By Sera Price
A quick post as the team departs Suva on the magnificent Uto ni Yalo. They are destined for Port Vila in Vanuatu and then onto Bougainville in PNG, dodging a bit of a nasty storm brewing in the Solomon’s on the way. Here are a few snaps from the ceremony for safe travels today. Good luck guys!! hear from you soon
Ceremony
Ceremony
Ceremony
Uto ni Yalo
Some of our cool crew
The team
Supplies!
Before we set sail we wanted to give you a little update on what’s been going on. We are currently in Fiji getting familiar with the Uto ni Yalo, making the final plans and psyching ourselves up for this epic adventure. It’s not that hard really, we are all very excited.
We are lucky to have the talented Kate Logan with us on the trip who will be documenting the voyage on film. When we get back we will piece it together into a doco, but for now photos and wee clips (when the internet is good) will have to do.
Part of this journey is meeting and spending time with inspiring people. We had the pleasure of interviewing Dr Peter Nuttall who is part of the team at the Pacific Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development, The University of the South Pacific. He has a particular interest and passion for sustainable shipping. Very cool dude.
Interviewing Peter Nuttall
After our interview with Peter we paddled 120kg’s worth of bras over to the Uto ni Yalo for storage. These bras were donated by Kiwi’s from around NZ to go to the ladies in Bougainville. It is an initiative of Jacky Fitzgerald who spent time in Bougainville as part of the New Zealand Police Programme there. Bra’s on a Boat heading for Bougainville. Brilliant. And if needed we can use some of them as sails to help us along. Thanks Jacky!!
Let the learning begin
And of course we have started to meet the crew with more crew to come. There will be 15 of us on the voyage. We plan to set sail on the 27th!
Our growing crew
We couldn’t ask for a better group of people to sail with for the next 6 weeks and everyone seems excited and motivated to get going on the voyage! Here’s a wee taster video of some of our first encounters with some of the inspiring people on the voyage.
We will update you from Bougainville and will also have daily updates on the Uto ni Yalo facebook page so you can track progress. Exciting!! Two more sleeps!!
A small part of a beautiful boat
By Sera Price
Be sure to watch the Oh So inspiring and exciting Te Mana o te Moana: The Pacific Voyagers on Maori Television. It’s a new series that was years in the making. Watch on Tuesday nights at 8:30pm or online at: http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/te-mana-o-te-moana-pacific-voyagers
So Exciting. The Wellington Chocolate Voyage is getting real 🙂 Not long now
The Wellington Chocolate Voyage 