Children from a local village, on the tropical island of Vanuatu, recently enjoyed a ‘Black Islands Custom and Conflict’ black and white photographic exhibition held, in the Cultural Center, Port Vila.

The exhibition of black and white photographs is part of the collection taken by the world renowned Australian photo-journalist, Ben Bohane. Ben has sensitively captured custom and conflict images of the South Pacific and South East Asia region since 1989.

Ben has been a witness to most of the major conflicts in the area of the South Pacific, East Timor, West Papua, Moluccu, PGN, Solomon Islands, Bougainville, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia as a Blue Moon Opportunity, (an opportunity that changes lives).

Ben has had the opportunity to spend expended periods of time, living with a wide variety of tribal, custom, cult and rebel groups. He travelled with Guadalcanal guerrillas, as well as photographing the opposing Malaita Eagle Force. Ben was able to secure the only interview and pictures of Guadalcanal warlord, Harold Keke, before he surrendered to Australian troops.

Ben lays claim to what is deemed to be the largest contemporary photo archive, of the South Pacific, in the world. His highly emotive, but sensitive photographs hang in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and the Australian War Memorial, as well as being owned to maintain an independent record of any conflict.

“I like to go home to Port Vila, Vanuatu and take a break whenever I can,” Ben told us. He continues to specialize in Australasia and the Pacific region. His exhibitions have included displays in Australia, Washington, Holland and Cambodia, besides appearing in magazines ranging from Newsweek, The Guardian, (UK), Geo in France, Aera (Japan), Pacific magazine(Hawaii), plus numerous Australian publications. His documentaries have been viewed on the ABC, SBS Australia, BBC and ARD, Germany andNHK, Japan. He is also a regular producer for the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent program on Pacific issues.

In a nation where education is not free and 25% of the young generation never go to school, it is exciting to see the interest the children displayed in the exhibition.

For further information on Ben or the photographic exhibition contact the cultural centre pima@vanuatu.com.vu, or look up their website

Vanuatu is the ‘Must See’ travel adventure destination of the South Pacific. You can check out more about this exciting nation at Win A Resort

Lying in the shadow of the live volcano, Mt Yasur, in Sulphur Bay, on the remote tropical island of Tanna, Vanuatu, is the home of the ‘Jon Frum’ movement. This is one of the only remaining ‘cargo’ cults left in the world.

It was formed when ‘John from America’, supposedly an American medic, literally dropped in on this ancient culture, in a plane, distributing medicine and gifts to the local people. It was just before the time when American troops, stationed in Efate and Santo, were assigned to protect the South Pacific islands against a Second World War Japanese invasion.

The cult urged the local people to turn away from the aggressive teaching of the Christian missionaries and to put their faith in their own customs. The arrival of the white man had introduced many new diseases to the local people, causing the population of some of the Vanuatu islands to be almost wiped out.  A further decimation of the population occurred through ‘black-birding’ when thousands of Vanuatu males were conned to go to work in sugar plantations in Queensland, Australia.

Though the true source of Jon Frum is rather blurred, each Friday, outlying villagers walk to Sulphur Bay to honour Jon Frum. The men sing and play guitars while the women dance around them in the light of kerosene lamps. They call to the cowboy spirits, Cowboy Billy, Cowboy Jimmy and Cowboy Steven. These will help them communicate with Jonn Frum. Following a deep rumble, Mt Yasur in the background, lights up the night sky with spurts of glowing lava.

Many of the followers of Jon Frum believe he lives in the volcano. Accompanied by 5,000 troops he will bring sack loads of gifts and liberate Tanna to a glorious new age. At one point the villagers cleared enough bush to make an airstrip and erected a bamboo control tower, hoping to encourage Jon Frum to return in his plane.

For fifty years the Jon Frum followers have paraded on the February 15th, under the leadership of Chief Isaac Wan, in home-made US uniforms, beneath the Stars and Stripes flag. Playing the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ on bamboo flutes and carrying bamboo weapons, they hope to entice another deliver of ‘cargo’.

In 1957 the American warship, the Yankee, visited Tanna. The commander, at the request of local authorities, tried to explain to the villagers there was no such person as Jon Frum in the US. The local villagers dismissed the commander as being ‘a false American’.

