No Tsunami Sept. 30, 2009

Greetings everyone,
Just a short note to say we are in Noumea, New Caledonia in a protected harbour and have seen nothing of today's tsunami. All is well. John and Linda

Vanuatu Going back into time, Dugongs, kava and volcanos

It seems the further West we go, the more primitive are the conditions we encounter. THIS is what its really all about, adventuring, experiencing and getting to know and understand how other people in other parts of the world live. Here, they don't know or care about Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton or whatever. They know when to fish, harvest their vegetables, build their cooking fires and live their lovely, slower version of life. Vanuatu is the pearl of the Pacific as everything is "in your face", you can't avoid it..and you don't want to...its life how and it has been lived for thousands of years. Imagine, no Facebook, Dow Jones, fast food, TV, radio. How do these people survive, how deprived can they be??? They are the smart or lucky ones. We will take lessons from these people that will last us the rest of our lifetimes. Now, our news. We have been sailing N from the capitol, Port Vila for the last 3 weeks, visiting these primitive islands, absorbing as much as we can, having fun and as usual, meeting new people. The following photos feature the usual cast of us characters plus Seth and Jamie from Vancouver who have been paralleling our travels on their catamaran, Slapdash. We have been fortunate to encounter a friendly dugong which Jamie is seen swimming with, grind kava root, mix it with water, squeeze it through cloth mesh into a paint bucket and then consume it. After 2 or 3 "shells" you have to send a memo to your legs to move in sync with the rest of your body just to walk. Its fun and a little paralyzing-it is the standard drink in all of the Pacific. Vanuatu is known for their strong kava. It looks and tastes like dishwater, but, OH BOY!!! The primitive outrigger sailing craft is THE means of transportation as there are no roads in most islands. They visit other islands, relatives, trade etc. all by outrigger/dugout canoe. We met a master boatbuilder who would build us a 10-12 foot version(hewn from a new tree with an adze), complete with outrigger, and mast for $70. It would take him about 1 month to complete. In 1 photo there is a young girl fishing from her dugout- 1 of her daily duties-help feed the village. As usual, the Red Bastard had to come out and play. He met, Cedric, his counterpart on Salpdash. In two of the photos the volcano on the island of Ambrym is blowing off steam and the things I have on each side of my head are grapefruits-1/2 of one is a meal in itself. Right now we are pinned down by high winds(5 days and counting) on Espiritu Santo, the northernmost island in the Vanuaut chain. Hopefully the winds will subside allowing us to head south to Port Vila while visiting some more of the villages along the coasts of the various islands. Knowing that we probably won't pass this way again makes us appreciate what we are seeing and experincing all the more special. If anyone of you ever want to travel "off the beaten path" this is one place you won't find anywhere in the world and you WILL love it. Later, my friends. John Linda and Patrick