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Tanna and passage to Erromango Island
Cutting up taro root to cook
Miriam from Port Resolution
Miriam
An old boat rusting in the bay
Beautiful jungle road leading out of Port Resolution
Banyan tree
Laura and Britta
Banyan tree
The pick-up en route to the volcano
Port Resolution from the fire-walking village
Beautiful Tanna
View of volcanic peaks in front of Mt. Yasur
Mt. Yasur belching smoke as we sail away
Enough blood to make one a vegetarian for life
Tuna tail
Enough tuna for sushi and several dinners
Erromango Island
George cuts off a lobster tail for us – 500 vatu each (about $5.50)
The local school kids have a sign for their guests
Every child (pikinini) has the right to go to school
Signs on Dillons Bay Primary School
Vera and Sabbatical III in Erromanggo
Rocky Beach
Local house
International children’s day celebration
The local kids dressed up for the celebration
The local kids dressed up for the celebration
Building a decorative hut for the visitors
I know marijuana will spoil your future
Mark and the curious kids
Everyone wants to be in the pictures
The girls
More kids
Mark and pals
Kids from Dillon School start their parade
A whole school walked from the village a full day’s walk away for the celebration
All the kids on the field ready for the festivities
The kids wait for the festivities to start
Happy Valley Kids
The kids start marching and singing
Welcome signs
Cute little girl
Dillons Bay, Erromanggo
Children’s day celebration
Children’s Day International
The river joins the bay at Dillons Bay
Our ride back to the boat – say goodbye to the video camera
Port Vila, 2008
More laplap with squid and who knows what else on top
Local dish called laplap with whole fish on top
Large baskets of sweet potatoes
The market – open 6 days a week – 24 hours a day
Apron for sale in the market
Southwest Bay, Malekula Island (2008)
Sunset from Southwest Bay, Malekula
Shack for smoking copra
House in Olal Village, SW Bay, Malekula
Outriggers on beach, Olal Village
Welcome hut for yachties coming to yacht club opening
Bowl of kava
Michael, Justin, Britta and Laura
Laura at SW Bay yacht club opening
Ni-Vanuatan ladies and some yachties
Big excitement for the yacht club opening
Grandstand for speeches
The Yacht Club!
String band performs at yacht club
The string band in full swing
Laura buys a conch shell
Man carrying piece of pig
Killed as part of ceremony for the father of Chief Albin Rubin
Chief Rubin and nephew
Chief Rubin
Chief’s nephew
Chief Rubin and nephew
Chief Rubin and nephew
Local kids
Laura gets a flower at the celebration at Halal Village
All feeling very touristy
Information sign in village
Chiefs raise flags at start of day’s activities
A Vanuatan man with large snake
The dancers approach
The dancers at Halal Village
Watching with Michael and Britta
More dancers
The dancers pose
A local tradition
Time to feed the yachties
Kava before being ground
A tamtam with stick
Washing and squeezing kava in preparation for drinking
Pounding the kava
Michael buys a pig killing club
Justin from Wintua Village
Local guy in cool t-shirt and cap
Serving kava
More dancing
The musicians
The dancers – and chiefs
The big chief
Musicians
A musician
A musician
Musicians and dancers
Ambryn Island, 'Back to my Roots' festival
Mark trades backpack for admission to the Back to my Roots Festival in Ambrym
Locals at the Back to My Roots Festival in Ambrym
Tamtams for drumming at Back to My Roots Festival in Ambrym
The master of ceremonies at the Back to My Roots Festival in Ambrym
Men wear Nambas and necklaces with pig tusks
Dancing in Ambrym
The women of Ambrym
The dancing continues
Dancing in Ambrym
He later gave Mark his walking stick
A secret society
Mask of a Rom dancer
A Rom dancer and dancer wearing his namba
A sign in the yacht club hut
Zebulon – our guide in Ambrym
Zebulon – with flutes his father made
Dancing in Ambrym
Dancing in Ambrym
Dancing in Ambrym
Dancing in Ambrym
The men of Ambrym
