Twilight Saga New Moon Party by Jet Mante

Part of my winnings from the party :)

For those of you who don't know it New Moon is the second book in the Twilight Saga, which includes Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. The series is written by Stephenie Meyer, and the first movie came out last year. The premiere of New Moon in Australia is at midnight on November 19. To celebrate Borders is holding a Twilight (Saga) Party, and as I absolutely love the books, and am sort of obsessed with them I decided to go to the party. Mom and Dad had visitors, but they allowed me to go by myself!

After Dad had dropped me off at the dingy dock I walked to Borders, only stopping to ask directions once. When I did ask directions I didn’t really need them, because when I looked again I could see Borders just one block down.

When I reached Borders I saw no sign of a party. I was looking around thinking what to do when a staff member approached the door. At first I thought that he was going to ask me if I was okay, and offer help, but when he opened his mouth he asked “Are you here for the Twilight Party?”

I was very relieved, and I asked if he could wait while I called my parents. After 3 tries, and hearing nothing I decided that they were busy and didn’t hear the VHF. I finally gave up and went inside.

On the third floor I found about eight women in their late forties, and three twenty year old Borders staff members. I settled in, feeling a little out of place, and introduced myself.

I was handed 5 quiz sheets and told to make myself at home. On the quizzes, I did rather well, having an average 10 out of 15. I even won the last round, receiving 2 free New Moon passes, and a Twilight 2010 Calendar.

After finishing their quiz I wrote my own. I also learned that Emmett, the wolf pack, and Edward were the main attractions for people to go and see New Moon. We shared how we had been introduced to the Twilight Series, which turned out to be either by seeing the first movie or a friend suggesting the book (for me it was the latter).

The last thing we did was ‘pin a kiss on your favorite character’. The character, who earned the most kisses was Emmett, with Jacob coming in second and Alice third with three kisses including mine.

At nine o’clock I headed downstairs, just as I had promised Dad. As I hurried downstairs I saw Dad talking to a Borders staff member, and trying to enter Borders. When I saw him I rushed over, and after he told the Borders person how concerned some people had been we left. He told me how Mom had been very worried, because when she came an hour earlier to surprise me she could find no sign of a party and this mega-bookstore was all locked up. Adding to this the absence of a VHF call from me, Mom had come to frightening conclusions. After Dad had called Mom on VHF and reassured her that I was OK, we walked home living the saying “All is well that ends well!”

Land Ho! by Jet Mante

Australia is HOT! (spot my earrings!)

We made it to Australia! The first first-world country since the USA. After stunning nature, wonderful untouched cultures, and places right out of vacation brochures, I was personally very glad to be back in a city! I absolutely loved the (hopefully not) once-in-a-life-time experiences, but after a year in the Pacific I must confess to enjoying such little things as the hustle and bustle of people, and traffic lights. Even traffic jams can seem wonderful.


As soon as we were through customs, we met lovely people. Especially Susanne and Jerry (long term Australian cruisers) made us feel very welcome. For those of you who know Lisa Peery, Semiti Saini, Martin Livingstone, Kelly & Al Chan, Don Raymond from SDYC, Paul and Tamar, Pamela from Precious Metal, Lupe from Moon and Stars, and many, many others, you will know one of the greatest joys of cruising is meeting such extraordinary people!

Australian welcome committee, the wonderful Susanne and Jerry

On Saturday we, Jerry, Susanne, and the Mante family, went shopping at the Outlets. The funniest thing that happened was that Dad bought two new pairs of shorts and a new polo-shirt, but when he put them on Hein and Eltjo refused to believe that they were new. They said that they were exactly like the old ones!

OLD	NEW

Spot the ten differences, it's not easy!

On Sunday we visited Mom’s old school friend’s younger brother: Joris Eerkens. I had great fun playing Scrabble with Yinte (8), and Torwen (7), Joris’ two eldest daughters. After Scrabble we jumped into the pool and splashed about with them and their younger siblings Mognild (5) and Jeurt (3).

What do all children like?