David Attenborough, brother of filmmaker Richard Attenborough, one of the first foreigners to find the Jon Frum movement in the 1960’s, asked the people of Tanna, ‘Why wait for someone who never comes?’  One of the islanders is reported to have replied, adding, “You have been waiting for 2,000 years for Jesus Christ.”

Vanuatu is the tropical island ‘Must See’ travel adventure destination of the South Pacific. The perfect place to find a Blue Moon Opportunity, one that will set you free.

If you would like to know more about the author and a Blue Moon Opportunity in Vanuatu take a few minutes to check out Win A Resort

The extreme sport of Bungee jumping has  become a world-wide phenomenon but there are some facts you ought to know:

• originated on the tropical island of Vanuatu in the South Pacific when a woman grabbed a vine and leapt out of a tree to get away from her quarrelsome husband. He followed her, without the vine!! This was the first death to bungee jumping.

• The first western country bungee jumpers who dived off the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England, on April Fool’s Day 1979, were instantly arrested.

• The highest commercial land bungee jump available is off the Macau Tower in China. At 764 feet, jumpers travel at 125 mph for four to five seconds

• The longest dive from a helicopter was made by Andrew Salisbury in 1991. He dropped 3,157 feet.

• Stuntman Wayne Michaels staged the biggest bungee jump ever filmed. In 2002 he jumped off the Verzasca Dam in Switzerland, 720 feet, for opening scene of the James Bond movie, Golden Eye. This is now a terrifying commercial jump of over seven seconds.

• A jumper died in front of Queen Elizabeth on the island of Pentecost, in Vanuatu, in 1976.

• Carl Dionisio used a cord made of condoms for a 100ft jump in South Africa.

• Bungee jumping can cause dislocation, rope burn, back injury and eye trauma, besides an occasional death

• The island of Pentecost ceremonial land jump, from 70 foot bamboo towers, is to ensure the yam harvest for the coming year. Participants must brush the ground with their shoulders. Before diving they shout out whatever is on their heart about their inner feelings, as it may be the last time they have a chance to do so. Other participants help the stunned diver quickly to their feet.

• All Pentecost divers have to make their own vines. Too long and they hit the earth too hard. Too short and they hit the tower.

• Young Pentecost boys are initiated into the custom ceremony, by diving from lower levels to begin with.

This religious festival and can be viewed every year between the months of April and June, on the tropical island of Vanuatu, the ‘Must See’ travel adventure destination of the South Pacific.

To find more about great Blue Moon Opportunities of the South Pacific take a quick visit to Win A Resort. It could change your life.

We waited for our Sunday lunch to be served on the tropical island of Vanuatu, cooled by the gentle tropical breeze. We sat watching the rays of the sun dance and sparkle off the brilliant blue-green waters of the South Pacific. As we sipped a delicate Australian Sauvignon Blanc, Just a few feet away three young Ni-Vanuatu boys cast a net in the time honoured traditions of their forefathers.

Slowly and with great care the boys trawled their net onto the white coral shore, in their minds retracing the images of having watched their brothers, fathers and grandfathers before them enact this timeless custom. Searching incredulously for the smallest of fish caught between the folds of the net, the delighted beams on the boys faces told it all. Victoriously they caughts each tiny fish between forefinger and thumb before being deposited into an awaiting 300ml green Tusker beer bottle (the locally brewed and well accepted beer).

Watching the young boys acting out the traditions of their people was a relaxing and enjoyable pastime for us. A welcome break after our 25k eco-tour bike ride, snorkelling over the reef admiring the numerous coloured fish, enjoying an early morning kayak paddle up the lagoon, or lazing in the warm sun at the resort’s swimming pool.

We thought these industrious young boys were gathering the fish in hope of catching enough to make a meal, just like some people gather whitebait. We did wonder though if the fish would be ‘cooked’ in the bottle long before the boys managed to get them home.

Time and again the young boys repeated the process, as the water glistened off their fit brown bodies. Each drag of the net managed to gather at least a couple of the tiny creatures.

Finally, one of the boys produced a plastic bottle around which was wound a long length of fishing line. It took several minutes for him to extract a fish from the bottle. With great care he attached the tiny ‘catch’ to an equally tiny fishing hook.

