Day 9 - Port Vila

After the rough and tumble of the Tanna Taxi, we decided to have a quiet and relaxing day today, our second last of the trip. We woke late and decided to go to Port Vila town around lunch time, to look for souvenirs and have lunch. We caught a taxi into town and hit the local streets. We soon realised that Vila really isn't set up well for retail, and tourist shoppers in particular - all the shops and even the local market all sell the same or similar stuff, making it hard to find nice souvenirs that aren't tacky.

Anyway after a few hours of wandering and searching we found a few bits and pieces and decided to head for lunch. We wanted to try out the food at the Waterfront Bar as we had heard they did a good steak, unfortunately though, their kitchen was closed as it was now 4pm! So we wandered back down the road to The Grand hotel they had an all day menu. We were tired and a little muddy as it had been raining, which is probably why we were escorted to the most hidden seat in the whole restaurant - I don't think they wanted any of their hotel guests seeing us in our shorts and thongs. 

Now, The Grand may sound like a nice and luxurious establishment, based solely on the name, however it is reminiscent of a 1980's Gold Coast hotel, tall and ostentatious it has a small pool, no grounds and looks out onto the busy and noisy Port Vila harbour. After waiting for nearly an hour for our food we wolfed it down so that we could get back to our nice and friendly luxury resort. 

But we were not getting away that easily. Our lunch deal included a voucher to use the slots at The Grand's casino. We entered and had to leave our bags at the door before being assigned a machine. An attendant loaded our credit so we could play. Thankfully the credit expired in less than 2 minutes so we could get our of there, but while we were there we noticed a number of locals playing the machines, which was a little sad.

We left and jumped into the first available taxi back to the Holiday Inn, and even though the last thing we wanted to think about was food had to book a table at the Indian@Seaside restaurant as we didn't want to miss out on trying their food. We were not disappointed, and our late booking was advantageous as they had been swamped by diners earlier on. We had an entree of small and tasty samosas with a sweet and spicy sauce, followed by a Butter Chicken, and Pepper Chicken main, both of which were very tasty, although the butter chicken was nothing like back home, and the Pepper Chicken had a scorching heat that took us by surprise. 

We were pleasantly surprised that dinner came with a show! There was a 50 somethings couple about 3 metres away, and the lady was tanked and speaking rather loudly. The conversation was nothing exciting until we heard her say "...your dad was an arsehole...", at which point Mick's ears pricked up and he started rubbing his hands thinking, this will be gold! The lady then accused her man of going off and spending time "...with who knows who, any Tom, Dick and Harry...". We then hear her question the guy as to why he answered mobile phone calls from private numbers, why he was still in contact with his ex who was now 5 months pregnant, and then she fired a direct missile, loud for the whole restaurant to hear "...is she having your baby?...". It was so awkward yet entertaining at the same time. Amazingly the man just sat there and took it all, not once raising his voice in return (unfortunately). The conversation, and their dinner ended with "... well, you can go home and w@nk yourself on the bed, cause i am not sleeping with you tonight!" Pure gold! A perfect end to our night and final day of our holiday

Travelers belly strikes at Mt Yasur?

Day 8 - Mt Yasur and a bone shaking road trip from hell

We woke early so that we could be ready for our 8:30 pick up, to head to the airport and fly to Tanna Island for our Volcano tour. Our plane was a tiny 8 seater (plus 2 pilots). It was just big enough to prevent Mick from getting a claustrophobic panic attack. Mick was a bit concerned when water started dripping from the roof onto Damo, and the concern levels were heightened when Mick felt wind coming in through the exit door he was sitting next to! 

