Currently in lagoon to Noumea

WOW! Vanuatu
WE LOVED IT! Ed has decided this has his favorite-in-all-the-world beach places.
I talk about the sights and upload photos, but I keep forgetting to mention the smells. First of all the air is so CLEAN. My lungs are clearing out beautifully while I’m off ship. Burning woods of various kinds greet you everywhere, and the winds bring sea smells and I don’t mean the unpleasant ones. Occasionally you’ll pick up the fragrance of a local dish you’d love to try. Or a flower you can’t quite place in your olfactory memory bank.
Roads
Well “massage” was worse than before. We were all in a 9 person minivan and it’s an understatement to say we were packed in. Ed’s legs wouldn’t fit so he finally took the passenger seat next to the driver. Had he hesitated any longer, another of the men was sure to slide in before he noticed. I used to automatically go to the back if I was the first into the van but then I noticed others weren’t so diligent. So now if I’m early, I’ll pick a seat closer to the front but usually far into the seat so it’s not the most desirable. Today I had the first seat behind the driver (so I could hear his remarks pretty well, something the others missed I’m sure with the natural air conditioning of the wind and the noises of the road and van). I did get a pink arm on the left side but my right one was spared. Ed’s right arm is pink for the same reason. We do carry sunscreen but I don’t wear it unless I absolutely have to. The flies are horsefly size and I could feel other varmints but could never see them. I don’t have any visible bites this time but I do have a few from Mexico that still show.
The other minivans were apparently air conditioned and the driver used a working microphone system. We were outside a lot and the temps, while initially said to stay in the low 80s, made it into the 90s for most of the day. Shall we mark this down as roughing it?
We were taken down dirt roads with many pot holes. There were piles of dirt to fill them in but other than being obstructions in the road, they weren’t doing anything. It’s a good thing we were taken over these roads first. Later, on the way back, the road were actually decent and in many instances actually paved. Some even had gutters along the way. We saw so many road workers that I think it must be the second only to tourism as the major source of employment on the island.
Rural vs. urban
It’s good that we were taken into the hinterlands first and only saw the urban area, which is actually quite modern by comparison but not particularly attractive, after we were finished for the day. My abiding image of Vanuatu will always be those isolated areas, especially those with breathtaking beaches.
Beaches
Well I know Ed sent an email to some folks raving about the beaches. Whatever he said is not hyperbole: they are gorgeous with water so clear you can see the bottom for as far as your eyes will go. I’d love to spend some time in this water which many folks said was very warm. There was one area where I thought it would be perfect to camp and just laze around and swim. Of course you’d have to prepare to eat but you could fish and probably not do too bad. If you had a local with you, you’d be totally self-sustaining as everything you’d need to survive is nearby and will fall into your hands.
No pregnant women?
In the places we’ve visited, I saw only one woman in native dress. And women are always working when we see them. At one point, we went by a free flowing stream and a woman was doing the LAUNDRY by hammering the clothing on a flat rock in the middle of the stream.
We do see kids all over, so they must come from somewhere. Perhaps PG women don’t go out in public.
And speaking of the kids, they are darling. A little shy but very sweet and try to repeat your English words back to you but so quietly you’d probably miss it unless you were right next to them.
Tea and cookies
After Barbara’s story about the E coli she picked up in Mexico, I’m a little more skeptical. But when we stopped for a tea break, the water was so hot it was hard to hold the paper cup which you saw coming out of a new wrapping. The cookies were like a package off the shelf in America. So I did join the others for this break in a cool clearing near the sea.
Cultural center
This was an amazing experience but it isn’t your usual view of a “cultural center.” I’d put it closer into the category of an open air folk museum. This is an attempt to preserve the native culture and the location is near several villages in the forest.
After our extended bumpy ride down the pot-hole infested dirt roads (which got farther and farther from “civilization”, we were taken into a rutted road and Josea, our driver, said we’d be taking a jungle trail. We were a little puzzled until he pointed to this opening into the forest. It quickly grew darker and we have some photos so you can see that this was real jungle and very close around you. While I could have used the trekker sticks, I hadn’t brought them and indeed it worked out OK, but the path was small in many areas and full of roots and trees with vines hanging down that you had to watch for or wind up with them in your eyes. Fortunately, we had no one with assistive devices who took this tour. The natives had clearly “swept” the path with leaves.
