YOLO at Tanna volcano Sept 2012

As we approached Tanna from Anietyum, we could see the clouds of volcanic gases, steam and ash from several miles out.  The volcano is Mt Yasur and is one of the most accessible active volcanos in the world.  It was one of the highlights of our cruising time so far!  It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and these photos certainly don't do it justice!!!

 The plumes of gas blew up into clouds from the craters

The cinder plain as we drove up in the truck

That's our truck at the bottom of the path  We walke up the side of the cinder cone to watch the vocano erupt.

Steam and gas seemed to take turns with the lava.  There are 2 calderas and the gas clouds came out of one and the lava out of the other.

Nearing the top of the climb to where we watched the volcano.  You can see a steam vent in the center of the pic and the people already at the viewing spot in the top right.  Note there are no guardrails or safety devices of any sort up here.  A wrong step could cook you!

Looking along the rim of the cinder cone.  The tiny dot in the center of the pic is Jason walking along the rim to get a different perspective on the calderas below.

Karen standing at the viewing area looking at a small explosion before it got dark.

An eruption while it is still light.

The gas cloud burps between lava eruptions.

Looking at the lava being thrown up.

Another small eruption with ash and lava

Dusk and the lava lights get brighter.

eruption

More fireworks from Mt Yasur volcano.

A good movie camera would've gotten some great shots.

 More shots of eruptions

A different camera setting makes the lava look more yellow than orange.

Lautoka Fiji to clear out Sep 2012

Our last stop in Fiji was Lautoka, the Sugar City.  They have sugar mills that spew out sticky black soot when operating and yachties don't like to spend any more time there than absolutely necessary.  We spent one night there and headed off to Vanuatu the next day after loading up on meat here.  The meat shop is above.

This is a Chinese or Korean tuna boat at the wharf in Lautoka.  They were unloading frozen tuna carcasses from the boat into a container to be shipped somewhere.

 The frozen tuna coming out of the tuna boat.  They don't even look real...

 Crane loading the tuna from the boat into the container.

The sugar mill at Lautoka.  It was barely spewing anything when we were there (luckily) but we still got a thin layer of sticky soot on YOLO overnight.

 A pile of pine chips near the wharf.  You could smell the pine resin from the boat.

 A truck with a load of sugar cane making its way into the sugar mill.

 Our Fiji flag is worn out; must be time to leave Fiji.

YOLO in Yasawas, Fiji Sept 2012

The Yasawas are the group of islands to the west of Nadi on the western edge of the country.  We hoped to go to the top of the island chain, but the winds were too strong to make it that far and we went as far as Naviti only.  Several movies have been shot around here, including Blue Lagoon and some think parts of Castaway Island were used in Castaway.

The orange on these leaves is part of the green leaf.  It's not two separate leaves.  Very unusual and very pretty.

This guy had a shed full of these "Fiji brooms" that are made from the spines of palm fronds cut out and tied together.  $3 Fijian (about $1.50 US) would get you one.

 This little kid caught this crab in the sand and then proceeded to 'play' with it and bang on it with a stick until it was pretty much dead and couldn't pinch him.

 These are the leaves of the dilo tree that I crunched up in water and used to try to clear up a problem with my eye. Its supposed to cure eye infections.  "You put your face in the bowl of water and swivel your eyeballs around" were my instructions.  Didn't hurt, but didn't really seem to help either, so I must not have an infection. 

 Barracuda hanging on YOLO to dry.  Of course, as soon as I hung it out, it rained.  I marinated it in wasabi, soy and ginger and when dried, it was pretty good.  Did the same with mahi mahi earlier and liked it.  Like beef jerky but made with fish.

Jason lying in a puddle of water in the sand at low tide after snorkeling on a WWII Mustang plane in the shallows here off of Naviti.  His private Jacuzzi.

The beach on Naviti.  We had the place to ourselves and then Sirius joined us.

 The messy snarl our mooring buoys got into.  We lost one of them trying to untangle this mess and the wind gusted and pulled to the point of breaking the line.

 Our dinghy, OTIS, on the beach at Naviti.  Doesn't this look like a magazine cover?

 Semi weaving me a mango basket out of a coconut frond.

The village lady making Fiji brooms out of the coconut frond spines.  What a way to spend your days, eh?

The biggest barracuda we've ever seen in this dinghy.  Veladare caught it and gave us a huge chunk and took the rest to a local resort for the guests to eat.

Karen and her mango basket made by Semi on Naviti.  It's full of mangoes and I had to cut the spine at the top to get it open back at the boat.  Very clever.

 The only woman Chief in Vanuatu.  She lives on Naviti and is 87 yrs. old and still functioning quite well.  This is in her home when we took kava to do sevu sevu with her.

 A large manta ray.  You can just see the tip of his wing, but he was a pretty good size, mabye 10-12 feet across, and he swam back and forth with us in the channel here for quite a while.

Karen with her fashionable mango purse.

Naviti Island from our anchorage spot.

Semi weaving me the mango basket.  Hands and feet all are involved.

 Chunks of fresh coconut that Jason hacked open on the shore.

 Jason hacking open coconuts on Naviti.

Some shots from a snorkel at the resort near Manta Ray Bay.

 Moorish Idols

Puffer fish

underwater view

Blue starfish and coral

Moorish idols

Naviti Beach anchorage

Manta Ray Bay snorkel

Naviti beach

 

 Black crinoid and fish