Today I sorted out my cupboard and made a pile of clothing that was 1/2 a meter high, for Yinte, Torwen and Mognild. Not only did I realize that I am either really spoilt, or a packrat, but I also managed to procrastinate writing this blog post for over half an hour! I definitely decided that I should clean out my closet (if you can call it a that) more often.

The pile I cleared out is too high. I need a LONGER ruler!

On Wednesday Joris and Co. will visit and have dinner on the boat, which I am really looking forward to. Afterwards I will go to a 'Twilight Saga New Moon' party, which I will be going to alone because it starts at seven and we don’t know how long Joris will stay. Even though I will have to go alone I still insist on going, because I am obsessed about this book the way I sometimes can be about books.


Before the internet connection breaks off I must tell everyone who knows Dad, and his policy about pets, the amazing breakthrough: I am now not only allowed to have virtual and imaginary pets, but also ladybugs! Yes! I hope to even get Dad so far as allowing geckos, or hermit crabs.

Brisbane

Australian customs and Quarantine have a reputation for being draconian. With that in mind we had prepared to make things easy to get off on the right footing. For example we had dug out all the shells we collected in the Pacific and had them ready on the cockpit table for inspection. The event was painless.

With entry formalities put aside, we got our first taste of Australian hospitality when we were embraced with open arms by Susanne and Jerry, a local cruising couple taking a break from actively cruising, yet still living on their boat. They knew what it is to arrive after a long passage and pampered us. The first night they fed us a gourmet meal and poured several bottles of champagne. In the following days they drove us around town on all kinds of errands and generally helped us find our feet in Brisbane. What a wonderful experience. Thank you!

Susanne and Jerry host us for a yet another gourmet meal.

Brisbane itself is a major city with a population of 2 million. Moored on the river just off the Botanical Gardens in the heart of the City we were meters away from high rise office and residential towers. After 10 months of sparsely populated tropical islands, ocean and coconut trees this was quite a change! Another reason to enjoy the tall buildings around us was that Brisbane is known for its heavy thunderstorms. We certainly experienced some spectacular ones.

What a change from a deserted South Pacific Island!

We loved seeing the sights of Brisbane. The city is a mix of ultra modern buildings and beautifully restored wharves and Victorian/Edwardian Government buildings. There are many museums and most of them are free. Amongst others we visited a Fashion Exhibit, the Modern Art, Queensland (Science), Police, and Maritime Museums.

At the Fashion exhibit Jet is happy to spot this Cate Blanchett dress. Ewout was disappointed not to find the lady herself.

One of the many delights of Brisbane's South Bank: The Senang and Bravado boys play "chicken" in a waterpark.

First "kangaroo" sighting by Senang and Bravado boat children.

Brisbane also played an important role during WWII. Many of the GIs shipped in from San Francisco landed in Brisbane prior to being sent into battle. Brisbane essentially became a large garizon town. General MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area, had his Head Quarters in Brisbane from July 1942 to November 1944. From here planned and managed the campaign to defeat Japan. His old HQ has been converted into a Museum:

General MacArthur's Head Quarters is one of the many museums we visited in Brisbane.

Hein learns about secret codes in the MacArthur Museum.

We learn about the role Australian children played during WWII (collect alumninium and rubber, help adults etc.)

Ewout tries General MacArthur's desk. Hmm. Ewout you sure are good at barking orders, but these boots might be a little too large to fill!

The MacArthur museum also gave us an interesting insight into how and when Australia shifted its allegiance from England to the United States. During the height of the panic in the Far East Churchill and the Australian Prime Minister John Curtin had a sharp difference of opinion: Churchill ordered Australian ships North to support the British in South East Asia. Curtin ordered Australian forces to return South to defend Australia. Curtin stated: "Without any inhibitions of any kind I make it quite clear that Austrlaia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom".

The rest is history. Australia today remains an interesting mix between British traditions and an American get-up-and-go attitude.

On our way out of Brisbane Eltjo had a close encounter!

We think there is something BIG in Eltjo's future!

Crossing the Coral Sea to Australia

Eltjo and Ewout adjust the sails as we leave Vanuatu.

