Swimming

/ brisbanefrannie / 1 Comment

A sleep in.

A slow start.

Yoga!

Day 4 of a SwimTrekking holiday is always hard. Tiredness is setting in. So Yves gave us a slow start.

Carmel gave a group of 7 of us a lovely stretching yoga.

Then a more leisurely breakfast and a quiet read in the hammock.

A visit to the town of Port Vila where we split into little groups of market wanderers and coffee drinkers. Hard decision. But the people at the markets were so friendly and not at all pushy when trying to sell their products.

There were the usual things. Colourful happy pants, sarongs, shirts, kids clothes and woven bags, hats and fans. And flowers , the most beautiful colours. And bunches of peanuts. All sold – or not with a smile.

Steve, Wendy & Soosi we’re taken with the iguana jewellery- but they were real slightly sedated iguanas.

As 12.30 arrived we heard tooting if horns and banding of drums as a parade started through town.

The World Cup is starting tonight and football is huge here so people are showing their support. There are local Vanuatu flags, French flags and Australian flags. Loyalties are split for the Australian v France game.

Our next stop is at Yves’ uncles house he is an artist. Emmanuel Watt. He lives in a house that is both gallery and home. He’s a charming man – a French speaker ( no English) so Monique, Yves sister did the translations.

His main art is sculpture. He takes wood he finds and turns into a representative piece. So clever. His works have been exhibited in New York, Paris, London, Brisbane just to name a few.

He showed his pride of Yves achievements by have a laminated article and photo of Yves completion of the English Channel. There is so much pride in this beautiful Watt family.

This sculpture depicts the volcano

Our last stop on this ‘down day’ was the Blue lagoon. It’s a fun lagoon- very pretty with a couple of ropes high in the trees for only the most game/brave/silly to try.

Guess who was first up the tree. John! He may be 70 but he is fit and brave. He did a few big jumps before being joined by Bec. Yes they both took on the challenge on the jumping castle the day before. Shean might have had a go but he was carrying an injured shoulder.

Frances D was amazing. She brought it home for the girls with height and distance. Bec was another champion with her ‘walk on water’ style.

Dinner was a small disaster. Reefers restaurant in the waterfront did not live up to its reviews. Food ok but expensive and a problem with the bill and lack of efpost which had ‘just shut down’. Apparently there is a back story to the owners. Anyway warning. Don’t go there.

But we smiled through it on the bus. Used humour to recover. Had a debriefing with Ralph.

So off to bed!

Melanesia Day.

/ brisbanefrannie / 7 Comments

Beginning a new day with a quiet yoga session is a treat on a swimtrekking holiday. We are lucky to have Carmel from Brisbane offer us yoga.

We did 20min on the beach yesterday and this morning another session facing the ocean. Downward dog never looked so good.

Muscles are starting to become sore so massage kindly offered by ‘Healing Hands’ Jenny and Yoga by Carmel are helping. Thank you ladies.

Breakfast, a briefing on the days program and away we went. A slightly shorter trip today. Through the town centre and up to the lookout and a secret road to the water. Into the boats to Hat Island which does indeed look like a hat!

Reef shoes are needed today for the walk across the low tide rocks into the boats and away.

This island is a special one in Vanuatu. No villages here at all. But there is a very old cemetery. It’s a significant one.

We arrived at the beach, left our things then continued along the coast for a few kilometres. The ocean is a darker blue and a little rolling. Very inviting.

So off we went. Our group is bonding both in and out of the water. Some like to zip to the front following the leader. Others lurk at the back really enjoying the views of the reef. I prefer to hover mid group – in my own space with a swim buddy. Today it was Margaret. We were keeping a steady rhythm – until we turned a corner of the island and it became lumpy and challenging.

We swam over coral reefs with lots of little fish flitting about. A multitude of blues and purples and pink tipped coral. Bright blue starfish, schools of black & white or yellow fish 🐟.

