| 26/05/2014 - 09/07/2014 »» page 5/5 ««
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39. day - 03/07/2014 - , Thermal springIn the morning when we went to the shore we dropped the dirty laundry to the marina. It is washed out for 1000 vatu per bag within a day, dried and folded as well. At 11 am we met the driver with the pickup at the market to take us to the thermal spring. The driver has been kept calling us from 10.30, if we were late. We assured him that we will be there at 11 am. Surprisingly the usually island time was not considered, which means plus a half-hour waiting period from the arranged time point (in this case would be 11.30 am).
The spring was approximately 50km drive. Our eyes were stung due to the exhaust of the pickup because the the top was covered. The driver made sure he delivers some other passengers as well. Upon entering the spring we had to pay 1000 Vatu per person. The spring water was awesome, we had even mud to cover our body, which is very good for the skin, although it is a bit smelly.
On the way back to our surprise, the driver said that he expects the 5000 Vatu per person. No way were we going to pay this price to him. We paid him more than the agreed 5000 Vatu, but it was a rip off. On the way back we made the driver to remove the cover of the pickup car. Now the wind tore our head off on the platform, but we realized that this is the reason the locals wear a hat. On arrival Géza tried to explain to the driver what an agreed upon price means. The driver was probably teased by the tour guides we met at the spring who were taking tourists from the cruise ship.
While Tamás did the shopping, we picked up the clean clothes in the marina. The lady in the marina was already waiting for us. Then we met at the dinghy dock and closed the day with a gin and tonic fizz on Rotor. | | | | We were not alone | Thermal spring | European melaneses | | | | | | |
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40. day - 04/07/2014 - , Fly-board | | Fly-board equipment | | | Jet-ski |
As there was no cruise ship today, we decided to try the fly board. French entrepreneurs bought the fly board equipment, which is connected with a tube to a jetski. After a short instruction Geza had a half-hour flight.
The town also has a pretty well-equipped boat shop, we took a local bus to get there and finally managed to buy rowlock. Unfortunately, the bronze one was bent, what we had from New Zealand.
In the afternoon we took the dinghy to get our gas bottles filled at the filling plant. It is not far from the harbor. Unfortunately, only the New Zealand bottle was filled up, which was manufactured in Hungary. The other European camping gas bottles were not. They said that they could not fill butane only propane (the bottle has a sign on: butane). We got another address to try. So we got the bus again, entered the recommended store and inquired about charging the bottles. Unfortunately, the person who filled the bottles was not in the shop, so we left the bottles on the ground, to avoid carrying around them and decided to come back tomorrow to inquire. We visited Tamás, who showed the broken sail batten of his boat. Promised, we think about some solution on fixing it. Evening we heard that Tamás crew (Igor) had arrived with the Papua New Guinea visa in his passport. He arrived with a jet-powered boat to the Norvik. This dinghy had a 120-horsepower engine and a top speed of 50 knots. | | | | Starting from the water | Ironman from the comic books | Ironman in reality | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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41. day - 05/07/2014 - , ProvisioningWe did our last big provisioning in the morning. Local buses were waving Brazilian and Colombian flags and honking along the roads. The locals follow the FIFA world cup enthusiastically.
We jumped into the shop where they could fill our gas bottles. Luckily we had the connector to fill the bottle so they agreed to do it. Unfortunately they were only able to do it on Monday or Friday, so we agreed to Monday. We ran into Tamás in Au Bon Marché supermarket on the hill. He said the dinner will be on Norvikon tonight. We only need to buy the fresh food before our departure
In the afternoon Geza helped Tamás on Norvik with his broken instrument pod. Dinner was on Norvikon and had a really good one.. |
42. day - 06/07/2014 - , Rain from the lowIn the morning Geza was fixing the instrument pod with fiberglass on Norvik. Then we had our lunch on Norvik. The menu was Hungarian potato with paprika. In the afternoon the work continued on Norvik while banana cake with passion fruit mousse was made on Rotor.
In the evening we ate the remaining food on Norvik. Tamás is a very keen cook and we eat with great enthusiasm. Tonight the rain arrived from the low approaching us. Based on the GFS weather map we will only leave Pot Vila on Tuesday, after this low passed.. | | | | Instrument pod on SV Norvik | Fixed with fiberglass | Tamás in his kitchen on Norvik | | | | | | |
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43. day - 07/07/2014 - , FarewellThe low passed with around 35 knots of wind and lots of rain (exactly as in the GFS weather map). We had to let down the dinghy, because we were afraid that the wind could raise it and might break. The rain began to weaken just a bit around noon. Geza finished with the sanding of the instrument on Norvik.
In the afternoon, we purchased fruits and vegetables on the market and then we bought the meat in the Au Bon Marché store. At our request, the selected goods were vacuum-packed. Unfortunately we could not find sour cream in the store. We washed and dried the vegetables and fruits before packing them into our storage places. Finally, we found sour cream in another shop (Leader Price) and the cheese were cheaper here than in the Au Bon Marché supermarket.
We took the last sunset picture and had a farewell evening with Tamás so went to a kava bar. The kava here was much stronger than in the Vanua Kava Bar. So now we can really say that we have been in Vanuatu. After that we have ended up at a pizza place.. | | | | Norvik at sunset | GFS weather map | Meat counter | | | | | | |
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44. day - 08/07/2014 - , Havannah Harbor, EfateEnglish translation is missing, sorry.... | | | | Bye Norvik! | Hat Island | Havannah Harbor, Efate (Vulcano in the background) | | | | | Havannah Harbor, Efate (under the SP convergence zone) | | |
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45. day - 09/07/2014 - English translation is missing, sorry.... |
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