Mother Nature...Island Style

It’s been awhile since I’ve been on-line to update my blog. Things have been going along pretty well here – although since we’ve “talked” last, Mother Nature has been rearing her wild head quite a bit. There have been several major earthquakes…as well as a few little “teaser wannabes”. One of the earthquakes measured about 7.3 on the Richter scale and was quite sustained – since it came on the heels of one measuring nearly 7.0, I immediately timed it at 45 seconds or so. Now 45 seconds may seem pretty danged fast – but when the earth is literally rocking and rolling under your feet and things are going crash-bang in your house, it can feel like a pretty long time! At any rate, there was no serious damage from any of the quakes – and I’m getting quite accustomed to the periodic tremors that seem to roll through my part of the world.



We’ve also had 3 cyclones – the first one was Cyclone Vania and she was a real ripper. My apartment is up in the hills thankfully well above the ocean floor, so I didn’t have to worry about flooding from the torrential rains. But the gale-force winds were really something. A tree fell onto my patio roof and the yard around the house looked like a madman had raced through with a machete in each hand. Several banana trees were toppled, hundreds of unripe pamplemousse (grapefruit) were flung around the yard, and papayas were ripped from their trees as well. There were also several large pieces of sheet metal ripped from the roofs of nearby houses…or shacks. We are now in the midst of Cyclone Atu. But I think the worst of it is past Port Vila and the island of Efate. So far it has been nothing like Vania – but it is due to make landfall later today on the tiny island of Fatuna and perhaps even parts of Tanna. So, Atu hasn’t wheezed his last breath quite yet. One good thing is that for the first time in months there was a lovely cool wind through the night – so it was heavenly to not be sweating and looking for a dry spot in my bed!


Such is life in the rip-roaring, unpredictable south Pacific – and I haven’t even been here for six months yet!! Stay tuned!