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Tripping
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Island
Tripping....
Santo Island -  Click
a photo to enlarge
Blue holes, sandy
beaches, WW2 relics and time with friends...
During October 2001, along with another Australian Volunteer
family, we visited the island of Espiritu Santo in the north. Normally
called 'Santo', it is the biggest island in the Vanuatu group. The main
town is Luganville which is a bit like a country town with its wide streets and
lay back feel.
The main aims of our trip, apart from a little break away from
Vila, were to catch up with some fellow Volunteers and see the sites of
Santo. We had a great time. Not only does Santo offer a great
place to visit, with many unique attractions, but we really enjoyed spending
time with the dozen or so volunteers and their families who work there. A
special thanks to the Nielsens for squeezing us into their Ute and acting as
tour guides.
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Champagne
Beach |
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The photo at left shows
the Nielsen, Smith and Hales families, all Aussie volunteers, plus Gary a
friend of the Nielsens', who works for one of the Abattoirs on
Santo. The scene behind is Champagne Beach famous for its white sand
and turquoise waters. Nice and quiet the day we went, the next day
the cruise ship was due to arrive with its 1400 passengers to pack out
this part of paradise with wall to wall tourists. |
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Shark
Bay Blue Hole |
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This is a superb swimming spot
with beautiful blue water, hence the name 'Blue Hole'. Fed by a
fresh water spring that leads out to the sea, it is so clear that you can
see the fish swimming from above and below. The blue hole is about
30 metres across and 15 metres deep so you feel like you are swimming in a
huge fish tank. But don't worry there are no sharks despite the
name. |
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Lonnoc
Beach |
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Not far from Champagne Beach is
another white sand beach, Lonnoc Beach. After 18 months of swimming
at crunchy coral or black sand beaches, we loved Santo with its plentiful
supply of white sand beaches. We only stopped briefly to check out
the cabins here but enjoyed the chance to relax on a hammock with the
beautiful blue waters stretching out behind us. This is more like
how we pictured the Pacific would be. |
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President
Coolidge Dive Site |
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Luganville was a major staging
post for American troops during WW2. There are still many reminders
of the Americans' presence in the form of plane wrecks and old
buildings. Here we are visiting the site where the troop carrier SS
President Coolidge sank in the Segond Channel. On the 24 October
1942, the Coolidge, with 5000 men aboard hit two American mines in the
Channel. As it quickly began to sink, the ship was beached closer to
shore to allow men to scramble off onto the shallow reef. Nearly all
were able to escape but two lives were lost. One a sailor killed in
the initial impact and the second a Captain who was sucked down as the
ship slid off the reef into the deep water. Nowadays the Coolidge
offers one of the best dive sites of a large wreck in the world. |
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Million
Dollar Point |
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At the end of the war the
American's dumped jeeps, bulldozers, tanks, tinned food, everything left
after the war, into the water at what is now called Million Dollar
Point. They had originally offered the equipment for sale to the
planters and the Condominium Government but both parties hoped to get a
real bargain and were unwilling to make a reasonable offer. In the
end the American's were tired of the bargaining and dumped millions of
dollars worth and tonnes of equipment into the sea. We spent several
hours snorkeling over the shallow waters identifying items such as jeeps,
guns and tanks now heavily encrusted with coral. |
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Blue
Lagoon |
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Another one of Santo's famous
blue holes. Locals will try and convince you that this is the place
where Brooke Shield's movie "Blue Lagoon" was filmed, but I
don't think so. |
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Bali
Hai |
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If you have ever read
Mitchener's "Tales of the South Pacific", or seen the musical
"South Pacific", you will be familiar with the mystical island
of Bali Hai. Look carefully at the faint outline of the island far
on the horizon on the picture at left and you will see Ambrym Island which
is the inspiration for Mitchener's Bali Hai. During the war
hundreds of thousands of US troops passed through Santo with at times up
to 100 ships in the harbour. With so many lonely men around, the
locals felt it wise to send most of the women over to Ambae Island.
Thus the legend of Bali Hai as an island full of beautiful women
began. This photo was taken from the site of the hospital where
Mitchener spent time convalescing during the war. |
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Aussie
Volunteers |
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Australian Volunteers work in
many areas and positions through out Vanuatu. The Nielsens at left
of the picture, spent a year in Luganville. Mark worked as a small
business advisor with the Sanma Provisional Council, while Julie taught at
the Santo East Primary School. The Smiths, in the centre of the
photo were based on Efate where Rob was the senior physics teacher
at Malapoa College
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