Departure….  Tuesday, 30/07/2024

Tomorrow, Wednesday 31st, is departure day (assuming no problems with Customs and Immigration). We have a long journey ahead: the distance from Vanuatu to Darwin on the north coast of Australia is 2,330 nautical miles. I am hoping that we can make reasonably quick progress: we have favourable trade winds, which should most of the time blow at 15 to a little over 20 knots. If this proves the case, we should manage to get there within 18 days. 

Darwin will be interesting. It’s Australia’s most northerly city, with a population of about 140,000, and at only 12 degrees south is very definitely tropical. Although it’s winter, the average daily maximum temperature in August is 31.9 centigrade. Hot.

I must report that I’ve enjoyed the week in Port Vila. I haven’t ventured very far afield, but have wandered around every day. While the town is certainly nothing special, the atmosphere is good. People are friendly – I’ve had numerous conversations with locals – and things are relaxed. I discovered a small informal local restaurant at the back of the fruit market and have eaten there most evenings. The food is cheap and decent – actually, it’s no more expensive than buying food from the supermarket (where prices are high) and cooking it myself. Whatever you have comes with the local staples: rice, manioc (cassava) and salad. I’ve had a tuna steak, both chicken and beef stirfry and an omelette containing diced carrots and beans. All good, simple but tasty. And you get a substantial portion! Had a good conversation with the man who owns the place, who was curious to know whether I was living here or visiting.

It’s easy dealing with locals, because everyone seems to speak English. There are three official languages: English, French and Bislama. Haven’t heard any French. The locals speak Bislama to one another – it’s a Creole language based heavily on English. As an example: a sign on the door of a minibus taxi said in English “Please close the door slowly” and in Bislama “Plis sarem doa slo” – so 3 out of 4 words came from English. A number of indigenous languages are spoken across the 80 or so islands of Vanuatu, but generally by only small numbers of people, so it’s easy to see that Bislama evolved as a lingua franca. 

It will be good to be moving again. Once we get to Darwin we really will have covered a lot of water and be a long way from New Zealand.