At last satisfied, he plunged out towards the deeper water, where he cast his fishing line for the real task at hand – catch a good size fish for the family’s evening meal.

This was not a game to these young men, but a real-life endeavour, that would sustain them in the years ahead. Education in Vanuatu is not free and over 25% of the children never have the opportunity to go to school. The ingenuity of taking hold of opportunities that present themselves on a daily basis, such as a discarded glass beer bottle, turns the ordinary into something special, (a Blue Moon Opportunity). This combined with the traditions of their parents, will keep these children alive. Our challenge is to help them move into the 21st century without losing their rich heritage.

To learn more about the author and take a few minutes to look at a Blue Moon Opportunity (one that could completely change your life) check out Win a Resort

Vanuatu, a peaceful tropical island nation in the South Pacific, witnessed an unprecedented custom ceremony when Chief Joshua Batakoro Vanua,  father of Lee Tamata, a high risk escapee from the local jail, ceremoniously handed over ten pigs to the community heads, in a plea for forgiveness for the misdemeanors of his son.

The community leaders included the new Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Edward Natapei. It was the highest price ever to be paid in the tradition of the island of Pentecost custom peace ceremony.

Earlier in the year a Pentecost chief had demanded that Jenny Lido, a woman candidate pay 10 pigs in a custom ceremony, for her right to continue to contest the country’s general elections. Jenny had already performed a 10 pig-killing custom ceremony, simply to be permitted to be allowed to enter the male dominated arena of politics.

When Chief Joshua found out how much damage and fear his son had caused to members of the local community in Port Vila, he felt compelled to offer the pigs on behalf of his son, asking for the leaders forgiveness.

Isolated away from his family and home island, Chief Joshua spent three months in the capital Port Vila. He was forced to sell kava (a local made drink) and taro in order to be able to raise the funds to buy the pigs for the peace ceremony.

It was a very expensive exercise for the father, as pigs are the wealth of a village and ten mature pigs highly prized. Curled pig tusks are used as currency in some remote areas of the Vanuatu islands, with the Tari Bunia Bank having 14 branches. The bank gives loans, issues cheque books, and has reserves, all on the currency of pig tusks. While there is a vault to the bank there is no need for the use of locks . “The bank is protected by spirits and snakes,” proudly says the bank manager.

“My son has erred and I ask for your forgiveness,” said Chief Joshua, who spent time counseling his son while in Vila. The Chief will now return home with assurances from his son that he will serve the full term of his sentence and act with respect towards the law.  Lee’s name means peace in the language of his home island, Pentecost.

Vanuatu is a ‘Must See’ travel adventure destination of the South Pacific and the place to see a Blue Moon Opportunity that can be your chance to be set free.

If you would like to know more about the author and a Blue Moon Opportunity take a few minutes to check out Win A Resort

The privately maintained garden at Seachange Lodge, in the tropical islands of Vanuatu, just two and a half hours flight time from Brisbane, is awash with orchids at the moment.

As you enter the gates you are confronted with the sight of exotic mauve orchids growing over three metres in height. Follow the path past the Garden Cottage and deep purple ground orchids flank the walkway.

Continue on down towards the swimming pool and you are once more confronted with  a mass of two to three metre high flaming orange orchids.

Walk down on through a tropical garden area and more sprays of mauve and white orchids hang high over your head.

Ask the owners Rick and Wendy what their secret is and with a grin Rick will answer, “We just happen to be fortunate enough to live on a tropical island in the South Pacific.”

When Rick and Wendy purchased the property in 2002, it was a run down private home. Today it is a thriving boutique holiday accommodation business.

“The orginal owner must have been a keen gardener, judging by all the wonderful fruit trees all over the property and the well placed retaining walls. By the time we took over, there were no gardens at all,” explains Wendy. “It has taken four years to see the gardens come to maturity.”

Today exotic tropical plants greet you at every turn, from high on the road right down to the lagoon edge.  An acre of landscaped land surrounds the lodges, tucking each one away behind walls of natural greenery to maintain privacy.

“Wendy used to trawl the markets every Saturday looking for plants. I would have trouble finding her in the car when she finally came home,” Rick laughed. “She would then spend the rest of the day planting. I have seen her shift a plant up to five times before it found a home that was suitable. Now the head gardener takes over the maintenance of the gardens and does a really great job.”