Having left behind Vanuatu we set course for Australia. This meant we had to pass across the top of New Caledonia, a French colony known for its nickel deposits and natural beauty. We would have loved to visit it, but decided not to. Earlier on in our trip we learned we that we have more fun if we spend more time in fewer locations. Moreover, the seasons were about to change and who wants to run into Hurricane season?

All that remained between us and Australia was a 1000 nautical miles (1600 miles, 1850 km) stretch across the Coral Sea. At the far Western end is the well known Great Barrier Reef. We were aiming for the Southern end of it. Little did we know that the Coral sea is aptly named for scattered across it are endless coral reefs which rarely are visited by humans. One can either sail a big detour to avoid most of the atolls, or snake one's way through this mess. On a yacht with GPS navigation systems this is quite feasible as long as one doesn't fall asleep and literally miss a turn!

The Coral Sea actually has an important place in history: On May 7 and 8th 1942 Japanese and US forces fought the Battle of the Coral Sea. It was the first naval battle in history in which aircraft carriers engaged each other and neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other. Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies: Japanese expansion towards Australia and into the South Pacific, seemingly unstoppable till then, had been turned back.

Japanese Expansion into the Pacific was halted with the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Luckily Bravado had a more peaceful ride! Winds were boisterous (30-35 knots) and from just ahead of the beam (i.e. slightly against us) which made it rough but fast trip. As usual Bravado held up well and 6 and a half days after leaving Port Villa we tied up at the customs dock on the Brisbane river. This marked the end of our crossing of the Pacific.

Vanuatu: Port Villa; Old Friends, WWII, & National Museum

After Port Resolution we sailed North to Port Villa on Efate Island. Here we met up with Liz Kelsall. The Kelsall's used to live across from the Mante's in Hale, England in the 1970s. Liz, being a teenager at the time, would sometimes babysit the Mante children. Liz stood on the dock as we arrived and we saw her almost daily. Ewout's hopes that she'd kept the same rates for babysitting were disappointed. She did make some wonderful new logo's for Bravado (A hibiscus flower and a gecko).

 

Liz, who used to babysit Ewout in England in the 1970s, and Ewout.

On Efate we hitch-hiked around the island once again. One of our drivers took great pride in feeding us lots of seeds, roots, and shrubs from the jungle.

 

Hitchhiking around the island.

 

Jean-Claude, our driver, prepares us some lunch.

The goal for the round the island trip was to visit some of the World War II relics. Vanuatu was an important base used during the battle of the Coral Sea and Guadacanal. These battles stemmed the march of the Japanese towards Australia. Efate (and the more Northern Islands) are riddled with airstrips, former bases and abandoned/wrecked WWII equipment. On the boat, we watched several movies (Australia, and Bridge over the River Kwai) to talk about the war in Asia with the children.

 

WWII Map of Efate showing various bomber, fighter, and sea plane air-strips and bases.

 

A low-key WWII Museum containing lots of parts of several crashed Corsair fighter/bombers used by the U.S. Marine's.

 

Duck! Stray bullets coming your way!

One day in a local market, Hein was approached by a young girl who thought she heard Dutch. The two of them decided they wanted a "play-date", which resulted in us getting to know the Hoyaux, a Belgium-Uruguayan family.

 

Almost across the Pacific, we have our first trip in an outrigger canoe. The owner is from... ...Belgium!

 

Mante and Hoyaux children performing a short skit

The remainder of this blog consists of some schoolwork the children did whilst we were in Vanuatu.


