Above the shifting eucalyptus there is boundless blue. I peg the washing out. Clothes and tea towels are clean. Clean. The kind of clean only achieved by a two hour front loader wash cycle. Clothes are generally washed in suspect coin laundries – maximum cycle time: 34 minutes, if you’re lucky. The alternative is submersion […]
Exploring
Cleo the Cow. Local colour.
We felt very virtuous after our pre-breakfast explorations of the Herring Pools. Later in the afternoon Small DB, M and I anchored Foamy just off the beach near the museum, and wandered together up a track that lead from near the bottle shop up through the bush until we reached a road that we had […]
Muttonbird Point. Malabar. Salmon Beach. Herring Pools. A lot of walking.
We met with our new friends from SV Illawarra on the jetty one morning and all rode our bikes down along the coast, parallel to the airport and then walked over a stile through a cow paddock and began following a trail through the forest and scrub. By the time we reached Muttonbird Point, we […]
Southport to Lord Howe Island
My eye has been on Lord Howe Island as a destination for many many years. My former boss at my university job had regaled me with the story of his horror sail to the island, and I’ve read several others. I remained undeterred. Sailing was pretty much the only option – it’s so bloody expensive […]
Brisbane
A brief stopover in Brisbane was what was planned – long enough to catch up with the Almost-Bus-Dwelling-Cousin and get a sail fixed. However, the aforementioned cousin texted me just after we’d gone over the Wide Bay bar – there was some work for me in Brisbane – so 24 hours later, we were motor […]
Espiritu Santo.
By the time we arrived on Santo, anchored off Beachfront Resort, I was SO READY for some urban life. That would be a guarranteed fruit and vegetable market and a supermarket. Luganville ticked both these boxes. I’m happy to rough it, but when food supplies get low after six weeks going from island to island, […]
The villages of Vutekai, Wailep and Hingal. Then Tahi.
It was a brisk sail – we scooted toward Paama with the main reefed and the jib up. The island’s nearest neighbour is the volcano Lopevi – which used to have around 80 inhabitants – but because it kept erupting, they all moved off in 1960 – mostly to Paama and Epi. Only one elderly […]
Potnarvin to Port Vila & on to Havannah Pass…
Two sessions berthed off the sea wall in Port Vila, catching up with friends and soaking up the calm of Havannah Pass…
Ponusia Bay to Potnarvin
After a few days the swell started making its way into Ponusia Bay. This is flat, you’ll have to imagine the swell… At the same time, we knew that Laewe and her relatives were planning on walking back to Potnarvin. M asked them if they might want a ride on Bella Luna – they said […]
Tanna to Erromango
Travel makes me fickle. On arrival in Tanna I was fairly certain I could dump everything and live there for a year in my own hut, tending my own garden, beachcombing and cadging an occasional ride into Lenakel. However, after being knocked out by food poisoning for three days, and then having seriously contemplating leaving […]