Rose Bay Bungalows Tanna

... suddenly stopped without explanation along the road. Somewhat clueless as to the reason for this detour we discovered a village chorus line had assembled in a small clearing in the bush nearby. We were then treated to a medley of English and Christian tunes sung with all the passion and harmony that would have made Whoopi Goldberg proud. After they had finished their second song, the kids, most of whom had looked a bit coy, presented us with small garlands of native ...

... What pouring rain does to the roads only tales can tell and nightmares frighten, but I tell you, it's like riding a collapsing rollercoaster. After excruciating hour trip we arrive to the base of the volcano. If you would be in the States there would be a barb wire 100km from epicentre with signs posting exemptions to your all-covering travel insurance. Not here. Even beyond the steamy vents with nose-irritating sulphur you can see the glorious red illuminating in the ...

Today I completed my scuba certification, I am officially certified!! It was a nice last day. We finally decided to leave at sunset to go to Port Vila. I am looking forward to a little bit more city and getting provisions.  Dived without the sharks today and went down 60 feet. The whole buoyancy thing is difficult but I think I am getting the hang of it. On the ding ride back we spotted dolphins and ...

... first choice for lunch. After lunch was over the children gathered round a TV and watch music video that were nothing like what we see on MTV. It was second hand production but the music was fun and represented their pacific island culture. David who was the first man to greet us to Dillon's Bay to Kim and I too his in progress Woo Woo Bungalows. He was creating the bungalows for future guest and to ...

As we set off on our sunset dingy cruse up the River at Dillon's Bay we found that the local village damned off the river so boats cannot go up it.  The shores were lined with children playing, bathing and collecting water. We paused for a moment to enjoy sunset on the river and continued out to the mouth of the river and ran the dingy ashore to explore the village.   A group of boys greeted us with a soccer ball... well they didn't really greet us, they seemed to be ...

Today we chatted with our local friend Joe. He gave us permission to hike to his garden. The hike was a lovely hike that took us above Port Resolution for about 1 km. Along the way John showed us a clay bed they would use for things like face paint. There was blue, white and red. Kim decided she wanted to be a make up chemist and create some pink clay. As we continued to climb we saw breath taking view after view. It ...

... to say good bye. No worries I was fine after that, but I stayed low. We decided to move our position in the bay because we have been getting rocked by huge swells and have not gotten any sleep since we been here or during the passage, I WANT SLEEP. The boat was moved deeper into the bay and positioned to go directly into the swell with the stern anchor thrown over. My job was the stern anchor and I proceded to get an anchor burn on my wrist while ...

... Kate or Sawyer to run our of the bushes. It is hot and sweaty and the bugs were very annoying but being there was so special The island is home to one of the coolest Volcanoes that you can sit right at the ridge of the crater and watch it explode! We spent the day exploring the villages, seeing the volcano and going to a John From Ceremony. Trying to get to the Volcano ...

Finally we see land! We see our destination and in record time. This trip should have taken 4 1/2 days but with the strong wind in our favor we cut through the water like a razor.  For the last four hours of the trip the auto pilot failed so we each got an hour at the helm. Getting to the bay was a bit dodge but our friends the Traveler ...

... mountain board; a lot of fun, especially when we drove through villages and were giving out high-fives from the board! We hired some dive gear the following day and took the yacht on to a mooring where we dived on some great coral heads and a 35m coral drop off. It was great to do it from the boat rather than with an organised outfit and it only cost us 10 pounds each for a 40 minute dive; a lot cheaper than through a dive shop. We are planning on sailing the 100 ...