And Kathy, Soosi and I got out in our

S, M, L matching swimmers!

Back to the beach for lunch. A walk to the ancient cemetery led by a local through a rocky grassy path shaded by pandanus before turning right into the island. Matthew one of our local guides offered a gift to the dead in friendship.

A little nap was needed then before the final swim of the day.

All up we swam 2.7km in the morning and 2 this afternoon. Quite an effort.

Matthew caught a turtle during our swim. What an experience

It’s a really amazing experience here with Yves , his sister Monique and the people of Vanuatu. It’s as much a cultural experience as it is a swim trekking holiday.

Tonight is Melanesia night. Starting with Kava. It’s a full on week and everyone is getting tired!

Yves with his sister Monique

So Yves has scheduled a late start tomorrow morning.

We’ll have yoga at 7.30, breakfast then a rest before a visit to the marketplace in town. Then in the afternoon a visit to a lagoon.

Perfect swimming in Vanuatu.

/ brisbanefrannie / 5 Comments

Yesterday we said it was perfect but today the swimming was even more beautiful.

Swimtrekking- it just keeps getting better.

We had our briefing for the day at 8am after a breakfast of tropical fruit and for some of us eggs- for energy!

Into the two buses by 8.15. One slightly more comfortable than the other, so it was decided we’d mix it around a little tomorrow.

Good coffee was missed yesterday so on the way to the boats we stopped at the Tanna coffee house. The manager gave us a tour and we enjoyed a lovely coffee. Most of the coffee is grown on Tanna Island and 90% is exported – so look out for it particularly in Australia at the Oxfam shops. It tasty and the locals deserve support.

There was also essential oils production. They use mostly Sandalwood and combine it with other oils- ginger and lemongrass. I bought some delicious smelling soap with lemongrass lime and coconut. I’ll have to try not to eat it.

I also bought some oil for sore muscles! There won’t be enough for the number of sore muscles we’re going to have after our lovely long swims.

We continued onto the banana boats and headed off towards today’s destination Pele Island. Another new swim destination for Yves and the swimtrekking group.

Again we were met by the chief and welcomed but no dance of welcome. Just as well as we were keen to get going. The water looked gorgeous.

The curious children came down to see what we were up to but the village people didn’t turn out to welcome us. They have other tourists here from time to time.

And it’s no wonder. It’s a tropical paradise.

Into the water we went. Water temperature ✔️ perfect. Clarity of the water for vision ✔️beautiful. Excitement levels of swimmers 🏊🏻‍♀️ ✔️✔️✔️.

And off we went. Today everyone settled a little, swimming straighter lines, following the leader. I swam with Bec just at the back of the pack. ( ahead of Steve on his kickboard) We got into a nice steady rhythm and maintained a good pace. Until her goggles started to leak. Such a swimmers curse. Leaking goggles!

We all swam past our landing point because we felt so good!

Just over 2km later we pulled in for lunch.

Under the trees we sprawled on towels or red chairs. Lunch was provided by the lovely friendly village people. Grilled chicken, rice, salads delicious fruits. All tasty and much appreciated.

Spying the rather strange looking jumping , climbing, blow up contraption- the sort used in one of those Gladiator TV shows we set a few challenges. Fun and games started. The limber, focused, determined swimmers took on the challenge. Greg, John and Shean versus Kathy, Maryanne, Bec and Colleen.

Lots of laughs as they tumbled, rolled , pulled and climbed their way to the top! There’s always an accident and today it was Shean twisting his shoulder. Let’s hope he can still swim tomorrow.

A short, Carmel led yoga session on the beach followed by a nap under the trees reinvigorated us for the afternoon swim.

Off in the boats down the pretty coastline- into the water to swim back.

It was beautiful. We saw a giant turtle pass the boats and while swimming along saw a smaller turtle wizzing underneath us.

More excitement when Matthew our guide spotted a dugong. He was thrilled as he lives here and hadn’t ever seen one.