Warriors
As we were walking along, we suddenly heard loud, low meancing human noises ahead. When we came to the clearing (not a very large one), native warriors came through the forest with spears and made menacing sounds and gestures with very fierce faces. When we had all made it to this area, one stepped forward and it fairly decent English, invited us to follow him. And btw: Josea had warned us about warriors greeting us. Soon we began to see children dressed as warriors as well.
Medicine
The next clearing is where our English speaking native—it turns out he’s the chief’s son—began to explain some of the native medicines these use. One is coleus (I think that’s what he said) which is pulverized and then squeezed for the oil. I couldn’t understand what it was used for but I think something in childbirth. He then began to strip bark with his teeth and show us the inside of the strip which has a slick substance in it that is used for something else. The rest of that stick was dismantled and he described uses for other parts.
The husk of the coconut is used to brush their teeth. Something else was used to whiten their teeth he said. I found this amusing because when they smile broadly, they had large teeth, often with some missing. But the spaces in between their teeth have a brown color while the surfaces are light but I’m not sure I’d classify them as white. There is a plant here, kava, that they use as a local narcotic (perhaps that’s too strong a word). It will numb everything it goes down as you drink it. They put it in a coconut shell to drink because it is so foul looking—at least that’s the impression I got from the story. You can now purchase this delectable “herb” in your local American health food store where it is attributed with the power to cure you of almost anything that ails you. Of course, if it is as powerful a soporific as they describe, you may not be cured of your ailment, but you won’t give a damn anyway.
One fascinating display was for a baby that is having problems suckling (or perhaps it was that the mother couldn’t breast feed?). They take a young coconut. Coconuts have different qualities during their development and are used differently at different stages. We only see them in the stores when they are completely ripe. This young coconut is then pared down into a rounded point at one end. It’s shape is of a huge teardrop on it’s side with a brown round end, and a white rounded point. Then the rounded point is pierced and the baby suckles the coconut milk out of this artificial breast.
Fishing
When we were taken to another clearly a little farther into the forest where there were items they use in fishing. They make fishing poles out of the tree sapling trunks. Fishing lines are made by striping the layers of a stick until they have a very strong, but very fine line. On the end of this, they put a chicken bone.
They also gather spider webs by setting out a stick with a triangle at the end for the spider to build it’s web. (there are lots of spiders and some snakes too but the latter are “friendly. Not poisonous and don’t bite.”) This spider web is balled up, put near the chicken bone, and thrown onto the surface of the water where it attracts the fish. When the fish goes for the spider web, it gets the chicken bone caught in it’s throat and can’t control the water coming in. They then pull it out.
Another method uses a poison plant which is embedded into a big stick. They put this stick into the water and it stuns many of the fish which they pick up out of the water. In order to test if it’s dangerous for them, they lay a fish on the ground. If the ant goes to the fish and acts interested, then it’s safe. If the ants make a trail around the fish but not onto it, it is too poisonous to eat. They cannot use this method too often because it can poison their fish supply irreparably.
Firewalking
They did this too but without all pomp and fanfare we saw in Fiji. And here we were allowed to come right up to the pit and invited to walk over the fires ourselves. I didn’t see anyone try it.
Dances
They showed us two dances. One is a peaceful dance and the other, of course, a ferocious warrior dance. Even the little boys got into these dances and it was cute to see them figuring out the steps and keeping up.
Women
I saw only one woman here in native dress and she was gracious enough to let me take her photo. Her dress was hibiscus leaves –think hula skirt strips—that went from underarm all the way to the ankles. I have no idea if there’s anything worn under there or not, just as I couldn’t tell you about the men either. It may look flimsy but it’s very modest.
Boat ramp for Survivor show
Good roads there! Perhaps the filmmakers paid to have good road put in so they could get to this launching area easily. There is a boat ramp here although it’s crude. The island where survivor was filmed is about 10 km directly across from this area. Many of the folks on the tour were excited to see this area as they are fans of the show as I’m sure you figured.
One lady was down on the boat ramp and slid. I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I saw this and started taking tinier steps and more careful ones, but when I got there my feet went flying and I fell. Ed ran to help me up but I could just see all these times I’d seen another person help the one who fell, only to have that person get hurt worse than the original culprit. So I managed to keep him at a distance, and we all know how hard that is to do. Kept reminding him it would not be helpful if he feel too. And I picked myself up along with my dignity and made my way up to solid dirt.
Frankie from the ship was with us and he found a faucet where I washed off my arms. He asked me about my sleeve and remarked that in all the times he’d seen me (he was also with us on the 2008 RTW cruise), he had never noticed the sleeve.
