As I'm writing this, we just found out Vanuatu is directly being hit by Cyclone Herold, a category 5 storm
3/6/20
We started the day by renting a 4-wheeler, but only got as far as the petrol station before we decided it wouldn't be fun for our planned day (it was super loud and not very stable in our opinion). So, instead, we rented a car for out trip along the East coast. We started by driving as far North as the road goes, to Port Olry. Port Olry is a very small village with gorgeous aquamarine water around it. We then drove to equally gorgeous Port Olry beach where we each drank down a young coconut as we looked out over the magnificent water. Next we drove to beautiful Lonnoc beach were we had some kumara chips on the beach.
Next we drove to Nanda blue hole where we cooled off with a nice swim in the super clear and blue spring water. There were some nice fish around, and it was cool to see how blue the water was while snorkeling. The blue holes here are similar to the springs we loved so much in Florida. Next we drove to Riri blue hole. We took an outrigger canoe ride up a super clear river, Borneo style, to reach the blue hole. It was a different color blue than the Nanda, and I had a lot of fun rope swinging with the local boys there. At both blue holes, we were the only tourists, with just a handful of locals there.
Back at our guesthouse, we had delicious fresh fish and vegetables
3/7/20
Today we did an amazing adventure trip called the Millennium cave tour. One of the highlights of our trip so far! It started with a rough dirt road ride in a 4x4 pickup to a traditional village, then a 1.5 hour or so jungle trek to arrive at the cave. The cave had a small river flowing through it that we walked through for about 30 minutes until we came to the exit. The cave had high ceilings, lots of bats and swallows, and even a waterfall.
After the cave, we had a picnic lunch at a nice swimming hole. We then hiked down the river, sort of "canyoning," using ropes, bamboo ladders, and rebar handholds (via ferrata style) to get through the narrow canyon (collapsed cave).
We then began the best part--A 40 minute swim/float through a narrow canyon with deep water and dense jungle overhead. There were a couple of waterfalls splashing down to us, and lots of places to climb up and cliff jump. The beauty was stunning, and it was incredibly unique. And also oh so refreshing in the tropical climate.
We had delicious fish for dinner again at our bungalow
3/8/20
Our original plans to visit a nearby island using a resort's free ferry were foiled as the resort is closed this month as it's the low season. So we switched plans and hired a nice man, John, to drive us back towards the blue holes.
We first went to the Riri blue hole and again took an outrigger canoe up to the hole. It was much more beautiful today, compared to when we did it before, as it was low tide (keeping the ocean water out of the river) and the sun was higher above.
After hanging out at Riri, we visited the largest blue hole, Matevalu. It too was gorgeous. It was busy with locals as it was Sunday. There were several rope swings to play on as well as many trees to climb and jump from. There was a really large rope swing hung from a banyon tree, which was tons of fun. We played around there for awhile before heading off to visit Turtle Bay resort where we enjoyed some cokes and kumara chips by the beautiful water. After our "lunch" we went snorkeling. The snorkeling was just ok.
Our guesthouse family was out of gas where they do the cooking, and being Sunday, there were no restaurants open, so we had to improvise a dinner of cheese, eggs, crackers, and coconut.
3/9/20
I did a wreck dive with Allan Power dive shop on the SS Coolidge. The SS Coolidge was a huge luxury liner turned warcraft in WWII that was sunk by a friendly mine. The dive was cool, seeing lots of interesting things including artillery cannons, guns, gas masks, cargo holds, and a barber chair. The water is so incredibly warm here! Like bath water. The dive was a shore dive, which was unique to me. It also had some decent fish. Ben from Antarctica also was diving in the area with the same shop, but he did a different route than me as he had dove there a few times before. We each had our own private guide.
After tea at the dive shop, Elisha and I went to the Monday market and also got lunch at the local food stools. We then went to Million Dollar Point, which is a spot where millions of dollars worth of US Military equipment was driven into the ocean after the war. We snorkeled here and some of the highlights were a forklift, tank, bulldozer, and jeeps. There were many other unrecognizable things due to being coral encrusted. We read on the beach while before heading back to our bungalow.
3/10/20
I woke up in the night with a pretty severe earache. I went to the hospital in the morning, but the lines were super long, so we went to a private clinic. I was diagnosed with an ear infection in both ears and a ruptured ear drum in the left ear (though I wonder if the right ear was also ruptured as it would hurt a lot later on). I received some antibiotics and steroids, and I was told my head couldn't go underwater for 30 days. boo!
After the visit to the clinic, we hopped a shared taxi to the bay of islands where we rented a kayak and paddled up the river to Matevulu blue hole and then paddled through the little islands of the bay, stopping at 2 small islands with white sandy beaches to swim (and Elisha to snorkel). The bay had beautiful aqua colored water. We got a free ride back to town, then went to a beach front resort to swim in the pool and share a pizza.