Even if you are not staying at Seachange Lodge, as there are only six self-contained units, it is well worth a visit, just to walk through the gardens. It could also be your Blue Moon Opportunity to get set free.

If you would like to know how you could retire to a tropical island take a few minutes to visit Win A Resort

On the 13th and 14th November, Vanuatu, a tropical island in the South Pacific, is holding its annual International Barista Competition. Barista Coffee is the professional excellence in the artistry of making a great coffee.

Coffee experts and amateur coffee makers from all over the world will confer on how to make the best expresso coffee. International Barista judge, Rob Forsyth from Sydney Australia, will oversee the event and judge the entries.

The competition will be held in the grounds of the newly refurbished Le Lagon Resort overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with many special accommodation deals being offered to visitors to Vanuatu. Vanuatu grows its own world famous organic coffee, Tanna Coffee, on the tropical island of Tanna.

“We held our first competition last year, which was such a success that the Barista Vanuatu is now an annual event on the Vanuatu calendar,” said hotel owner and Barista organizer, Joanne Wade of Poppys on the Lagoon. “The atmosphere around Port Vila during the competition time and the prizes alone, including air fares, are enough to draw numerous entrants. It is an unbeatable location for this international event.”

Coffee growing and appreciation of good coffee makers has grown dramatically worldwide, in the past few years. Organically grown coffee beans now feature on supermarket shelves and making café latte has become café art.

Major sponsors of the 2008 Barista Vanuatu include the ANZ bank, Air Vanuatu, Poppys on the Lagoon, Le Lagon Resort, Friendly Bungalows on Tanna, Tanna Coffee

Entries can be made on the Barista Vanuatu official web site www.baristavanuatu.com

If you would like to know more about Vanuatu and how you could have a place in the sun, visit Win A Resort. Its a once in a lifetime Blue Moon Opportunity.

Many people have enjoyed the 1962-1966 television comedy McHale’s Navy about the adventures of a misfit PT Boat crew. We have been told that a real McHale actually existed in the tropical islands of the South Pacific, in Vanuatu (New Hebrides) in the Second World War. For all our searching we have not been able to verify this truth. Can anyone help us? Did a real McHale exist in the tropical islands?

In early1942, the Japanese reached the nearby Solomon Islands and the New Hebridean’s lived in real fear that their islands would be next. The Americans, however, arrived first, totally unannounced, in May 1942. Up to 100,000 soldiers were based in Santo, Vanuatu.
Only one Japanese plane bombed Vanuatu.  Bessie the cow was the only casualty, apart from the plane being shot down.
At the end of the war, the Americans disappeared as quickly as they had come, but not before Mitchner’s well known Tales of the South Pacific had been born.

Time is a precious commodity which you never have enough of. It is really important to take time out each day to have a laugh, as laughter has been proven to be a stimulant which increases productivity. So let’s spend a few minutes and have a laugh over that most elusive of all things - time.

Here are just a few things you can do with time:

• You can be pressured for time,
• Waste time
• Desperately try to balance time (something we all have great difficulty doing).
• You can buy time.
• You can ask for a person’s time, or
• You can give them time.
• A person’s time is the one thing we all fight for on the Internet and here is a tip that may be just in time to help you leap forward in your business. “In a war you require study and logic.” Content is king on the Internet so that requires study and the world of the computer is based on logic. These two points are the underlying foundation of any successful Internet business.

You may gain time if you are flying internationally, but lose it again on the return journey. Often small amounts of time can make or break you, particularly if you are prone to playing the stock market. It takes time to find genuine Blue Moon Opportunities - ones that will truly change your life.

While time is a unit, or system for measuring a sequence of events and a vital element of your day to day living, it’s something you can spend, but never recover. Here are ten pieces of trivia where three minutes of time made a difference.