After arriving at airport we were picked up by a double cabin ute with seats in the back of the tray with a canopy. The truck was entitled 'Comfort or Adventure' - comfort being a ride in the cabin, and adventure being a ride in the ute tray. We climbed in the back and hit the road... The 'road' was unsealed and had many pot holes/craters. The extremely bumpy (and fast) 3min ride to a resort in the back was enough for Mick, who decided that he would go for comfort and sit in the cabin of the ute when we took off for our 2hr ride to the volcano. Damo sat in the back of the ute and was shaken, stirred and thrown around for 2 hrs on our way to the volcano. The ute had a canopy which was just too short, so we could not sit upright, so for the entire trip the 'adventurers' were hunched over getting sore backs, necks and shoulders. Throughout the whole trip, Mick who was having a rough rode in the front cabin (with a seat belt on), was feeling very sorry for the passengers in the back of the ute. At times Mick was convinced that the driver forgot that there was human cargo in the back holding on for dear life (with no seat belts). 

After a few photo stops along the ash plain, we got to the volcano and walked up to the rim of the twin volcanoes that make up Mt Yasur. It was AMAZING. For 30min we saw plumes of ash erupt from one crater, as well as red hot lava and material being thrown up into the air by another. It's hard to describe how great it was - visiting a live volcano should be on everyone's bucket list. Photos will follow.

We then walked back down the ash slope to the truck. We had a pit stop in what must be one of the world's most basic toilets, before we piled back into the ute for the 2hr trip home. Mick gave up his cabin seat so others could travel in 'comfort'. While it was the right thing to do, he did regret the decision as he was being thrown around the back of the ute as we bumped our way back to the resort. There were 2 ladies who rode in the front both ways, they became the hated people of our trip! They kept trying to make excuses as to why they couldn't sit in the back, we weren't buying it. They tried to win us over with food; sorry ladies, cheese crackers don't make up for 4 hrs of bone jarring 4 wheel driving. Damo sat in the 'adventure' section along with a nice American couple for both legs of the journey, and was very sore afterwards.

When we arrived at the airport we had to run to the plane as we only had 11 minutes to get into the air otherwise we would have to stay the night in Tanna. There wasn't even time to pay the local $2 departure tax. We were surprised by getting a twilight flight home to see the volcano from the air at night (which usually costs an extra $50 each). This was spectacular as well - the red hot lava lit up the sky as we circled (rather closely) to the volcano, flying through the ash plumes! At one point the plane banked sharply to the right and we thought we were going to fall out of the plane and straight into the crater! Just after we passed the crater, Yasur had a large eruption and magma shot up high into the airspace that we had just passed through only 200m away. We would surely have been hit by some lava had we been only seconds later! After a few more passes of the fiery crater we settled into the hour long flight back to Vila. We were all really tired, but had to endure an hour of the 'Best of' Phil Collins album on the flight home, which prevented us from sleeping.

We got home after an amazing day, sore and exhausted. At dinner we probably said 10 sentences to each other, we were conserving our energy so we could chew. We had the best night sleep of the trip!

Would you like 2 or 3 walls for your toilet today, sir?

Pele Island Beach

Day 7 - Pele Island

We took a full day tour to Pele Island which is a 45 min drive to the top of Efate Island, then a 15 min dingy ride to the island. The sun was shining and were we're greeted by the local "Chief of the day". We learnt that in this village the Chief had died a number of years ago and that he had 5 sons - so while the tribe decided which sone was to become chief, they each took turns being the chief. After the 'welkam' were go ready for the snorkeling tour of the reef around Pele. We were warned about Reef Sharks, which didn't put us at ease, but apparently they are so small and scared of humans that they do not really pose a threat. Despite this I (Damo) decided to swim with some Aussie girls we had meet on the boat to Pele - they looked to be weaker swimmers than me, if that's possible, and would make sufficient shark bait that would give me plenty of time if a get away was needed.

We jumped in the water and were blown away by the waters beneath us. The water was so crystal clear, and turquoise with so many fish swimming about, and unlike Hideaway Island the coral here was all alive, and the water deep. Our guides took us around a circuit of the reef feeding fish with bread as we went and showing us various creatures from the reef. The fish were amazing, every kind of shape and colour you could imagine. There were clown fish, striped black and yellow angel fish, and an amazing bright blue variety that had brilliant pink lateral fins and yellow tails. Mick had started to get sick (sore throat and fever), so he was snorkeling with a soother in his mouth!

