Tag Archives: MS Oosterdam

December 1, 2014 · 5:35 am

Gilligan would be Right at Home — Stopping by Mystery Island

Welcome to Mystery (Inyeug) Island

Mystery Island (Inyeug) is usually uninhabited . . . until a ship arrives or a plane lands. Until then the inhabitants live next door.

Mystery Island Panoramic

The southernmost inhabited Vanuatu island is Aneityum. What you see in the picture above isn’t it. That’s Inyeug, also known as Mystery Island. They’re easy to tell apart because Aneityum looks like this:

Aneityum

and Inyeug looks like this:

Mystery Island

Mystery Island is small enough to circumnavigate on foot in much less than a couple of hours. But just in case you get lost:

Hard to get lost on an island this small

Despite the small size, Mystery Island has a lot going for it. There’s Queen Elizabeth II Beach, for instance, which was renamed in 1990 in honor of the Queen’s visit to Vanuatu back in 1974.

Queen Elizabeth II Beach

Basking beneath the clouds

MS Oosterdam arrived offshore the morning after we departed Lifou, New Caledonia. Below you can see the ship anchored between Inyeug and the much larger Aneityum.

MS Oosterdam

It was from this anchorage that we tendered onto the island.

Tendering onto Mystery Island

On Wednesday we’ll take a look at Mystery Island’s bustling airport and some of the native flora and fauna, including some really big spiders.

Until then please enjoy the slide show below:

Seeking seashells on the seashore

Walking around the island

Mystery Island beach

Aneityum in the distance

Mystery Island

Mystery Island beach

Mystery Island

3 Comments

Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel

Tagged as MS Oosterdam, photography, R. Doug Wicker, transpacific cruise, travel, travel photography

November 26, 2014 · 12:00 am

Trekking Lifou

Lone Tender

I’m usually not a big fan of tendering to shore. It takes time and it frequently requires long waits in line. But there’s something about being transported over crystalline blue waters that somehow makes it all right.

Crystalline Blue Waters

A short, hot, uphill trek from the shores of Santal Bay takes you into dense jungle with some really interesting flora.

Lifou

Once you get to the end of the trail you arrive at the charming little Notre Dame de Lourdes Chapel — now fully restored to its previous glory.

Notre Dame de Lourdes Chapel

Make sure you duck inside for this view:

Notre Dame de Lourdes Chapel

Fun Photo Friday I’ll present my favorite Lihou shots. Until then, click on any image below to bring up today’s slide show:

Tourist Shopping

Love My Tender; Love My Suite (eat your heart out, Elvis)

MS Oosterdam

Totem Pole

Lifou

Lifou Home

Lifou

1 Comment

Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel

Tagged as Lifou, MS Oosterdam, New Caledonia, photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, travel photography, Ursula Wicker

November 24, 2014 · 5:35 am

Arrival Lifou — Loyalty Islands

MS Oosterdam Arrives Lifou

Cruise ships arriving to Lifou anchor in Santal (Sandalwood) Bay. From there passengers wishing to visit Lifou must tender into port, meaning that they most board one of the ship’s tenders and ride it to shore.

Tendering into Lifou from MS Oosterdam

As with Nouméa (see last week’s posts), the island of Lifou is also part of New Caledonia. Lifou, neighboring Tiga, and several other smaller islands make up the French commune (administrative division) of Lifou, which in turn is part of the Loyalty Islands archipelago.

Lifou

One of the first things that you’ll notice are the bright sand beaches and crystal-clear waters with saturated blues.

Lifou

To the west of Santal Bay is a tall spit of land projecting out into the sea. We’ll take a walk over there on Wednesday and look around, but if you look at it in the photograph below you’ll see a white structure. That is the Notre Dame de Lourdes Chapel, which we’ll also tour on Wednesday.