Back on the beach we packed up for the 20 min boat ride back to the buses on the main island.

This is the downtime of the day. During the hour long bus ride some sleep, some chat and I start writing.

We also see some spectacular views and an amazing sunset.

Now it’s into our Bures to freshen up for dinner. I’m enjoying the outdoor shower in our room. A great end to a great day!

We’ve enjoyed dinner at Cafe Villa just along from where we are staying. The fish curry was superb.

We really must try and get to bed early.

But Jenny massages, John’s cigars and the Scotch and Baileys are holding us back!

A Cultural Swim with a Difference

/ brisbanefrannie / 8 Comments

The first swim of a swim trekking experience is full of excitement and anticipation and nerves in equal parts.

There was no need for nerves on this trip. Yves, Matthew and Lizzie our guides had planned a great first day.

It was a sunny wind free day so we headed across the island in mini buses where the boats met us for the 20 mins ride to Emao a fairly remote island with 6 small villages and two primary schools.

We arrived to the wail of a conch shell. A local dressed in leaves was blowing a greeting to us.

We unloaded and made our way up the grassy slope to be met by a group of leaf covered men who danced a welcome.

Yves said these people had not had western visitors before. They greeted us in song and dance and everyone lined up to shake our hands as a hibiscus was placed behind our ear.

We were so moved by this beautiful greeting. Yves presented the village chief with books, pencils, paints poster and things for the children.

Then it was swim time. We creamed up and hopped in the banana boats for a ride along the coast. The coral reef was visible in the crystal clear water.

Safety instructions and then into the water. Unlike any swim trek I’ve been on – we swam as one group. A guide in the front middle and at the back to keep us contained and away we went.

Conditions were perfect. Warm, calm and current assisted we swam comfortably along the coast. We swam over coral, alive with little coloured fish. Parrot fish, striped sea snakes, electric blue star fish a turtle and lots of coral.

The reef was damaged in the big storms Vanuatu experienced recently as were the villages. The one we visited on Emao lost all but 3 buildings So sad for people who really don’t have much to start with.

We swam and swam stopping for a chat and a regroup.

It was exhilarating. Everyone was quietly pleased with their effort.

Some towed little floats for safety. Well done John, Colleen and Shean for helping us.

Our boatmen did a little fishing. And

We finally returned to Village and had some downtime. Lunch – rolls for most salad for the gluten free.

Suddenly it was time to leave so the village chief farewelled us and gave a blessing!

Home via the sand island. A little mystery.

Now we’re sitting at Breakas sipping gin and beer.

A good day.

Swimming Vanuatu. Fins, friends and fun.

/ brisbanefrannie / 4 Comments

Today we are on our way to Vanuatu a group of some 83 islands in the Pacific Ocean. We aren’t going to laze by a pool or dip our toes into the lagoon – even though that sounds great. No, we’re going to swim. Along coastlines, around small islands enjoying the water, observing the fish and feeling the sheer pleasure of being free in the ocean.

Steve & I won’t be swimming alone. No that’s far too dangerous!

We are joining a group called Swim Trekking. Our leader, organiser, guide and friend, Yves, who spent quite a few years growing up in Vanuatu has put together this trip for us. And we invited a few friends along to share the fun.

What is it that keeps taking us on swim trekking holidays?

This is our 8th swimming holiday! I took up swimming to be able to go along with my husband on our first one in Sardinia in 2013. I was terrified but loved it. Now I love swimming. I’m not fast. I still use fins. But I can keep going and love how it makes me feel.

What is a Swim Trek holiday?

We got on to our first Holiday through SwimTrek a company operating out of Brighton in the UK.

We joined a group of like-minded people from a handful of different countries. We had two guides- our first guide being Francesco from Rome. (he owns a company called Swim Trekking) And each day for a week – with a boat driver & Francesco we swam along picturesque coastlines, into caves and across from one island to the other.

I was scared but exhilarated. I’d found something I loved.

