Vanuatu

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In July 2006, we decided to take a diving holiday - me, Jamie, my sister Kirsty and his brother Ben. At first we were torn between Tonga and Vanuatu, but Vanuatu was a bit cheaper, and so that prevailed! Tonga next time!

We were booked on a direct flight from Auckland to Vila, but at the last minute there was a change of plans. Our flight now stopped in Brisbane for 6 hours! Normally this would be a giant pain in the backside, but as our mum lived near Brisbane, it was the perfect chance for a reunion! We spent a couple hours in Brisbane, had a few drinks at the casino and then headed back to the airport.

The funny thing we've noticed with the pacific islands is that no matter what time you leave, you always seem to arrive at 3am. And it's always hot and muggy! We made it through customs pretty quickly, found a cab and arrived at our accommodation. Since this was a diving holiday, we had booked ourselves in to stay at the dive shop - can't get any closer to the water than that! Each day we'd wake up and have a quick breakfast, and walk down the stairs and on to the boat. Two dives a day for 5 days...not bad at all.

Unfortunately for Jay though, on our first night he passed out. We took him to a private doctor on the island, and after doing a few tests, she recommended no diving until he'd been checked out thoroughly back in NZ. He was a complete trooper though - no complaints. Each day we'd go diving and he would snorkel. Although I have to say there weren't too many differences between him and us (apart from the obvious oxgyen tank). Jamie would follow us along the surface, and then when we saw something interesting, he would dive down to where we were and have a look at it. It was the most impressive thing I've ever seen! The dive instructor clocked him at 13m!! It was so strange - we'd be looking at some coral, or an interesting fish, and we'd turn around and there was Jay! He could never stay very long, but there weren't many things that he missed out on!

When we weren't diving we would explore the town of Port Vila, swim in the various lagoons or browse the markets. While Kirsty and Ben did their first night dive, Jamie and I took some time to go out for dinner (not much fun night snorkelling). We went a the most romantic restaurant in the South Pacific (according to the LP) - Vila Chaumieres. Located on the edge of Erakor Lagoon, the restaurant is surrounded by coconut palms and hibiscus flowers. The restaurant has tables right out on the water, and we fed the fish and looked out at the stars. So romantic!

All in all, it was a great week (although a little disappointing that Jamie couldn't dive). Jamie got checked out when we got back to NZ, and was given the all-clear for diving...what better reason for a return trip?

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Comments

[rrruss]

Great Photos
I'm still keeping up with your blog. Looks liek you're having lots of fun. We are in Syria now, a far cry from Argentina!!!