Exploring Oceania: The Islands of Melanesia, Part II, Vanuatu’s Mystery Island
Thursday, January 25, 2024
HAL Grand Australia & NZ Cruise
We had never been to Vanuatu, but we had certainly heard of it!!!
Previously known as the New Hebrides Islands, Vanuatu is one of 5 independent Melanesian nations and consists of 83 islands. We visited Mystery Island (aka Inyeug Island) at the southernmost point of the Vanuatu archipelago. It is completely uninhabited!!! But the island of Anatom is nearby, and the locals commute daily to greet the tourists with handcrafts and food. The beautiful white sand beaches are deserted, and the deep-sea diving is amazing!!! There is a grassy landing strip here (used by the allied forces during WWII), and still in use today. Supplies are flown in twice a week.
Here is a map of Vanuatu:
(:Image:Vanuatu_Regions_map.svg Author User:(WT-shared) Burmesedays, Eric Gaba, ru Wikipedia user Переход Артур Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)
Ready for the photos???
We anchored in the waters at Anatom Island.Anatom is lush and inhabited!!!Is it just us, or is this an interesting photo? We had just boarded the tender and were on our way to Mystery Island. For some reason, Sandy couldn’t resist taking this shot. She liked it. And Roger concurred. So here it is!!!It was a short hop over to the pier at Mystery Island.Tropical photo ops were everywhere!!!The island is beautiful!!!The sand is soft and white.The water is clear. Vanuatu is famed for the water: whether snorkeling, diving, swimming or sunning; it is on just about every tourist’s bucket list!!!While many of the Vanuatu Islands are lush and hilly, Mystery Island is flat–but still pretty lush!!! During WWII, allied forces built a grass runway here. It is still in use. This is a photo of the airport terminal.And here’s the runway. Twice a week, supplies are flown in from Port-Vila.We listened to the local entertainment…..
…..we drank the local beer…..
…..we enjoyed the gentle breezes and gentle ambiance of the island….…..and then walked back.Time to head back to the ship.Looking back, we said goodbye to Mystery Island.Perhaps we will return someday!!!
Next, we will sail to New Caledonia!!!
Join us for Part III, as we explore more of Melanesia!!!
How appropriate: Mystery Island on the Mystery cruise. Your photos are the best and the commentary very readable with good info.
How do you like the new itinerary? A bit disappointing, but far away for the hot spots!
Hi Patricia
Nice to hear from you!!!
We have been to so many of these ports before, but it is still fun to see how they change (and sometimes not!). We did consider the in-depth look at so many Australian ports appealing. But the number of ports “in a row” does present a challenge to getting blog posts written in a timely manner!!!
RovingRaconteurs.com 
Wow!!
Beautiful place!! Sorry you couldn’t stay for a week!!
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How appropriate: Mystery Island on the Mystery cruise. Your photos are the best and the commentary very readable with good info.
How do you like the new itinerary? A bit disappointing, but far away for the hot spots!
Enjoy!!
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Hi Patricia
Nice to hear from you!!!
We have been to so many of these ports before, but it is still fun to see how they change (and sometimes not!). We did consider the in-depth look at so many Australian ports appealing. But the number of ports “in a row” does present a challenge to getting blog posts written in a timely manner!!!
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