Since then we’ve swum in Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy, Spain and Galápagos. All different but all wonderful. We’ve met some fantastic friends. If you read my recent blog about New York you’ll have heard about our swim trek friends who came to meet us there. What a holiday !

This one is different. Only a short flight from Brisbane. With a group of people we already know and a guide who is a friend.

It will be terrific.

If you’re coming to Vanuatu there are direct flights from Brisbane and Sydney. It’s only a few hours and it’s a beautiful group of islands.its a tropical paradise.

We’re staying at Breakas resort. In little Bures lining a white sandy shoreline.

The sound of the waves will lull us to sleep under the mosquito net over our bed.

So after orientation by Yves and Lizzie we had a group dinner and planned our first day.

A 7am breakfast so we can head of. In the bus to our boats to swim a more remote island.

We can’t wait.

Our view friends m the Bure

Ki Ora: welcome to New Zealand

/ brisbanefrannie / 5 Comments

779B8097-8378-4664-9069-39BCCF08BE45We love our mini breaks and visiting our swim trek friends in NZ is one of our favourites.
For the past few years we have taken the easy 3 hour flight on Emirates’ 380 to Auckland to meet up with Kim & David Parker. We travel with our friends Chris & Jill Wilson and started the journey with Moët at the airport. It may only be 7.30am but it’s a great way to start our holiday.
We landed at around 3 pm picked up our hire car and headed towards Mellons Bay where Kim & David have a lovely home with spectacular views across their garden to the water.

F4ADE0DE-7E8C-412A-9577-707F4CE7094A
This year the Wilsons are staying with them in the house and due to shortage of rooms it was our turn  to book into a nearby motel at Buckland’s Beach. It’s such a pretty spot we’ll look forward to a walk around the bay tomorrow.

43EE26A0-0AE8-49F8-B49D-CEB2B6BBDECC
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sharing lovely NZ wines, a wonderful tapas plate and lots of chat and laughs.

2EF69E43-77C4-401C-9F27-7C6B1ED51EE7
Swimming has taken us to many places around the world and made us many new friends. We swam with the Parkers & Wilsons in Greece in 2014 and so we started our little mini breaks to ‘ have a swim’ followed by a bit of sightseeing in a different party of the country.
Last year we swam in Pahia (look back at those posts) and visited the Bay of Islands. The year before a local swim in Auckland followed by the Coromandel Peninsula.

This year we are swimming the Blue Lake near Rotorua. We’re very excited as lake swimming is beautiful. The downside is that our party of swimmers is decreasing due to injury or illness. Steve has a shoulder problem requiring an op in a few weeks. Kim has an eye problem after having had a detached retina. Jill has had stitches in her head and can’t go in the water and Chris has a heavy cold. So it looks like David & I! If I can fit into the wet suit!

So stay tuned for news of our adventures as we drive south to Rotorua – city of smells!

Saturday in Zagreb

/ brisbanefrannie / 2 Comments

We were excited to get going this morning after a lovely dinner at Purger a good local restaurant. Purger is a slang word to describe someone born and bred in Zagreb.

It rated well on trip advisor and wasn’t far from out hotel, Zagreb Palace, or from the park where the little stalls were getting lively with drinkers and dancers. Purger is a little dated in decor. More 1980’s than now! But the food was great. Good local food. Veal seems to be very popular here and Steve had sauted veal with garlic! I loved my dish of cabbage leaves stuffed with lamb and pork minced meat swimming in a lovely paprika sauce. Served over mash it was  real comfort food and so different from the fish dishes I enjoyed on the island.


After a very good breakfast we hit the streets went to the local fruit & veg markets with the gorgeous red umbrellas. 


Bought a new cap and decided on a city bus tour to get to the rather spread-out areas of the city. It was disappointing! The driver drove too quickly and the commentary by a local women was so heavily accented and so fast we could hardly understand it.

