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Serendipity - Civilization as we know it




Friday 13 July:  Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu South Pacific Ocean 19 31.5S  169 29.6E  

Today’s Blog by David (Time zone BST+10.00; UTC +11.00 )

Bob now having left for Port Vila, Peter and I are in Vanuatu, waiting for the weather to sail down to New Caledonia. We do so from a rally anchorage on the extreme end of Vanuatu.

Over the last few days here in Port Resolution, we have seen some of the most primitive living conditions we have yet encountered in the Pacific. image001


With scenes of  traditional dancing like those we used to read about in  the National Geographic Magazine: image002


Yet this nation is broadly self-sufficient disciplined and very proud. Here a school teacher is getting his children to form an orderly queue before he hands out the sweets in the bag he is holding than one of the fleet had given them. image003


We have eaten ashore the last two nights, locally prepared food served on essentially wicker plates lined with banana leaves. The first night, the “restaurant” was in darkness  - we ate by torchlight. It was basic food, but our digestive systems remain intact.

By contrast our experiences of Fiji were very much the tourist end of the spectrum. The town of Savu Savu is by no means a tourist resort, but there was a large proportion of Caucasians locally providing support services to a substantial yachting community; most successful local businesses appeared to be owned/managed by Indians. We did interact with the local community from time to time in but that – more by chance than design - tended to in be ‘urban’ settlements. Even in the small village on the Island of Makogai the houses were of bricks and mortar rather than local vegetation.  

As we progressed we went even further up market. Here is the fleet moored at Musket Cove: image004


Some of the 60 or so guest cabins at the Resort image005

And Peter enjoying the facilities image006

It is hard to say which I prefer. We enjoyed Fiji and will go back to Fiji next year – next time perhaps to sample more of the rural environment. We also plan to come back to Vanuatu to get to see it properly.

For the moment though, New Caledonia promises “civilization”; an expensive vibrant cosmopolitan environment with French food and cuisine. I wonder if we will like it……………

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Footnote

We have hitherto been sending blogs to both Serendipity’s Blog Page and also to the World ARC Blog. Now that we have left the rally, sooner or later World Cruising are going to close their blog facility to Serendipity and our blogs will no longer be available there. 

If you have been following us on the World Cruising site and you want to continue to follow our progress (even if it is in the hope that we one day will be ship wrecked!) you will need to go to our Blog Page:

www.blog.mailasail.com/serendipity and to find out where we are right now: http://live.adventuretracking.com/serendipity


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