Morris, our native Pelean guide brought up sea slugs, starfish and sea cucumbers from the reef for us to hold. Mick got quite a fright when he saw Morris in his peripheral vision, and looked up from the reef to see a big black slimy thing being pushed into his face - however it was only a sea cucumber that squirts water out of one end as a defense mechanism. 

After the snorkeling we went back to the village and had a BBQ lunch before a siesta time when we could do whatever we liked for an hour. I went and took photos along the beach, while Mick swam and slept on the beach. Once siesta was over we went through the village for a tour of native life. We saw the chief's widow who was still working away making roofing out of coconut leaves even at age 76! The whole village was preparing for a wedding so there was building, weaving and cooking all being readied for the ceremony in a few days time. Morris even had the kids of the village sing a few songs for us.

Our village tour over it was time to jump back on board the boat to head back to Efate, and then the tour bus back to the hotel. When we got back we had been invited to complimentary drinks in the lobby by the hotel management, much to the dismay of our new Aussie shark bait friends (who did not get an invite). Although extremely tired and unwell, Mick chose free drinks over a recovery nap (no real surprises there). We had a few drinks, and Mick had a few more, and we chatted away with the friendly staff before going down to the hotel beach to watch a fire show. We had previously seen the show the night before as part of the Vanuatu Golf Open, but it was great to see an encore performance.

We then had a late dinner before heading to bed exhausted (and a little drunk) from our Pele day. Mick had a shocking night's sleep. Being drunk, with a fever and sore throat was not very pleasant. He got minimal sleep and thought he might be too sick to see the volcano the next day. He was cursing that free wine while trying to get back to sleep. Amazingly, a neurofen at 4am seemed to do the trick, Mick got 2 hrs sleep and while tired the next morning was well enough for Tanna Island.

Beach Buggy

Day 6 - Buggy Ride

Today's activity was a buggy ride through the main and back streets of Vila, along a beach and through the jungle. The tour company warned not to wear white, and given the recent rainfall, we were in for some mud. Traveling through the back streets of Vila was quite an eye opener, it's hard to believe there were people living in such poor conditions, when around the corner you have 5 star luxury resorts. As we were driving along, the children of the villages (called pikininni in the local language) came running along side the buggy and were waving and high five-ing us. Also running along side the buggies were the local dogs; they were not as friendly and gave Mick quite a scare. His driving technique was to allow quite a bit of space between him and the buggy in front so that when the dogs came to our buggy he could floor it and leave the dogs behind. That worked most of the time :)

The buggies are extremely low to the ground, so whenever we hit a puddle or pot hole, water would come gushing up the floor of the buggy and we'd receive (what Mick describes as) a mud enema. We can assure you that the tour company did not warn about/advertise the mud enemas. It was during these moments we were glad we have been taking the malaria tablets. Given Mick was driving, he was attempting to avoid the potholes (on his side of the buggy), which often meant that Damo had more mud baths. However Mick got his just desserts, at one point the buggy in front was almost getting bogged and was spinning mud up - this was at the same time Mick was trying to get away from a dog - the end result was Mick getting a face (and mouthful) of dirty Vanuatu jungle mud. 

Other buggy highlights included getting bogged in the beach sand and having the local pikininnies come help dig us out. We also visited a jungle village, which was what you'd consider to be truly third world. This was quite an amazing site to see....The village had 'refreshments' for us... Mick decided he didn't care if he insulted these poor villagers, because there was no way in hell he'd be eating anything made, cooked, or sliced in this village. The lady offering the refreshments did not looked pleased that Mick was not eating, and she kept giving him the evil eye. Damo was brave and took a slice of salted cucumber. He discretely threw out half of it after taking a bite . 

We made it home in one piece, but covered in mud! It was a great experience (dogs included), and made us think about how lucky we have it back in Sydney! We thought about this at happy hour by the pool sipping on beers and espresso martinis (that Damo taught the barman to make). 