There are many lovely buildings. Not as old as they appear because of the earthquake in the 1880’s but  they are grand. Then there are the communist style – plain austere and uninviting. Then there is the street art. I think when countries embrace street art or graffiti as we call it the result can be fantastic.


We got back about 40 mins earlier than stated ‘on the brochure’,  so decided walking was the way to explore the old town and joined in on a few walking tour groups to get some information.

The Stone Gate, built in Middle Ages, houses a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. We passed houses with spiked domes on top. These were to stop the witches from landing on the roofs!  There were stories of witches being hunted by the locals. Those poor women – the ones with a mole ( a sign that they were a witch) – were automatically killed!


Couldn’t resist a visit to Kravata – a tie shop famous for its tie made using the colours and design famous in Croatia.  The necktie was invented here in Croatia! The Croatian women used to make triangular scarves ( or kravats) for their men to wear when leaving for a war. They tied them around their neck for good fortune and so they would return. The Croatians served as mercenaries for the French – hence the “cravat” and the fashion item!


Then I couldn’t resist the Museum of Broken Relationships. It was recommended by my swimming wing woman,  Betty. At first I though it was about relationships lost through war. But no,  it’s regular people talking about a love they lost. Each story was accompanied by an item that meant something to them. Oh there were some sad stories.

One of the exhibits from the Museum of Broken Relationships. This girl had met ‘her love’ and he left her.

In the cafe of the museum this is the wifi information!

We recovered from the Museum by walking past the funicular into the Strossmayerova park  with its beautiful views back over the city. It was here we sat on the park benches with whimsical things hanging from the trees – witches, hoops and  flowers and had some lunch. Again a sausage and beer for Steve! 

We continued walking along the path, stopped to look at the view from over the stone fence and spied The Art Park tumbling down the hill. Such a great use of space. Straw animals and lots of street art.

Then a spot of shopping for me while Steve went to the Model Train exhibition!

We continued walking until a storm hit which sent us all into bars and restaurants. There are so many outdoor cafes with padded seat pads that the waiters were kept running bringing all the pads inside. By the time we got a drink the sun was back out!


Craft beers are a big deal here in Zagreb, as they are in many parts of the world. Steve was getting excited about trying another one so we found The Craft House and he sampled two different India Pale Ales. Of course while we were there right near a church we saw a wedding!


Now it’s rest time before dinner at Bistro Fotic a recommended restaurant not far from our hotel. PS. Just back and it was great. Yum cutlets for me with minted peas and feta. Pepper steak for Steve.

Zagreb is proving to be a great place for a few days – summer being the best time to visit.

Watch out for my 10 best things yo see and do in Zagreb.

Zagreb. A surprising capital city

/ brisbanefrannie / 2 Comments

It’s funny how a few hours of travel  can move you from one world to the next.

We had our last breakfast together then bid goodbye to the last of our swim trek friends.

Much hugging and exchanging of emails and promises of meeting up again. And we will definitely catch up.

The ferry ride back to Zadar took about 20 minutes – and we all decided we’d rather like to swim the crossing – “only” 3 km.

Then to the bus station and onto the bus for Zagreb. The buses here are great. Only 13 euro and free wifi!

We were in Zagreb by 2.49 and booked into the Palace Hotel. It’s a big old hotel with some lovely public spaces.


We dumped the bags and went to find some late lunch. The hotel is opposite a park that runs several blocks from the train station up to the old town.

The parks are beautiful. We crossed into them and found a bandstand with great music – recorded – and little food stalls all around with different types of tables & chairs.



We had a good snack. Steve particularly liked his deer sausage!

Then we started wandering the streets looking up and down.


The skies turned grey making walking easy.

The buildings are a mix of old decorated buildings, plain communist style buildings, ones covered with painted claddings hiding the renovations, and some rather garish modern buildings.


We bought our train tickets for the journey to Budapest on Sunday.

Then we planned our day tomorrow and our dinner tonight!

