Vanuatu

"Quantum of the Seas" was anchored in Fatumaru Bay over the weekend, bringing tourists back to town.  This one, like the one in my previous post, is too large to dock.  Instead it sits out in the bay, and little shuttle boats, one of which is seen in the picture, ferry passengers to and from shore. "Quantum of the Seas?"   Good lord.  

I was told this one held 7,000 passengers and 3,000 crew. It was here for 3 days, and was too large to dock, unlike the previous one.  It was anchored in the bay, and had some shuttle boats that constantly ferried passengers to/from the wharf. It will be some time before the tourism sector recovers, but the recovery has started.

What has it been? Two years?  Three?   Here's a view of wharf road from this afternoon, lined with vendors awaiting cruise-ship passengers hungry for souvenirs.

I had the opportunity to go up a very high tower today.  25m?  30m?  I took a couple selfies and a shot of my ant-like peers below.  I didn't know the "beauty" filter was on, so please excuse my perfect skin. I've been bothered by heights before but that was a long time ago, and thought I'd give this a try.   I was instructed by a couple guys who have done a lot of climbing, so I was well prepared.  I was never nervous and enjoyed it.

On Thursday, 29-Sep, at just after 5pm, I received a notice that the government of Vanuatu declared the following day, 30-Sep, from 12pm onward, to be a holiday. Yes, less than 24 hours notice of a new, ad-hoc holiday! Later I found out it was because the Vanuatu soccer team reached the semifinals or something of a soccer tournament.  And don't blame me for the photo-of-a-screen format; I'm just the messenger.

Hellen read about a photo contest with a theme of agriculture on Facebook.  She took some photos, submitted one, and though she didn't win a prize, her photo was accepted and displayed in the Alliance Francaise gallery on 6-Sep!  How exciting is that?!  Here is Hellen, pictured with her sister and the photo.  That's her sister in the photo too, with a pineapple plant.   We brought her sister and mother with us to the showing (her father was working), but didn't tell them why we were even going to town.  It was a fun surprise.