17 Degrees South

Picture at Sonasaili resort, Fiji, 2007 Honeymoon.

I passed my Citizenship test. First time. 100%. Boy, do I feel proud of that. One thing to remember is that the head of government is the Prime Minister and the head of State, yes it's true, is the Queen. Queen Elizabeth, that is. Luckily the guy who escorted me up in the lift at the Department of Immigration quizzed me on that one, just to play with my pre-test nerves. It paid off.

Something else to remember if one is not keen to give up Citizenship of your country of birth is to let them know BEFORE you apply for Citizenshipship in the New Country that you want dual citizenship. Otherwise they swiftly remove your original citizenship. Well South Africa does, anyway.

With the Citizenship test under my belt and a new-found sense of strayanism (that's "Australianism" to those not in the know) I embarked on a piece of detailed research about a one-week break (at five months pregnant it's apparently called a Babymoon!) on the Great Barrier Reef. After all, I now live in Australia and I can't be satisfied with just knowing Sydney and surrounds. There's 4,000km in width to play with and 3,700km north to South to explore (aren't I fabulous that I know the stats from my test - although I had to rely on an even newer arrival than me, Anita, to tell me that there are 37,000km of coastline - hah - add THAT to the study book, I say). So the Barrier Reef it was.

I learnt that there are three major sections I was interested in - the Southernmost islands - they have less mountains, and even have some backpacking options. Lady Elliot Island, Lady Musgrave Island, Great Keppel Island. With some snorkeling straight off the islands. Accessible from Rockhampton and Brisbane and the like. But those airports are not that well connected.

Then there are the middle islands - around Hamilton Island including the Whitsundays. The land resort area is Airlee Beach, and all are connected through Shute Harbour. One can fly straight onto Hamilton Island, but that means that everyone does. So it's very touristy, over-priced and crowded. Or so I hear. Daydream Island nearby has mixed reviews, but is another option. It's the one place one can fly straight onto an island, and that is tempting.

Then there's the famous north. Cairns, Townesville, Port Douglas. Port Douglas is very popular with people whose opinions I respect. But the reef is very far away and my dream of being able to walk out onto the reef is just a dream. It's a long time in a boat, and with my pregnancy heading up for month five and a half, I can just imagine getting really sick and that would be awful. The Southern Islands have some snorkeling right off the islands, but that is less likely in the north.

I stand to be corrected on all of this, having never been to anywhere that I am writing about, but hours (literally hours) of internet reading with Francis resulted in a general feeling of nuh-uh about our long awaited trip. The reviews, if one reads the detailed reviews, were filled with disappointment about the amount one pays for the amount you get. It's REALLY expensive. And we just could not find enough positive stuff to make us take the bull by the horns and book Queensland.

So at 1am we decided to give up on the complicated itineraries we had been constructing for an Australian break and choose either to go back to the Yasawa Islands in Fiji (where we honeymooned in 2007 and which we highly recommend - we'd assist anyone with ideas about those) or to take the plunge and go 17 degrees South. To Vanuatu.

And that is what we are going to do. We'll spend a week in Vanuatu - half of it at the Hideaway Island resort (what a picture!) where, yes, you can snorkel right off the sand I am told. And the other half wherever our noses take us. Or your recommendations lead us.

So while I love 34 degrees South (Sydney, Cape Town, Buenos Aires - and maybe one day Santiago in Chile... Francis and I have started lessons in their national dance, the Cueca, so we might land up there one day) this time I have to halve my usual favourite number and choose 17 degrees south. Let's see how it pans out!


Ps - I recommend www.travelonline.com for accommodation deals. Their deal was SO much cheaper than the one we used, but hey, I'd already booked. Nothing to be done about that. Just don't get caught out too.