Beachcomber Lodge Vanuatu

... think of every song I could remember to pass the time. The wind died down a bit toward the end of my watch, and I only ever had to make small changes to the helm throughout. <br>Things are going well on my new boat. It was fun to finally be doing so sailing, we didn't really do that much of it on Fifth Season. Sam has been really nice, and I think is excited to have a couple people on board to talk to after so much time as a single ...

... I'm excited about the change though. Sam is a <br>very experienced sailor, so I should be able to learn a lot. Plus, he is really <br>enthusiastic about being able to help out with OceansWatch. We have also <br>received word from the captain of the other sailboat that wants to help out, <br>Frank. He is en route to Santo from Fiji, and we are all anxiously awaiting his <br>arrival because he has a compressor on board!! It would be a shame to come ...

... old home Rasa Manis while we were there. It was nice catching up <br>with Tom and Ellen. <br>Anyways, we had a relaxing day and a half of sailing getting up to Gaua, with <br>plenty of time to read and take naps in the tramp on the front of the catamaran <br>(which I have decided is my favorite spot on the boat). Our first stop in Gaua <br>was Lakona Bay, were they have a local Reef Check team that we got to do a <br>couple ...

... turtle and <br>garden eels. The people here are so receptive to the work we are doing, it's so <br>exciting to see. Many people have seen the reefs degrade within their life time <br>so they want to be able to do what they can to help. And it seems like we will <br>never go hungry either. Every time we go into a village to give a talk or do a <br>training we walk away with arms full of fruit: papaya, pomplumos, lemons, <br>coconut, banana.it's great! Today will be our last day at ...

... it seems), so neither of us are that ready to spend hours in the water conducting surveys. So we have decided to stay here one more night, then tomorrow move up the coast to the next anchorage were they supposedly have some blue holes, which are fresh water holes where you can swim, but more importantly, do laundry. Apparently , there ...

Our favorite go to bar and restaurant is the Waterfront Cafe. Kim and I on this particular evening decided to pop in for just a drink. We met some great locals, Rosemary and Shawn, and Mario an Italian from Australia. It was a fun night of talking Italian food, dancing and Kim punching someone in the face.  To set up the scene Kim and I were hanging out with Mario, Shawn and Rosemary. At the restaurant there was ...

... the hospitality of Vanuatu. We were through formalities quickly and took two taxis to our hotel, where we would spend 3 nights. The hotel is located on Erakor Lagoon, and we were happy to see that our two double-bed room has a beautiful view of the lagoon. We settled in and unpacked a bit and then it was dinner time, so we walked into the center of Vila for a sandwich. It was a twenty minute walk and I was navigating from memory of a map in a guidebook, so we ...

... different story. We don't tend to dive as much and there is no school. Many of the shops shut for much of the time and there is very little to occupy yourself. Last Saturday I decided to really let my hair down and walk into town about 5pm and see if there were any veggies in the market. I know, party, party, party!!! Luckily the rival dive crew boys saw me on the road, screeched to a halt in their rusty bus and shouted out "Sam! Come to Kava!" Hmmm decisions, decisions ...

... to take the flight out the next day. He put pressure on it and we rushed to the airport. At the airport, we were running behind schedule, when he couldn't find the printed tickets... so he had to get them re-issued at another counter to the tune of $100 and we rushed to the gate and got on the Air Vanuatu flight to Port Vila. The flight was 3 hours and 40 minutes and wonderful - the food was great, free alcohol and champagne too. But when we got on, we asked for ice ...

... Park Hyatt Hotel which is the poshest place I've stayed in by a ciountry mile. To give you an idea of the grandeur, the rooms don't have 'Do Not Disturb' signs, they have "In Residence - Privacy Requested" door hangings. There's also a very kind note with all the other paraphernalia stating that if we needed and toiletries or grooming products then our butler would be happy to provide them. Vanuatu is impossible to compare with the other countries we've ...