3/6/20
We started the day by renting a 4-wheeler, but only got as far as the petrol station before we decided it wouldn't be fun for our planned day (it was super loud and not very stable in our opinion). So, instead, we rented a car for out trip along the East coast. We started by driving as far North as the road goes, to Port Olry. Port Olry is a very small village with gorgeous aquamarine water around it. We then drove to equally gorgeous Port Olry beach where we each drank down a young coconut as we looked out over the magnificent water. Next we drove to beautiful Lonnoc beach were we had some kumara chips on the beach.
Next we drove to Nanda blue hole where we cooled off with a nice swim in the super clear and blue spring water. There were some nice fish around, and it was cool to see how blue the water was while snorkeling. The blue holes here are similar to the springs we loved so much in Florida. Next we drove to Riri blue hole. We took an outrigger canoe ride up a super clear river, Borneo style, to reach the blue hole. It was a different color blue than the Nanda, and I had a lot of fun rope swinging with the local boys there. At both blue holes, we were the only tourists, with just a handful of locals there.
Back at our guesthouse, we had delicious fresh fish and vegetables
3/7/20
Today we did an amazing adventure trip called the Millennium cave tour. One of the highlights of our trip so far! It started with a rough dirt road ride in a 4x4 pickup to a traditional village, then a 1.5 hour or so jungle trek to arrive at the cave. The cave had a small river flowing through it that we walked through for about 30 minutes until we came to the exit. The cave had high ceilings, lots of bats and swallows, and even a waterfall.
After the cave, we had a picnic lunch at a nice swimming hole. We then hiked down the river, sort of "canyoning," using ropes, bamboo ladders, and rebar handholds (via ferrata style) to get through the narrow canyon (collapsed cave).
We then began the best part--A 40 minute swim/float through a narrow canyon with deep water and dense jungle overhead. There were a couple of waterfalls splashing down to us, and lots of places to climb up and cliff jump. The beauty was stunning, and it was incredibly unique. And also oh so refreshing in the tropical climate.
We had delicious fish for dinner again at our bungalow
3/8/20
Our original plans to visit a nearby island using a resort's free ferry were foiled as the resort is closed this month as it's the low season. So we switched plans and hired a nice man, John, to drive us back towards the blue holes.
We first went to the Riri blue hole and again took an outrigger canoe up to the hole. It was much more beautiful today, compared to when we did it before, as it was low tide (keeping the ocean water out of the river) and the sun was higher above.
After hanging out at Riri, we visited the largest blue hole, Matevalu. It too was gorgeous. It was busy with locals as it was Sunday. There were several rope swings to play on as well as many trees to climb and jump from. There was a really large rope swing hung from a banyon tree, which was tons of fun. We played around there for awhile before heading off to visit Turtle Bay resort where we enjoyed some cokes and kumara chips by the beautiful water. After our "lunch" we went snorkeling. The snorkeling was just ok.
Our guesthouse family was out of gas where they do the cooking, and being Sunday, there were no restaurants open, so we had to improvise a dinner of cheese, eggs, crackers, and coconut.
3/9/20
I did a wreck dive with Allan Power dive shop on the SS Coolidge. The SS Coolidge was a huge luxury liner turned warcraft in WWII that was sunk by a friendly mine. The dive was cool, seeing lots of interesting things including artillery cannons, guns, gas masks, cargo holds, and a barber chair. The water is so incredibly warm here! Like bath water. The dive was a shore dive, which was unique to me. It also had some decent fish. Ben from Antarctica also was diving in the area with the same shop, but he did a different route than me as he had dove there a few times before. We each had our own private guide.
After tea at the dive shop, Elisha and I went to the Monday market and also got lunch at the local food stools. We then went to Million Dollar Point, which is a spot where millions of dollars worth of US Military equipment was driven into the ocean after the war. We snorkeled here and some of the highlights were a forklift, tank, bulldozer, and jeeps. There were many other unrecognizable things due to being coral encrusted. We read on the beach while before heading back to our bungalow.
3/10/20
I woke up in the night with a pretty severe earache. I went to the hospital in the morning, but the lines were super long, so we went to a private clinic. I was diagnosed with an ear infection in both ears and a ruptured ear drum in the left ear (though I wonder if the right ear was also ruptured as it would hurt a lot later on). I received some antibiotics and steroids, and I was told my head couldn't go underwater for 30 days. boo!
After the visit to the clinic, we hopped a shared taxi to the bay of islands where we rented a kayak and paddled up the river to Matevulu blue hole and then paddled through the little islands of the bay, stopping at 2 small islands with white sandy beaches to swim (and Elisha to snorkel). The bay had beautiful aqua colored water. We got a free ride back to town, then went to a beach front resort to swim in the pool and share a pizza.
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