The National Museum of Vanuatu
Yesterday we went to the Vanuatu National Museum. It was my second visit. Vanuatu is made up of eighty-three volcanic islands. I will now tell you how the people of Vanuatu, the Ni-Vanuatu, treat pigs.
In Vanuatu pigs are sacred animals and considered pets. If a Ni-Vanuatu went to England then he/she would be surprised to see that people there have dogs or cats as pets. Here in Vanuatu dogs and cats are scavengers. Pigs are part of daily life. For example, houses are divided into a section for humans and one for pigs. Pigs even are playmates for the children and practically members of the family. Parents love their pigs as much as their children and their garden. It is usual for a family to hand feed pigs for many years. Sometimes they even chew the food before they feed it to the pigs.
Pigs are also money. Male pigs are worth more than female pigs because male pigs have tusks. The pigs are kept until there is a certain ceremony and the the pig must be sacrificed or given away. When a new chief comes to power he must hand kill five hundred pigs. If there are not enough pigs to make the number five hundred, then as many pigs as possible must be gathered and killed. To make a place sacred you must pour pig's blood on the ground. A very valuable pig is the hairless pig, found on the island Tanna. The hairless pig is worth seven tusked pigs. Another valuable pig is the bisexual pig. In front it has the tusks of a male pig, but in the back it is all female. Fewer and fewer Ni-Vanuatu own pigs because pigs spread disease.
The Ni-Vanuatu are trying to protect their culture and try to live the way their ancestors did before colonization. They are doing this by hunting in the old way (with bow and arrow) and wearing traditional clothes.
I loved the museum.

 

Sand drawings: Hein learns how to draw...

 

..a stylized ant.

Hein Mante Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Museum of Vanuatu
By Eltjo Mante

Yesterday we learned about the culture of Vanuatu in the National Museum in Port Vila, the capital. In the Museum there was an interesting instrument made of hollow bamboo pipes hanging down from hooks. It was a crossing between a piano and a xylophone. The museum guide played the national anthem on it, and twinkle twinkle little star. I tried it too and I had fun, but I could not do it as well as the guide.

Eltjo with Bamboo xylophone

The guide also made beautiful sand drawings with his fingers. He taught me how to do it, but it isn’t as easy as it looks. I made the number one. The drawings have a lot of special meaning. You can not leave them on display for too long, because every minute the magic and meaning wear off a little.

 

Sand drawing of sea-turtle

The traditional clothing of the men is very different from our clothing. They wear almost nothing, but it is very hot here so that is OK.
When they perform traditional dances they wear nice masks with pig tusks. The pig tusks are important to the Vanuatu people, because pigs are their pets. The pig is the national animal. The male pigs grow tusks. The bigger the tusks, the more valuable they are. The pig tusks are on the Vatu (money) and on the national flag.

I loved the picture of a boy doing cats cradle with grass strings and the wooden boats, which looked like outrigger canoes or sailing boats.

Cats cradle using natural fibres

We learned that homes in roots of banyan/vine trees make the best hurricane shelters...

...a large tree can provide shelter for an entire village.

Eltjo Mante, Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

A few more pictures

 

Jet feels very welcome

 

Liz took us to a charity fundraising event at a local resort. Afterwards we enjoyed the pool.

 

View from our "Balcony" (aka cockpit)

Vanuatu: Mother Nature's Fireworks

We left Fiji, sailing through Bligh Water named for Captain Bligh of Bounty fame. The mutiny on the Bounty took place off Tonga. Bligh and 18 crew who remained loyal to him were put in an open overloaded 23ft tender and traveled 3600nm (6700km) to the Dutch East Indies. On this remarkable journey they were chased by cannibals the length of Bligh Water. We were a little more fortunate. We had a pleasant ride through Fiji, but a rough yet fast ride from Fiji to Vanuatu.

 

Futuna Island, a volcano we pass as we approach Vanuatu

Our first stop is Port Resolution on the Island of Tanna. In 1774 Captain Cook visited this bay and named it after his ship HMS Resolution. The reason Cook and we are drawn to this harbor is because of Mount Yasur clearly visible from the Ocean. Jet takes it forward from here:

Windy Hill... Hill?
===================
Yesterday we hiked up Mount Yasur in Tanna, Vanuatu. Mount Yasur is not not really Palo Alto's windy hill, or a mountain, for it's:

A god's forge,
A devil's gorge,
A mountain of ash, and gray
But in the center,
A fireworks display!

A volcano!

 

Hein's artist impression (dedicated to Uncle Gerbrand)

In preparation for our trip to Yasur we wore clothing that covered us up well since some of the Mosquitoes is Vanuatu carry Malaria. In the end we didn't see a single mosquito, but the clothing helped us against the high winds found on Yasur's crater rim.

