Moso Island, Vanuatu

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 23 February 2013. Posted in Vanuatu

We finally caught our flight in Phoenix, Arizona after storing our truck camper and saying good bye to our friends Curtis and Vicky to make our way to Vanuatu.

Vanuatu is an island nation situated in the South Pacific. The island where we want to spend the next 12 months is called Moso Island and is north of Efate, close to Port Vila. We got picked up at the airport and brought to a guesthouse for some rest. After travelling nearly 24 hours we dozed a bit before we got picked up from our boss and his wife for dinner. Owen introduced us to a local brewery with really good beer and at a French restaurant we had a nice pizza.

The next day he brought us to Moso Island where we got greeted like crazy by the dogs. Tanna, the little one is still very clumsy and so soft. Patch, his dad, is only here to train Tanna in the beginning and will go back to Port Vila. Owen showed us around at Tranquility Eco Dive Resort. The first days we were speechless since there was a lot to do on the fares (bungalows) and gear. Everything seemed to be extremely chaotic and finding things was an effort. After a couple of days Owen left us happily in the chaos. He had been on the island already since 5 weeks, trying to organize and fix some stuff.

Unfortunately we didn’t meet the last year managers so we didn’t have a hand over. Well they must have left for a reason. You just have to look at the place. We even found a dead rat in the managers’ house in a carton box. So let’s get started. With our friendly Ni-Vanuatu staff we fixed strategically the fares and serviced the gear. Inventory wasn’t been done since 2010, so let’s check out what we have. Sometimes we are soooo German :O)

Thomas and Douglas our cooks create fantastic meals, Hilda and Celine are our friendly housekeeping girls. Our divemaster Tommy knows the dive sites by heart and Thomas our instructor helps us out with the PADI courses. Steven is the turtle man and our all-rounder, David and Jeffery are our boat captains and also fit in repairing, maintenance and plumbing. Our 4 village boys are the strong supporters and good in island style building.

Next to the resort we have two cruise ships coming in almost every day. The Coongoola is our large classic timber sailing ketch and just a beauty. Our Trimaran Sea Spray offers as well snorkel trips and both stop by at our Hawksbill Turtle Rookery. Right now we have 440 small turtles and we released already 15 since we are here. The Island Diver is our dive boat and brings us to great dive sites around the islands. Whenever we have time we try to hop on board to learn about the dive sites. Micha haven’t had so much time yet but hopefully this will come soon.

In the beginning we had some water pumps down which we need to pump our wells for fresh water and some sea water for the turtles every day. Twice our generator broke down and every day we find out some more. Oil filter change for generator and compressor was necessary.

We really have to get used to the island time. In Malaysia it took sometimes longer than we are used to but here you really should start meditating. Haha, but once you get used to the island time it is actually really enjoyable.

I just say – lukim yu – which is Bislama and means “see you”.

1000 Miles to go

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 17 February 2013. Posted in USA

Mid December we had made a decision which would change our travel plans again completely. One year living on a small island in the middle of the South Pacific. Vanuatu was our destination – our flight was booked for the 21^st February.

So we had to arrange everything with our truck and truck camper. It would be either in the Steve’s snowy mountain retreat in Idaho or in the desert of Arizona at at Curtis and Vickie.

Even if we could have parked the unit for free at Steve’s place we didn’t want to risk it with those freezing temperatures. Curtis found a good deal with a storage company in Maricopa so we decided to drive the 1000 miles in two days. Our trip brought us through beautiful landscapes and we enjoyed the changes of the scenery.

Especially the Joshua Tree National Park with the bizarre trees was fantastic. We spent the night next to the road and continued our trip quite early. Since we had done almost 1120 km (700 miles) on our first day we made a stop in Wickenburg.

Only 1 hour from Maricopa we enjoyed strolling around the small cowboy city and found finally Nadine’s cowboy boots. Well she won’t need them in Vanuatu, haha.

And here we were back again at our friends place and enjoyed a great evening with Curtis and Vickie. The next days we arranged everything to store our truck camper unit and did some packing.

Finally we were ready for the South Pacific, so off we go.

Idaho's wilderness

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 10 February 2013. Posted in USA

The first two days we stayed at Steve’s mountain retreat. He got a great place in Cabarten, surrounded by mountains. So we got our snowshoes and explored the close by forest. Than we explored the Ponderosa State Park and did some snowshoeing.

To relax a bit we enjoyed the evening in the Gold Fork Hot Springs where we run into Kelly, who had been also at Steve’s Party. It is just great to hang around in a hot pool with 38 C (100 F) when the outside temperature is -7 C (20 F).

The next day we followed the Wildlife Canyon Scenic Byway and jumped in some hot springs along the way. Listening to the river, watching the landscape and relaxing in the hot springs is just incredible. Funny wise we met Lawrence in the hot springs who gave us some advices where to camp for the night.

For sure we did some snowshoeing at the Park, following a creek. Afterwards we set camp (with our truck camper) at the Sunbeam Bathhouse. And guess what, we relaxed in the closed by hot springs – with a beer and stars.

Before we left for another snowshoe expedition the next morning we jumped in the hot springs again. Idaho has so many natural hot springs with over 4000 year old rain water coming back to the surface boiling hot. So along some rivers you find this steaming water and find some pools mixing hot and cold water for the perfect natural hot springs.

At the Sawtooth National Recreational Area we did some serious snowshoeing. Off the beaten tracks we inhaled the mind blowing scenery of the Sawtooth Range. After a great hike we jumped back in the hot springs.

Following the Sawtooth Scenic Byway on day 5 we stopped at the Easily Valley to do a little cardio training with the snowshoes. Driving through the famous Sun Valley we treated ourselves in the evening with a nice dinner at a Microbrewery in Hailey. Bruce Willis didn’t show up even if this town is half-owned and lived in from him and his family.

We spent the night at Susan’s Farm which was a beautiful old homestead surrounded by mountain ranges. Without running water and electricity we relaxed in front of the old wood oven. Outside the farm has a double pit toilet with a great view over the mountains.

With a great sunrise and a big owl we said goodbye to this wonderful place and drove towards Boise. Our last night we spent in the Sockeye Microbrewery with good beear and live music.

So it’s time to say goodbye and thank Steve and his friends to make this trip so special. We’ll see you again old friend – somewhere!

More Articles...