So here I am, another year older, sitting in a tiny cafe in Luganvile, Vanuatu in the South Pacific. It’s not a beautiful day in the South Pacific, overcast, grey and a quite blustery…it’s certainly stopping us from travelling to the next and closest island today for a bit of an exploration. Nevermind, maybe the storm will pass soon and we could perhaps go tomorrow instead.
I’m sitting here thinking about my birth date, the 11th of November – obviously an important date for the world, Remembrance day. On this day in 1918 it the official ending of the first world war. To me, and I hope many others, this is an important event not to forget – and it seems more people do every year which is quite depressing. 
This photograph was taken in Port Vila, Efate, an island about 50 minutes flight away from where we are now, and it is where we started our journey. This memorial sits on the top of the hill, overlooking the now ruined harbour where over 1000 army boats once sat, ready for deployment further North during the second world war.
Wrecks and rusting iron.
There are still remnants of war everywhere (as I showed in some of my last posts), wrecks and rusting iron are strewn all over the place. They are haunting images, and I it certainly difficult not to frequently think about what they represent as I walk around these small towns. It seems as though the forces have just left – people just got back on with their lives and everything was abandoned. Life continues around it.
Million Dollar Waste
It’s a shame that America just dumped every single bit of machinery and all the supplies off the coast at Million Dollar Point – but what do I know, I’m sure the had their reasons – but surely (the non ammo and firearms etc) could have just been given to the locals to help with building, agriculture and development? Better on land than at sea, surely? Perhaps I have missed something here? It would be interesting to hear your thoughts – I know very little about the wars, but I do have an active interest in them – if I didn’t, I wouldn’t actually be in Vanuatu.
Anyway. The Monster Moth
Last night there was quite a storm, the size, the amount of rainfall and the speed of the wind always takes me by surprise – even though we are here in cyclone season. Siobhan found an amazingly large moth that had been blown into our open hallway (excuse the quality of the image – I just stuck it on ISO 2000, f/2.8 and shot away at slow shutter speed). I’ve never seen a moth this size before, looking quite battered and bruised, Siobhan found it a safe place to shelter from the rest of the storm.
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Ah ha – my mornings are now fixed, I always look for your post and John Westwood’s. It’s really good to read about what’s happening in deferent parts of the world. That picture of a moth reminds me of a one I took in Ecuador of a friends hand spread out next to a moth on a wall – they were both the same size – cool. Yes Remembrance day – the 2 min silence is just about to start so I will sit with Dweezal Unit and listen to the sound of the gale force winds howling around the house, thinking of the mayhem of wars passed.
Hello Willzers!
Hope you and the garden are well and not suffering from the cold…
Thanks for stopping by, always appreciated! Finally got your blog properly into my blog reader, so now I had the pleasure of reading your last ten blogs or so on my iPad last night, very enjoyable – thanks
See you soon Will,
Chris