1. In Malaysia, Roslan Ngah, divorced his two wives in three minutes. Ngah had already divorced his third wife 7 years before and has 8 children from the three marriages.
2. A Spanish couple escaped death because they missed the Spanair flight by just three minutes. The plane crashed in Madrid.
3. The people of China kept silent for three minutes, marking in the 7.9 Sichuan earthquake on May 12th. However, cars, ships and trains blasted their horns, marking the start of three days of national mourning for the 12,000 killed and 18,000 missing.
4. In an attempt to jump-start the slumped economy and job market, Japan has launched the Tokyo based ‘Three Minutes of Happiness‘ stores, which sell design-heavy, extremely affordable, ‘recession chic’ necessities, from clothing items, to kitchen utensils. The shop is set up in a massive ice-cream parlour.
5. In the ‘big bang’ theory of the origin of the universe, Weinberg’s timeline refers to the ‘First Three Minutes‘.

Now, I have probably used up your three minutes of patience, but just give me a little more time.

1. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, sex has only to last 3 minutes to get great results. The test was done by women holding stop-watches.
2. Having had your three minutes of sex you may feel hungry. You can knock up a non-nutritious meal with three-minute noodles, but if you add a perfect three-minute boiled egg you may save the day. Also add the perfect cup of tea, having brewed loose tea-leaves for three minutes.
3. While you are at it you had better feed the goldfish, for the average goldfish has only a three minute memory span, according to everything2.com
4. While your are showering, remember the best songs are usually only three minutes long.
5. Finally the average person dreams for only three minutes. They say you can come to, change the end of your dream and go back and dream again with your ending. Wow - that blows the mind! Worth a try.

We are fortunate to live in Vanuatu, in the South Pacific, where there are no ‘three minutes’ for the locals, as very few people wear watches. They live on island time, guided by daylight and dark and turn up ‘whenever’. “See you in the morning”, could mean 6.00 a.m. when the sun gets up. However, Vanuatu, with its ancient culture and traditions, is the one place where you feel ‘Time can be Regained’, or at least your batteries recharged.

Let us know if you can think of any other great ‘three minutes’ of time.

You can find out more about the author and a genuine Blue Moon Opportunity at http://winaresort.com

The financial world is in crisis. There has to be ways to deal with it, after all no matter how many bullets fly in a war, there is always someone who survives. That someone has to be you in this War Of The Finances.

Everyone is trying to scare the living daylights out of us. Banks want you to put your money in a savings account so they can make themselves secure, promising you that extra % of interest. But at the same time they put up the interest rates, which will put even more pressure on you through your mortgages.

Some people say the banks are not going to give you loans to get a new car, buy a house, or extend a business. They are locking us in, so as to look after themselves and make us pay for their past foolishness.

Make up your mind to be a survivor in this Financial War. Fight back and keep going. Remember self doubt leads to failure. It’s time for positive thinking, not accepting the doom and gloom being spouted by people like the Lord Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg. He may have done some great things for New York, like school reform and tighter gun control, but it’s easy for him to spout off, from his 30billion dollar ivory tower, as the 8th richest man in the world. It’s you, the ordinary person, who will wear the brunt of what is happening in the financial crisis. Don’t give up. Make the most of what ever you have and you too will come out the other side of this crisis a winner.

This could be you living on the tropical island of Vanuatu, in the South Pacific - Exotic flowers, lobster, french bread. No taxes. No mortgage!

And of course there’s Leo the Lion and a turtle or two. It’s a really great way of life!

(Rick just doesn’t like having his photo taken. Here’s a much nicer photo of him.)

We moved to Vanuatu and love the people, the way of life and of course the weather.There’s room to develop - a luxury in most developed countries. There are Blue Moon Opportunities (ones that will totally change your life) readily available, if you have the courage to accept the challenge. Don’t settle for the mediocre - stretch for the impossible.

Not too many around us thought it was a great idea at the time we decided to move. Most said, “Why Vanuatu?” Our answer. “Why not?” It’s the best decision we ever made and we’re in our mid 60’s.

Don’t be afraid to look outside the box in these days of crisis. There are other things that are worth giving a try. A lot of people will say you’re crazy. So what? It’s crazy to take everything lying down.

You have strengths you haven’t even begun to tap yet. When things get tough, the tough get going. Would love to hear from you if you have some crazy idea that could help you get out of the hole you’re  in. Self doubt kills more people than anything else.

You can contact us on email: admin@youmesupport.org or simply add a comment. Share your idea with others, to encourage them to walk through this financial crisis, no matter how long it lasts for.

Check out our latest challenge at win a resort. You might just find it a little Ray of Sunshine.