And to finish this story, I only have a small bruise on my arm.
Lunch
This was on bamboo beach and under a thatched roof with open sides. There was cold water and oranges. The sandwiches were sub style but went on forever. 18” some guessed but I’d make it larger. It had ham and other stuff and was fresh but who can eat that much food. What a waste in the end. There was also a Halloween sized chocolate bar. Local Tusker beer was available for $5 US.
There was a 3 piece “band” playing for us. Odd American songs sung in falsetto and off key, but they had broad smiles and seemed happy and assumed we would be too. Karaoke would reject them but I had to laugh at it all. You do drop all expectations when in a foreign land.
Shopping?
We all agreed on our van that we’d rather be dropped off near the ship than to spend 30 min in town “shopping.” There were many vendors near the ship and they were selling sarongs, very cute little dolls in hula skirts, lots of carved items, and other tchotkis (sp? Even Ed couldn’t tell me). They had colored hula skirts made out of plastic with matching leis and coconut bras (in some instances) or woven bras. I was tempted but what would I do with it?
And we had a little shower on the way back to town which was a nice experience since we were in the van and it provided a little better air conditioning. You sweat so much on these islands that it doesn’t matter if you get wet: you’re already wet.
Ahhh the blessings of a shower
We stripped to our birthday suits and thanked God for good showers. You feel like a new person and the heat and sweating leave you feeling like you’ve just left a great sauna.
Dinner
A full table tonite. The political leanings are funny to observe but they are mild and not dwelled on. There’s some gentle chiding that goes on and I hope Ed doesn’t bite too hard one night but so far he’s been very good. The Brits and us share the same perspective; the Texas couple are as you’d predict. The other couple are silent which is perhaps not so stupid when you consider.
Snorkeling
Barbara and John, the Brits, went for a sail and snorkeling. They wear floatation vests which they say make it more difficult to snorkel as they keep your body upright, not flat as you need to see. Barbara remarked in her stark but warm British style, that she took off the vest to go swimming and the staff looked at her with amazement. She has short white hair and she assumes they thought she couldn’t swim since she had the flotation vest on previously. She also told a story about John on a previous snorkeling trip where a large fish went by him unexpectedly and when he turned to see the fish, his snorkel breathing tube filled with water and he came up sputtering and almost had to be rescued. So this time she told the staff to keep a good eye on him as “he’s a little daft.” She says this with a completely straight face and the most intense, sincere look and you just know she’s exaggerating and all the while John is laughing hard too.
Blue lagoon barge
The Texas couple went to a blue lagoon for a barge ride. Well they showed us a photo of the barge and it clearly isn’t what you have in mind! Anyway, there was a large 2 story mansion on the property and Nancy was rhapsodizing about retiring here if she could get a large group of folks to go together. Otherwise no one could even come close to affording it.
Entertainment
This was a fellow who had a skit when he came out but most of what he did was playing off the audience and the 107 days we’re on board. He clearly hadn’t planned it that way but it was hilarious and we were rolling with laughter. I couldn’t possibly recreate it here; lots of it was specific to the cruising experience and especially a cruise of this length and with our destinations. The second seating show won’t have nearly as much fun as clearly their’s will be an entirely different experience.
ON THE WAY TO NOUMEA
So Ed got up early and went to the gym. I got up after he left and got ready as the sailing into Noumea, New Caledonia, is a really gorgeous experience. Vanuatu and this area are part of Melanesia; Polynesia is to the East in the Pacific.
To say it is gorgeous is an understatement. They have a lot of mining and you can see some of the smelters in the distance. This was the headquarters for the US in the South Pacific; not sure about now.
The tour we signed up for, the cultural center tour, was cancelled so we finally settled on a wine tour. I’m disappointed, because the description of the Kanak, the local tribes, sounded fascinating.
At this point, about 9 am, there are islands all around us. This reminds me a little of the Alaskan cruise where you experience the same in the inside passage. The ocean surface is glasslike, turned bluegreen in color, and the adjacent islands and hills have tall trees but mostly low bushes? which look like a canopy covers them.
Even after we enter the lagoon through a very narrow channel, we have about 2 ½ to 3 hours before we reach Noumea around noon. This is a great destination they say, but it is very expensive as it’s hard to get here and local costs are not modest. And Noumea has more sunshine than any other area in the South Pacific. Now That’s saying a lot!