Pushed to the limit on the last day of swim trek

/ brisbanefrannie / 8 Comments

img_1566The last day is always sad. We’re all getting to know each other. It doesn’t matter that this was a slightly shorter trek or that we knew most of the swimmers before.

We hopped in the water and off we went. After a few days swimming you know who you swim best with. Someone with a similar pace. My wing man is Olivier. He’s from Paris.

My wing woman in Galapagos was lovely Betty from the USA and in Montenegro it was fun Sophie from England, now living Tarifa in Spain  I’ve loved swimming with all these great people

Today Steve  decided to stay with us. I like this because he becomes the sighter and I can relax and swim! He guides us in the direction we need to go which is pretty important on the crossings from island to island.

IMG_5478

We started with  one of these crossings. Then  we hit a tough patch of choppy water and a strong current running against us. Ricky gathered us on the boat and moved us onto the end of the island and we started another crossing.

Relaxing on the boat before the final swim.

One of the crossings from island to island. Steve in yellow cap out front.

From here on it was smooth swimming and we stopped every half hour for some food – this really helps with distance swimming.

Finally we finished. 8 km! Yes, me – my personal best distance  oh boy …

Congratulations from Steve. 8km!

We stopped at a lovely bay at the top of Ugljan island and had our last lunch together at Konoba Dali.

It was a pretty restaurant with terrific views and even better food. We had a Peka. This is a traditional dish of the island . Some had meat and the other octopus.

The 🐙 had just been caught that morning , boiled, tenderised and then cooked in a clay pot over hot coals. It was the most wonderfully tender octopus I have ever had.

 

They served it with potatoes and zucchini and lashings of olive oil.

Fantastic with a local wine – Rose.

It will be sad to leave our friends at swim trek. It was all made possible by Chris Masek, our friend from our first trek in Sardinia in 2013 when I could only swim about 1 km. He also organised the big swims Steve got to do. One the crossing from Corsica to Sardinia and the other from Spain to Morocco.

Chris, sadly didn’t get here at all for the trek. Business interfered at the last moment and he couldn’t get away.

In the evening we had the end of swim trek dinner. Photo opportunities of new friends.

Guide Neil, myself, Yves- former guide now friend, Steve and Ricky our guide here and from Greece 2 years ago.

Ricky, Dan Garr from LA, Neil, myself and swim buddy Olivier, and Dan’s two sons Luke and Max and wife Isabelle

Julien with the ‘jeans style’ swim togs given by Steve. Quite a novelty.

Clowning around with Yves. Neil sitting.

As usual , Awards were given. I got mine for being a ‘record breaker!’ Setting new distances each day.

It was a great few days of swimming. Usually swim treks are 5-6 days of swimming but this one was longer distances over 4 days. Exhausting!

Tomorrow we move on to Zagreb.

We take a ferry at 9.15 back to Zadar then a comfortable bus to Zagreb.

 

 

 

Day 3 Swim Trek 

/ brisbanefrannie / 2 Comments

Once again breakfast with the  boys and we were off and away.


Today Dan our American friend, inventor , funny man , foodie and all round good guy brought his wife Izzey and two sons Max and Luke along on the boat. They aren’t really swimmers but were prepared to give it a go. So off we went for a crossing and a lovely swim along some more beautiful coastline.

It’s a magic day – but before we go we get the vasoline treatment!

The beautiful waters of Croatia.

The two boys did a bit of the swims and then jumped back on while Izzey  became the photographer for the day.

Lunch by Ricky & Neil

Perfect summer bar

Informal waterpolo. Training the stars of the future.

We had another great lunch provided by our guides Ricky and Neil. They provided a variety of salads and assorted fruits. Very spoiled.

The last swim today was along the coast ending in a little bay with a great bar along the waters edge overlooking a waterpolo area netted off for the local kids to practice their skills.

No wonder Croatia do well at waterpolo. The kids playing informally were very skilled and fun to watch.

We made our way back to the boat to return to the hotel to do a quick change before we headed our for dinner at Konoba Roko for dinner.