Spiders and Jellyfish

December 24th
Day 6
Mystery Island, Vanuatu
Cruise stats:
Swell: Nauseating
Weather: Mostly sunny, 28C
Number of people in the little orange boats: 100 when used as a tender, 150 when used as a lifeboat (where they put the extra 50 is anyone's guess)

Ugh. I'm having fun during the day but the night-time rolling and bouncing of the boat is beginning to get to me. In future, I think I'll make my holidays more ground and less ocean.

Mystery Island is a pretty place... and thats about it. M went swimming, but I saw the bluebottle tentacles washed up on the shore and decided against it. He got a couple of tiny stings, but I have to wonder how many others got more than just a few red spots. I found a green coconut, but couldn't work out a way of opening it, so I just took a photograph and left it. We went for a walk around the island, saw the WW2 airstrip and the still-functioning 'airport' (all one room of it). Found the massive spiderwebs disconcerting. Left my remaining Vatu in the donation box for the local school. The neighbouring island of Aneityum, which we can see from our balcony, looks far more interesting. It is mostly pine-covered mountains with a tiny fringe of habitable beach. Might be worth coming back to another time.

The dining room continues to amuse me. Each night before we go it, we try to guess who is going to be turned away for being inappropriately dressed. Most nights, we're get it right. Six days in, would've thought they would have learnt by now. Clearly not.