 

The Conti's from Ocealys and Mante's from Bravado heading for Yasur.

As the pickup truck in the back of which we rode brought us closer to the volcano the vegetation changed. Massive ferns were everywhere and steam billowed out of the ground, particularly in the places where we had just driven. Very eery!

 

Hein and Eltjo standing on the rim

We hiked the final bit up the mountain. Though the wind was rather hard and cold we were thankful that it was strong because it allowed us to view "force 2" eruptions in relative safety from the very edge of the crater. We arrived just before sunset and as night fell the glowing lava was all the more visible against the night sky. The explosions were absolutely magnificent.

 

The explosions throw shoebox to bathtub sized blob's of lava 300m+ into the air.

First you would have a few smaller ones that were barely visible, then you would have a big one with lava shooting 300m (1000ft) into the air. Just before the lava reached its peak (apogee) the sound wave would catch up and you would hear a tremendous boom and the sulfurous smell would hit you. The lava would fall back to earth in a tempo that seemed like slow motion. After the explosion the lava would tumble from where it landed back into the crater creating glowing streams of fire. A few blobs landed outside the crater and we had to keep a good lookout as some landed around us!

 

Lava streaming back into the crater

 

Lava and stars (click image to enlarge)

After some 15 explosions and an hour of photographing, filming, and studying with the bare eye we headed back down the mountainside. While walking back, Hein, Dad, and I who had stayed a little longer than the rest found ourselves walking back in the dark without light. Overall the volcano was not super scary, but walking back in the dark, and seeing the lava shooting up beside you, while feeling the still warm sand between our toes was not a comfortable feeling. After blazing our own path for a while we made it back to our outbound track with a *very* healthy respect for mother nature!

 

Do you spot the incentive for not loosing your balance here as you find your way home? ;)

Back at the boat we had a dinner of baguette with cream cheese, or cucumber and mayonnaise.


P.S. Later we learned that the lava had a temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius. We also lifted some of the blobs of lava that were cooled down and lying all around us. They were very light containing lots of holes with gasses inside them and very brittle. We think the gasses and the high temperatures explain why the blobs of lava would fall back to earth so slowly.

Jet Mante
October 11, 2009

Fiji, SavuSavu: Curries and Goodbye to Aedgard

Lariekoek and Bravado jointly sailed from Mago Island to SavuSavu. Martin Livingston stood on the pier to make sure we left (safely).

 

Oh dear, another private island on our way to SavuSavu. Would Aedgard be able to resist the tempation?

Along the way nothing exciting happened other than that we got word of the Samoa Tsunami. Boats at sea tend not to get affected very much. However, we heard later from several of our boating friends in Samoa and Tonga who experienced some very scary moments. The local population was of course most affected. Even in Loma Loma the village we visited just a few days earlier, the Pier, church, and low lying houses were flooded.

 

A pretty sunset on our first evening in Savusavu

SavuSavu was a wonderful little town. Here we saw a lot of the Indian Fijians who run a thriving commercial sector. The ethnic Indians arrived many generations ago and now account for half the population of Fiji. There is a lot of tension between the Indians and the indigenous Polynesian/Melanesians, but frankly, they seem to need each other. A series of Coup d'Etats was intended to keep the Polynesian/Melanesians in control of the country. Let's hope sanity will prevail. In the mean time we greatly enjoyed some hot curries and Jet added another traditional dress to her collection.

 

Jet in traditional Indian clothing.

 

A hair clip Jet and Ewout are making from an oyster shell. To be continued...

 

Did we mention that there are mosquitoes near mangrove trees? The children chose a poor place to play.

We could not stay long in SavuSavu as hurricane season is approaching and we still have at least one more archipelago to visit. Lariekoek will be heading to New Zealand and Bravado to Australia. It was sad to say goodbye to Aedgard. Ewout has known him for almost 30 years the rest of the family a bit shorter, but we all love his sense of humor and independent mind. He was a great traveling partner. We had a wonderful last night on Lariekoek and played a game of cards (kwartet) that the children had made for him.

 

Eltjo and Aedgard reviewing the card game we made for him.