New Caledonia is both beautiful and uncomfortable. For the past week we have been living in anchorages of picture postcard beauty – white sand beaches, gorgeous greenery, stunning volcanic cliffs and one of the world’s largest lagoons with turquoise water so clear you can see the bottom when anchored in 18 metres. I have taken a tonne of photos but…
There’s something about the word ‘race’ that brings out the petrol/sail head in many skippers, regardless of how fast their boats are. As I have mentioned before Wildflower is not exactly a speed demon, but that doesn’t stop Paddy from trying to make her go faster. On the way to Port Vila Paddy tried to race a catamaran (though I…
Hi all, Just a quick not to let you know we have safely arrived in New Caledonia. We are anchored in a beautiful place called Ile Moulet on Ouvea atoll which looks just like a postcard with lovely blue water and white sand. We are stuck on the boat until customs arrive on a 9am flight from the capital tomorrow…
On Friday night Paddy and I got a good look at the Earth’s insides. They are red hot, angry and utterly terrifying, but also fascinating and beautiful. When I sit back and think about it, crawling around on top of an erupting volcano is possibly one of the loonier things I have done, but it is also one of the…
On Friday night Paddy and I got a good look at the Earth’s insides. They are red-hot, angry and utterly terrifying, but also fascinating and beautiful. When I sit back and think about it, crawling around on top of an erupting volcano is possibly one of the loonier things I have done, but it is also one of the most…
Mi laekem Bislama Because there are more than 100 separate languages spoken in Vanuatu – and that’s excluding English and French – a universal language is needed to prevent headspinning confusion. This is Bislama, a variation of Pidgin English. It is the national language of the republic of Vanuatu and it is the coolest language to try to learn. Bislama…
Slow and steady may not win the race – but it’s a heck of a lot more comfortable! The types of boat on this regatta are many and varied – a lot of them being performance cruisers (racing yachts converted into cruising boats). These are light and fast and get places a lot quicker than we can. They do, however,…
Luganville in Vanuatu boasts a couple of sites that are on many divers must-do list – the wreck of the President Coolidge and Million Dollar Point. The Coolidge, a 200 meter long luxury liner, was sunk during World War II in a case of friendly fire (it struck an American mine – though the own goal wasn’t publicised until much…
“It’s not a holiday, it’s an adventure!” That’s what Paddy always tells me when things get a bit rough, I’m feeling sick or just a little scared – and I guess he has a point. Before we went on this trip he told me that going through a bit of hardship to get to a destination makes being there even…
Hi all, Just a quick note to let you know Paddy and have survived our first decent passage with just the two of us. We arrived in Vanuatu safe and sound yesterday (sorry not to blog sooner but there was a fair bit of sleep catching up to do!) The trip took six days, I got sick twice, we caught…