Day 5 - Hideaway Island

The day started with our free 30 min massage down at the beach. I regret doing that massage course because now whenever I get a massage I am highly critical, and if there is no proper technique, I feel like I have just got a rub down. That being said, Damo enjoyed the massage and I always enjoy a 'rub down' by a stranger :)

With the weather clearing up we decided to head off to Hideaway Island, which is well known as a good snorkeling reef, less well known as the destination of Brian and June Bragg's 2nd honeymoon to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary 15 years ago! Although a bus would have cost us roughly $7, we caught a taxi for $28, we thought that our lives were worth more than the $21 saving. Taxi ride was uneventful, which is exactly what we were wanting. The taxi driver, Solomon, also said he'd come back to pick us up at 4pm so we didn't have to worry about transportation home (and he had a guaranteed $50)

Damo wasn't too interested in snorkeling that day, so he had the pleasure of watching me snorkel for a while...which turned out to be rather boring for Damo! Snorkeling was great, so many fish around. As soon as you put your head under the water you are confronted by the fish. I swam out to the world's first underwater post office, but didn't post any letters. While there were plenty of colourful fish, the coral was not that interesting as most of it was dead.

Around 3pm, the clouds came in and we decided to leave the island and wait for Solomon at a bar back on Mele Beach. We waited and waited, either Solomon changed the colour of his car during the day, or we totally forgot which car we travelled in! At one point a taxi driver was walking around, Damo and I didn't think it was Solomon, as the taxi driver was wearing a blue shirt, and I was certain Solomon was wearing a green shirt - I think the possibility of him changing shirts is more likely than changing the colour of his car. Turns out it was Solomon, I think given he didn't recognize us proves that they think all us white people look the same! 

We finished the night with dinner at Breakas Resort, well known as one of two resorts with a surfing beach, less well known as the location of Elle and Dan's honeymoon. During dinner the rain started just as the Melanesian dancers began. The poor dancers were out in the rain, and it was bucketing down. They continued dancing with fake smiles on their faces - good sports! After dinner we asked reception to call us a taxi, we waited about 10-15min when our 'taxi arrived' - it was a bus! We did not like the idea of another bus ride late at night in the rain, but like any phobia, the only way to get over it is to confront your fears. The trip was uneventful, but I'm still not convinced that buses are the way to travel! 

Day 4 - A bus ride to remember

A grey and rainy day, got up early to go to Hideaway island, and then decided it would be a waste as the weather was so crap. We decided to play UpWords to pass the morning away. Our lunch destination was Iririki Island, an island resort within Port Vila. We had previously said that we would attempt the bus 'system' in the light of day, and as we exited our lobby there was a bus waiting. We paid our 150 vatu and got dropped into town, no dramas. We had contemplated staying at the Iririki Resort when choosing our holiday, and once we got there, we were a bit envious of it. It was beautiful and overlooked the ocean. Lunch was nice and Mick enjoyed watching the waiters stuff up people's orders (ours was 90% correct, we weren't charged for 1 beer, they are the sorts of mistakes  we enjoy!).

Given our success on the bus earlier in the day, we decided to try the bus on the wy home. The rest of the blog will be written twice, so you can see how we each interpreted the series of events that unfolded...

Mick: 

Standing at the bus stop, a reggae bus turns up with loud music. It looks to be in one piece and not about to fall apart, so I flag it down. I ask the driver if he can take us to the Holiday Inn. I get a blank stare, so I say it again, a little slower and louder; still nothing! I was then going to get my room key out of my wallet to show him the hotel, but decided against it as I dint want him seeing all my money. At this point, the 'passenger' in the front seat says "yes". So we jumped in hoping that he knows where the hotel is. The driver looks back at us through rear vision mirror, and then cranks up  the music, and other 'passengers' start laughing. At this point I start to question whether I hailed a bus or just a regular car!

