Vanuatu Fun With Friends

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So we were up early for the drive to the Brisbane airport from Kingaroy....5am early, which was way to early for Me and Shoni. A quick stop for some brekky and it was off to the car parking place and then off to book in for our flights to Vanuatu. So we got there a bit early but hey, it's better to be early than late (no-one likes anyone who is late to get on the plane!!). Take off - in the sky and over a bit of sea and in not too much time at all we were there!

We travelled this time with our good friends Brendan and Shoni and we are glad we did....it makes it more fun to share the experiences with and more interesting throughout the day (so we don't fight as much!! Lol)
We hailed a bus, who took us to our resort - Breakers Resort, which is out of town a bit but it was really nice. No aircon, but at least it was beach front and there was a fan. The views from the beach bungalows was breath taking, ocean views and sunsets (when it wasn't cloudy).

We had a pretty cruisy arvo and just chilled out at the resort. Dinner was a seafood feast at the resort, not the best feed of seafood we've had and we had to wait so long for it that good old Shoni pulled out the "Kattie's pregnant and hasn't eaten for ages and needs to get some food line!" It worked a treat after waiting 2 and bit hours for food. The bed was great and we slept like babies (well I did anyways!).



The next day we decided we would hire a bus (about $150 for the 4 of us for the whole day...exluding entry fees) and go around the island with the driver as our guide, so our bus drivers name was Mac and he was a bit of a dude really....only a pretty young fella! So off on our jouney for the day we made a stop at the Oh Bon Mache (supermarket) for from supplies and then set off on the road. First stopped was at the Casade Waterfalls....OMG.....breath taking. It cost 1500 Vatu to walk upto the waterfalls but it was well worth it. Along the way was little spots where you could swim and take a break, it was about a 20-30 minute work up to the big waterfalls and when you got there it was just amazing. We all walked up to the top got some awesome photos, had a swim and sat around. It was freezing when you first got in and all the mist just made everything look beautiful.

Next stop was Eton Beach were we stopped for some lunch and then a bit of a snorkle and swim before it bucketed down rain....but we didn't let that stop us. Eton Beach is really pretty and unfortunately it was low tide and rainy when we went there but it was very popular with lots of tourist and locals there.

The Blue Lagoon was our final stop around the island and although it was raining....this place is beautiful. The water is actually so blue and the local kids were all jumping off the tree rope into the water and then jumping out of trees into the water, which was absolutely freezing!!!

Monday saw us do some relaxing and snorkling off the beach and walking around the rocks and sand at low tide to find little critters hiding from us. We

Tuesday we went into town for a look and hit the shops to do some window shopping! Everything is pretty expensive so we didn't end up buy much only a few gifts for people and a couple of souvenires.
We had some lovely night time meals and our favourite resurant was "Chill". They have the best steak ever there....I ate it 3 times! Another place that was good for lunch was "Jills" who is run my this cranky we think American woman because the food is all based on what they would eat in America. The food however is really good and pretty cheap.

So since Tuesday was Valentines day....we decided we would have a nice meal together, so we stayed at the resort for a 4 course meal that was beautiful, we got a free bottle of champagne the poor Paul had to drink all himself (I had a couple of sips!). Brendan and Shoni headed into town for their romantic dinner for two.



Wednesday we packed up the rest of our stuff and had another snorkle at Breakers, before we headed to the airport and our very short plane ride to Tanna Island for a few days. 25 minutes and we were there and the baggage handlers weren't too careful with our luggage either. They got a shock when they picked up Paul's bag and chicked it to another guy, who chucked it on the trolley and it fell off so he went aroudn and picked it up and chucked it back on. Lucky there wasn't anything breakable in there. We got picked up from the local airport and bused to the resort (if you could call it that) and checked in and had a bit of rest and unpacked.

