[password] zmu3791nzl9424
[position] 15 27.581S 167 13.273E
[status] We have been in Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu for a week now. This is the largest island in Vanuatu. There is a direct flight into Santo from Brisbane, so there are a lot of Australian's either living here part time or running one of the many resorts around the area. We spent 4 nights on a mooring outside Aore Beach Resort and enjoyed some off their hospitality. We made a couple of trips to 'town' to the produce market where we picked up the yummiest pawpaw for the equivalent of NZ 50 cents each. Add a splash of lime juice and yummy!!! Glen found the most amazing hardware store. Everything he was looking for and more could be found there. I think we had 2 visits in one day!!! We had two days worth of cruise ships visiting while we were in the harbour. The town didn't seem too busy with cruise boat guests but the style of the town changed and became more market style offering all kinds of trinkets and souvenirs. We picked up Kristy from the airport and have started travelli
ng slowly up the eastern side of Santo. Kristy has arrived to us with a rather heavy cold so diving is on the back burner for a few days. She really wants to dive the President Coolidge wreck again that her and Glen dived 9 years ago when we were here. There is a lot of good diving wrecks around Santo, so she is trying hard to get herself better sooner that later. There are a lot of wrecks on reefs around the islands above water level as well as below. The local village life around Santo is almost overshadowed by the private residences dotted around, but you still see the locals out at low tide collecting what looks like octopus or squid. They stay out for up to 2-3 hours as the tide comes in over the reef. I watched 2 ladies yesterday who stayed out for nearly 3 hours, then they left there catch in the water and retrieved it later on when they were ready to head home. All good on board. Enjoying having our daughter with us.

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