The bus starts heading in the right direction, and as it makes the right turns to get back to our hotel, I start to relax. The bus struggles up the final hill before getting to our hotel, and now my only concern is that the bus is going to break down, and we will have to walk a bit. After hitting the peak of the hill, the bus quickly picks up speed as it heads down the hill, and it zooms straight past our hotel turn off. The hotel was less than a 1min down the road, so even though he had other passengers to drop of, logic says he would drop us first. I start to get concerned now, thinking, do we just ask to pull over now and walk the 2 mins. The bus somehow gets a new lease on life and is hooning down the road, our hotel getting further and further away. It is currently raining, and this crazy bus driver is tailgating and over taking at hi speeds. I, too afraid to say anything, and thats who I begin to pray. I prayed and prayed that we won't get killed in a car accident, or get taken out the back of Vanuatu and bashed! 

As we are getting further away from the hotel, and getting further away for civilization. I think our chances of getting a taxi back are slim, so I am willing to walk back. While still fervently praying, I finally whisper to Damo, do you think we should just get out and walk! Damo agrees (thank God, as I didn't want to debate this one as we were hurtling down the road!). We were approaching a round about so we had to slow down a bit. The bus pulled into a service station, we quickly jumped out and headed back up the road. As we walked, the bus drove past us, they probably had no idea what the hell we were doing, but I didn't care! It turns out, we got out of the bus so far away from the hotel that it would have been just as quick to walk from town!

Damo: 

After a serene peaceful lunch at Iririki island we decided to return to Port Vila to do some shopping, however it was a Sunday, and that meant that every store in town, bar one small store selling an assortment of cheap beach towels and even cheaper toilet paper, was closed. So we decided to go back to the hotel. As it was drizzling we decided to catch a taxi or a bus, whichever came first. Unfortunately for us what came first was a bus.

Now the buses in Vanuatu are not really buses. They are more like mini-vans built entirely from spare parts that have somehow survived the 90's and 00's either by sheer magnetism or by being held together by a thin veneer of dust. Or maybe they are held together by the cheap decals that are plastered all over them, decrying anything from mobile phone carriers to slogans like "Respect for All". And it seems that every male between the ages of 18 and 35 drives one of these vans with their surreptitious red B on the number plate - so much so that there are always hundreds of these vans skimming around the streets of Port Vila.

But not today. To our immediate misfortune there were only 2 buses running along the streets of PV today. One, a clapped out gunmetal wonder complete with maroon pin striping straight out if the 80's spewing plumes of black smoke from its rear. And the other I hear you ask? Well it was the 'One People' Port Vilan People's Republican Reggae bus, of course. We missed out on the greyhound, and found ourselves hailing the bright yellow reggae bus.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and had I been more observant I think I would have recognized the warning signs and not boarded the 'One People' death trap. The blank stares from all 3 occupants of the bus as they pulled to the gutter should have been the first warning sign, and the even more vacant response when we told them our destination should've been enough to make us back away quietly. It wasn't, and we jumped aboard. I thought 'this could be fun' and 'it's character' and that it would make a good story for the blog. I put the niggling suspicion that I could smell the reek of old ganga wafting out of the upholstery out of my mind as  we set off and took the familiar turns to get onto the crest that runs through the city, and head up the peninsula to where our hotel is situated. 

It was when we started to climb the incline that the bus started to slow down dramatically - we even stalled a few times, and I thought "this is ok, if we have to get out and walk, we are not that far away". That was when I noticed a bottle in the drivers right hand, balancing on his lap. The bottle was open but I couldn't see the contents, but I'm fairly certain than it wasn't Appeltiser. Alarm bells started to ring in my head, but i thought what could possibly happen? After all we were only travelling at around 1km per hour at this stage, and we were so close to our hotel.

As we coasted through the roundabout where we should have turned to go down to our hotel the klaxons in my head started to raise the alarm, and they picked up volume as we headed downhill and picked up speed on the wet and narrow road. In an amazingly short amount of time were driving at a pace that would give a Concorde pilot a heart murmur. And to make matters worse the other buses on the road were not. As we accelerated towards the rear of the bus in front I started to get really worried, and as we pulled into the oncoming lane to overtake the bus I was positively scared - I even heard myself say "We're gong to die". 

