We took a Royal Caribbean cruise roundtrip from Brisbane to New Caledonia and Vanuatu for 9 days. This way I got to visit another country - Vanuatu - and do a little cruising which we both like to do. Here's what we thought of the cruise:

We thought the cruise was lovely. The food was pretty good (but I think the food we have eaten in Australia is better) and the service was also impressive. Vanuatu is pretty bare-bones - we had difficulty finding wi-fi anywhere and on Mystery Island (part of Vanuatu) they didn't seem to have electricity. Because of this, it was able to keep its natural beauty, which we hope comes through in the pictures. In Vanuatu, we visited Hideaway Island in Vila, which has an underwater post office! Check out the video of me sending some postcards! (Technically, it's a re-enactment, the camera didn't record it the first time...). In Vila, we also visited a museum where they showed us their ancient sand writing - there's a video - it's quite beautiful.

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In New Caledonia, we took a tour to Duck Island (Ile aux Cunard - it's a French territory). At first, the snorkeling seemed pretty lousy, but when I swam out further the coral was incredibly beautiful, as were the fish - I have a feeling it gave me a sneak preview of the Great Barrier Reef...which is our next stop. In fact we are at the airport now waiting for our flight to Cairns, where we will go on two tours to the Great Barrier Reef.

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But the best part of the cruise was all the wonderfully kind Australians we met. You'll see some pictures of our new friends and everyone was so kind and helpful. What an awesome country and people!