Christmas Day in Mystery Island, Vanuatu. I doesn't seem like Christmas here at all. Last year at this time we were in the Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica and there was snow everywhere and colder. Not 80 degrees and white sand beaches. I guess that's what travel is for, to show you how diverse the people and climate is on this planet.
We started the morning with our usual breakfast in the main dining room. There are no plans for the group doing anything onshore as there are no excursions at this port call. It is just a very small island next to the larger islands. The local population, like on Moumea, don't care for tourists, so they come to this island with their wares, culture and do boat, snorkeling events for the passengers and then go back to their homes. Being Christmas, there was only one vendor selling anything (Boyd, I got you a hat). Most of the stalls were empty and a few vendors were doing snorkeling and glass bottom boat rides.
We all did different things on this stop. Kevin walked around the island, it's only 1 Km square. I went ashore and just walked around a bit. There was some very interesting geology though. Reef development, reef erosion and plant stabilization effects could be seen everywhere. It was very picturesque. Joe stayed on the boat as did Gary. They had a BBQ event mid ship in the pool area. Smelled good, but I skipped it.
I got back around 11;30 and took a nap. Joe hung out in the exploration Cafe. We all met up at 4:00 for happy hour and a couple from Seattle joined us. We ended up eating dinner with them at the Lido. at 6:00. From there is was a stop at the LGBT meetup.
We all decided to go to the casino after the gathering. I lost a quick 250.00, but won it back plus another 100.00 just before I was going to leave. Everyone else had gone to bed by then except Joe and I. around 11:15 we headed for our staterooms. Plans are for a 9:00 breakfast tomorrow AM.