The women of Ambrym
Dancing at the festival
Preparing a breadfruit feast
Men cooking
A large tamtam
Cooking the breadfruit
Totems
A chief in Ambrym
The men’s hut
We later drank kava in his village with him
The men’s decorated hut
One of the leading ladies
Dancing
The women
Women
Men cooking
Men cooking
The women cooking yams
Men cooking
Women cooking
Women cooking
Men cooking
Men cooking
Making lunch from barbequed breadfruit and coconut milk
Making lunch
Women cooking
Men cooking
Men cooking
Men cooking
For Alice Gross
The toilet with a view
Interesting crowd
Just mingling with the tourists and film crew
The “gift shop”
Buying flutes
Some local kids
Dancing
Dancing
Time out from dancing
Older high status chief and walking stick
Older high status chief
Two chiefs
Two chiefs
Local kids
Men dancing in Ambrym
Statues
Bowl of kava and bowl for rinsing serving cup
Michael drinks kava
Mark drinks kava
Rom dancers
Rom dancers – costumes of banana leaves
Rom dancer headdress
Carrying away the pig
Rom dancer and man in namba only
Michael and Mark in the crowd
Jarring t-shirt in Ambrym
Dancing in Ambrym
Dancing in Ambrym
Dancing in Ambrym
Adorable new friend
Laura with new friend
The chiefs
At the festival site with Tamtams
The reefs around Ambrym
The chief in modern clothing
Sacrificial pig
Heading back from the festival with Michael and Britta
Boats at anchor
Rainbow over the harbor
Rainbow over the harbor
Volcano in Ambrym
Taking a pig for a walk
New Caledonia, 2008
Arranged by the Inter Island Cruising Association and the Societe Nautique de Caledonie with the local village
Dishes at the feast
Miles and miles of perfect white sand
Traditional home or “case” in Ouvea
Baie de Lekiny in Ouvea
The grocery store in Lifou
About 200 steps up to the town from where we leave the dinghy
Coming up the steps from the dock in Jokin, Lifou
Traditional houses in Lifou
Pines along the beach in Mare
Pines and palms in Mare
Mark on the beach in Mare
Our dinghy and the boats at anchor in Mare
Mark tying up the dinghy on shore in Mare
Blue coconut crabs
A sweet young French couple were on Rayam and we became friends
Our dinghy on the beach at Mare
Palms and pines in Mare
Palms and pines in Mare
A beach in Mare
A beach in Mare
Picnic on the rocks
Pines along the shore in Mare
Watching the sunset from the stern of the boat
Nice place to hang out
View of our boat from shore in Mare
Kids who liked Americans
Laura hitches a ride back to the boat from town
One of the many large spiders
A restaurant on the beach in Ile des Pines
Kids on the beach in Ile des Pines
Captain and crew
A cave in Ile des Pines
Traditional house
Traditional house
Sailing to Noumea from Ile des Pines
Sailing to Noumea from Ile des Pines
Sailing to Noumea from Ile des Pines
New Caledonia
Lilly and Kara come to visit
Noumea, New Caledonia
Noumea, New Caledonia
Noumea, New Caledonia
Noumea, New Caledonia
Australia 2008
The ferris wheel in “Parklands”, Brisbane
View of Brisbane from the Ferris Wheel
Dockside Marina where we spent a week
One of the many ferries transporting people back and forth across the river
Another view of downtown Brisbane
For pedestrians as well as cars
View of Brisbane
Smaller sailboats can tie up to poles set in the water
Two schoolgirls at the artificial beach in “Parklands”, Brisbane
The fake beach at “Parklands” in Brisbane
Scarborough Marina, Redcliffe, Australia
The bay had hundreds of these some days
A resting roo at the Steve Irwin’s Australian Zoo
A real cockatoo talks to Joshua – our friend’s bear
A wombat and zookeeper at the zoo
Two koalas doing what they do best… sleeping
This crocodile is fake, but there were plenty of real ones around
A Flamboyant tree in full bloom
Flotsam and jetsam gather at the docks after a series of huge storms
Mark with hose – cleaning the boat before hauling her
Sabbatical III gets hauled out for the season
Sabbatical III moving to her “parking spot”
The boat “on the hard”
Once the boat is on the hard we have to climb up the ladder to get in
