question, even if it only involved getting a local guide to show you around. Read more
The Coral Isles – day four
December 30, 2009 by Bruce · Leave a Comment
Lifou, another of the many islands which make up the French territory of New Caledonia.
The first thing to really catch my eye here was the abundance of butterflies. Seriously, the air was full with them!
While Cath and Max stayed on the beach, I decided to go for a walk to see what photographic opportunities I might discover. I walked about a mile to the church which we’d been able to see from the ship. As I was approaching said church, a couple (who were heading back to the beach) said “You HAVE to visit the cave.”
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The Coral Isles – day three
December 30, 2009 by Bruce · Leave a Comment
The Isle of Pines, so named by Captain James Cook in 1774 for the proliferation of pine trees there (that’s it Jimmy, go for the obvious).
As part of New Caledonia, the common language here is French which makes communication with the locals less than perfect, although most of them can handle the basics of English. Read more
The Coral Isles – day two
December 30, 2009 by Bruce · Leave a Comment
Mmmmm, deja vu. Didn’t even pull out the camera today.
360 degree views of open water.
Which is something to behold the first time you witness it.
Reminds you just how big this planet can be.
By now, most of the land lubbers had managed to scoff enough ginger to help keep their meals down.
Woohoo.
Take me to: <- Day one | Day three ->
The Coral Isles – day one
December 30, 2009 by Bruce · Leave a Comment
We woke up to find we were in the company of a bunch of lily-livered land lubbers, who all lost their lunch because of the “rocky” conditions.
Pfft.
The swell wouldn’t have even been a metre high. Read more