Thursday we lounged around, went for a snorkle at high tide and went to the big drop off and no one was game to go over the edge in case the bad sharks were waiting below. I had a massage by one of the local ladies for only $15. In the afternoon headed on a 2 hour bus ride to the Yasuri Volcano over the other side of the island. The road there was very bumpy but the tour guide took it a little easy because he knew that I was pregnant. Lucky he did otherwise it would have been a rough trip. We stopped half way and took some photos from the distance and you could hear the "BOOM" when it was exploding. WOW!!!

When we got to the base of the volcano we stopped and took a few more photos and the smell is unreal, talk about rotten eggs on steroids! Another quick trip in the car upto the start of the volcano climb and the track up there was steep!! Very steep....it took us a while to get up there but once you were up there what an amazing sight it was. Everytime it went BOOM...you could see black magma rocks flying through the air and big clouds of smoke coming up. We took some great photos and then the guide took us up a bit higher were we waited for the sun to go down so we could see some real fireworks, and boy was it worth the wait!! When it was dark the colours of the magma are unreal and the show sure is worth the 2 and bit hour drive to get there. After lots and lots of photos and videos and sectacular erruptions....we had to head back down the volcano in the dark with our little torches.

So when we got the bottom....being pregnant I had to find a "pee rock" and do the job and then Shoni comes upto me and says...."Kattie, I've got something to show you!" "Very louding screaming happening and hugging!!" and yes.....Brendan the sly dog had asked Shoni to marry him on the volcano!! YAY!!! So after all that excitement we had to head back to the resort on another 2 hour very bumpy and not so slow trip.

Dinner was ready when we got back and well let's say at 2am in the morning...poor Paul was not feeling that well, vomiting and diarrohea and the swetting, he was sick! So at 2am I'm running around the resort looking for more toilet paper and more water in the dark. He was sick all day and had planned to go on a tribal village tour, which he braved and came on. We saw how the traditional village people lived with now modern day cons and now clothes and cooking facilities. A fire is all they have for light and to cook on.
It was a good experience. We went for another snorkle and it was early to bed and some packing needed to be done (which I did most of it because poor Paul was still sick!)

The resort runs of generators and lets us say they only run when it's meal times so the rooms don't have a fan that run all the time and the fridges don't run all the time......this leads to sickness!!

We had an early flight back to Port Villa so we headed to the airport and waited for the flight back to the main island. We checked into our hotel "The Grand", and it was flash!! The aircon was most welcomed when we got to the room and we had a relaxing afteroon lounging around watching tv and sleeping and then a bit later on we went for a swim in the hotel pool. The boys thoguht it was a good idea to have a few beverages as well.


Sunday we decided we would go to Turtle Bay and feed some turtles and do some snorkling. This was fun and we got to pick up baby turtles and feed the old turtles as well. We seen some coconut crabs which are the most funky looking things ever. The snorkling at Turtle Bay was amazing one of the best places we have snorkled. There were lots of little colourful fishes and well....some topless ladies as well.

We also got to go back to the Blue Lagoon when it wasn't raining and it's even more beautiful than it was when it was raining. Shoni and Brendan decided they would have a go off the swing (very brave!!) The water was still freezing and the swimming very refreshing as we all said. So when we got back to the motel we cleaned up and headed down town for some shopping. We must have gone in every shop! So after we got sick of that we headed back for a sleep and a swim at the hotel and our last dinner out on the town.

Monday we packed up and headed down town for our final lot of shopping for gifts and bits and pieces, and it bucketed down. Paul and I got drenched!! So back at the airport we headed back on the plane for our flight home back to Oz and it was a bit bumpy but not too bad and once back in Oz we hit the duty free grog shop....of course for the supply of rum and chocolate!
We collected our bags and headed out to pick up the ute and head home. We of course need fuel and food for the trip home and eventually arrived around 9pm. A quick shower and off to bed


Over all we had an amazing time and we laughed so much and had so much fun with Brendan and Shoni and hopefully we will get to go on holidays with them again soon.

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Photos

Shoni & Brendan at the waterfall
At the Cascade Waterfall

Shoni & Kattie
Cascade Waterfalls

Paul and Brendan
Looking for little critters