Australia, what a concept...


I moved to Australia from the U.S. when I was fifty. The transition looked deceptively simple. After all, I’d visited there a half-dozen times, I knew my way around, and the Aussies speak English—how hard could it be? I quickly found there’s a big difference between being a tourist in a country and having to make a serious go of it. This blog covers what I had to learn the first few years in order to survive.
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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Jumping Off to Vanuatu




One of the great things about living in Australia is that it's a great jumping-off point for exploring SE Asia and the S. Pacific. Last week I shot a doco (Aussie for documentary) for Oz Downunder in Vanuatu (the former New Hebrides), including a segment on how the islanders are eradicating the Crown of Thorns starfish that threatens the reefs. Tucked in the warm, clear S. Pacific between New Caledonia and Fiji, it's where Michener wrote Tales of the South Pacific. A diver's paradise: incredible corals, fish life, wrecks (including the largest divable wreck in the world: the SS President Coolidge which hit a mine and sank just off the beach off Luganville) in 80 degree water and up to 100' viz. Vanuatuans are the friendliest folks on the planet. And it's all only a short flight from Brisbane. Special thanks to Peter of Sailaway Cruises in Poet Vila, Charmane of Coral Quays hotel on Santo, Allan, Tony and Alfred of Allan Power Diving in Luganville, and the people of the village of Laonamoa on the island of Pele. And a special compliment to the US Peace Corps volunteers I met over there, doing a terriffic job and having a good time doing it.