We couldn't over take the bus as there was a rather selfish motorist on that side of the road driving towards us, so the driver pulled us  back in behind the van infront. Now the passenger in the row in front of us stuck his head out the window and directed the driver, as his field of vision was impeded by the back of the van ahead of us. And we successfully sped up and overtook the van ahead. This wondrous manouevre was then repeated to overtake a 2nd van. Oh and I probably forgot to mention that the bus didn't have any seat belts.

Thankfully we were approaching the bottom of the slope and the driver steadied out as he drove into a petrol station, pulling to a screaming halt narrowly missing a concrete pylon. Seizing the opportunity we jumped out of the cab and made our way back on shaky legs up the road to get back to the hotel. It was amazing how much ground we had covered in such a short time - by my reckoning we probably covered 3kms in the space of a minute. We had to walk for about 20mins to get back to the turn off.

After that adventure, we were staying safe within the compounds of our hotel for dinner! And, we agreed - no more buses!

The view from our balcony

Day 2 - Downtown Port Vila

Our second day began with buffet breakfast, it is of high standard which means we will probably need to use those extra holes in our belt buckles! I do find it funny how we talk about trying to eat as healthy as possible at the same time as biting into our 3rd hash brown triangle of the morning.

We decided to walk into town as the hotel is advertised as only being 1.5 km from town. What they don't advertise is that we need to climb up over, and then back down a rather large mountain (maybe its technically a hill, but nevertheless it's big). Next time we will catch a local 'bus'. The buses are very interesting, they are essentially a tarago (or equivalent), you flag them down and tell them where to take you. Some of these buses look nice, new and comfortable, while others look like they are about to fall apart. The cool thing is that they are also themed, we saw one that had tiger stripes, a North QLD Cowboys theme, and a reggae bus. When choosing which bus to flag, I'm going to go with the one that looks less likely to fall apart as opposed to which has the prettiest decals on it's side! 

Lunch was at the Brew House, a pub run by Aussies and its a micro brewery for the other local beer Nambawan (pronounced Number One). I thought they named this as the most popular beer in Vanuatu. However after going to the urinal/toilet at the Brew House and being able to look from the toilet into the micro brewery next door, I'm now scared its named after its secret ingredient.....

After lunch and walk back to hotel  we had a well deserved nap, cocktail, and then dinner.... What a life! 

We decided that we wanted to do 'one big' activity each day, Day 3's big activity will be to organise day trips....we don't want to stress ourselves out too much!

Our first view of Vanuatu!

Day 1 - Arriving in Vanuatu

It was an uneventful flight to Port Vila, with the highlight being the trip only taking 2.75 hrs instead of the 6hrs Mick thought it would take. Getting through customs helped  us to acclimatise to 'Island Time'. You would think customs would know when a plane full of people were arriving and put more than 2 staff on. 

The coach transfer to our hotel included a quick drive through the city. A cruise ship had docked so there was lots of traffic; even with peak hour, we covered the city in less than 10mins. Down town Port Vila is nothing special, that being said, you don't go to Vanuatu to see Port Vila.

We were suitably impressed with our hotel room; we booked a 'Lagoon View' room, and were pleased that we can actually see the lagoon without having to stand on tippy toes and peer through trees. Success! We were pretty hungry so we took off in search of the pool bar for snacks and beer. We arrived in time for happy hour, and had half price Tusker Beers (the local beer which is really nice). Our hotel has happy hour by the pool between 4pm and 6pm and then again between 8pm and 9pm at the lobby bar. The two hour window is perfect for a quick nap and dinner. 

Our carriage has arrived

A very stunning pic of the hotel we are staying at, hopefully it really is this nice!

The countdown begins...

This better not be the hotel wakeup call! Looks far too early, or too late!

Our hotel awaits...

Hello World