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More from Vanuatu and then back to Scarborough

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How long is the wait? Our restaurant with a view Our journey continued in Vanuatu. On L'ORIENT, we refer to our treks into undeveloped places as getting a taste of "village life". On Vanuatu, the outer islands are some of the most remote places we've ever been. We're talking no tourists, no electricity, no roads and only structures made from palm leaves and rope. And lots (I mean lots and lots) of children running around. The stares and instant child mobs we picked up while landing the dinghy ashore were the telltale sign that they don't see cruisers or white people very often, if at all. We were startled by how many kids were around in the middle of the day during the week until we learned that due to a teacher's strike most of the state run schools have been closed... for the past 11 months! Obviously this is a very big problem in a country where 43% of the population is under 18 (in the US that number is 22%). Some children attend religious schools - in...
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Having a blast (literally) in the Loyalty Islands and Vanuatu

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As happy as two people standing a foot away from a 1,000 foot drop into a live volcano can be! As loyal readers remember, L'ORIENT pulled into Scarborough, Australia for a what was to be a five month refit in November. After a ton of work and kilo-dollars of expense we left "Oz" about two months late in the season for our four month "test drive" of the new L'ORIENT. Destination: New Caledonia. Mariners going back hundreds of years have carefully recorded the routes and best times to come and go across the oceans. As we were forced to ignore this because of vendor delays, we've paid for it with rough passages. Generally speaking, 30 knot winds and 10-12 foot seas has been the rule vs. the exception. Not being fond of huge conditions, we've gritted our teeth and trekked on. After our time in Ile des Pins (isle of Pines, for you French-challenged folks), the Loyalty Islands beckoned. Lifou and Ouvea. The problem with the Loyalty Islands is that during t...
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