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19/6/14 Vanuatu to Australia |
Today we leave for Cairns, Australia, with Oda and Stormvogel. The passage should take about 8-9 days. Yay! Australia – we can’t wait to see our family and friends. |
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18/6/14 Anchored at Aore Beach Resort Aore Island Espiritu Santo Vanuatu |
Today I got up early to prepare for our passage, baked 2 loaves of bread, made a casserole from the eye fillet steak in the freezer (can’t take it into Australia), a chicken curry and baked a roast chicken for lunches. It was so hot we cranked up the air conditioning. At 11:00am we caught the Aore Island ferry to Luganville with the others and shopped at the local markets, there was a limited choice but we brought Choko’s, Mandarins, Limes, Cabbage, Paw Paw, Cucumber and Elizabeth found eggs for us at another store. We still have a lot of food in the freezer. If it’s rough on the crossing it will be difficult to cook, so it’s handy to be able to just whip something I prepared earlier, out and just reheat it. Even this can be a challenge though, plates sliding from one side of the microwave to the other in rough conditions. We had Oda and Stormvogel over for a Bar B Q on Southern Star for dinner and had NZ Scallops in Garlic and butter for Entrée (thanks Murray and Jen they were beautiful!) Per and Elizabeth gave Robbie an early birthday present and it is hilarious but I just can’t tell you what it is, sorry. Robbie will be celebrating his birthday on the 21st June while we are on our way to Cairns. |
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17/6/14 Australia to Vanuatu |
I flew back to Vanuatu this morning and it was a bit daunting. At the check in I was grilled about my one way ticket. Luckily we had been warned and Robbie had spent half a day yesterday in Customs organising a letter authorising me to travel into Vanuatu with no return ticket. This letter cost $6,000 Vatu. Upon arrival in Espiritu Santo I handed them the letter that had been emailed to me, but it was not signed and they were not happy. After some time they agreed to let me in so long as I went into Immigration in Luganville and sorted it out. It was Elizabeth’s birthday today and Heidi and I had organised some gifts for her and Heidi baked a cake. We had dinner at the Aore Island Beach resort to celebrate, the steaks are great. Vanuatu Beef is awesome! |
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16/6/14 Australia for one day |
I flew to Australia for one day to spend time with my very dear friend Donna, who has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. We spent some very precious time together sitting in the sun. We reminisced, we had a few laughs and a few tears. Donna is an amazing lady, so positive and strong and only worrying about everyone else, not herself. I am truly, very blessed to have such a beautiful person for a friend. |
