Advertisement
Published: October 28th 2006
Edit Blog Post
I thought I was pretty luck to score a couple of months in Fiji, but I somehow also managed to score a (work) trip to Vanuatu. From the outset it has to be said that Port Vila is a beautiful city, so laid back with such naturally stunning surroundings, I slipped into an automatic state of relaxation. If work wasn’t nagging on my mind I could have had a fabulous trip, but alas duty called so unfortunately clear sunny days were spent in the office. But the afternoons, with vibrantly coloured sunsets and a drink in hand, were all mine.
The trip started with an ungodly wake up at 4am, on my birthday no less! Well I soon made up for that, as I sat on the plane (still half asleep) the lady next to me ordered a glass of champagne with her breakfast and I decided that was a splendid idea, so I took her lead and enjoyed a champagne birthday breakfast. The lady and I soon bonded, over our glass of champagne, and chatted for the rest of the flight. I landed in Port Vila and a friend from work picked me up and took me to my
hotel, giving me a tour of the highlights…didn’t take long, Port Vilas a pretty small place. I checked into my hotel and when I walked into my room I was awestruck with the view. The clear blue water just below me looked stunning, although I think the photos will tell that better than I ever could. I had to drag myself away to go to work. I had kept my birthday quiet at work, which didn’t last long when beautiful bunch of flowers arrived at the office that afternoon. Mum and dad had managed to track me down, so the secret was out. After work that day we went to a beach hotel for drinks. It was great, we sat on lounges in the sand and watched the sun set while putting away a few local beers, Tuskers, a top drop. We then made our way to dinner at the restaurant, the tables were set up outside along the edge of the pool. I don’t know the fancy way to describe it, but the pool was the type of pool that as you walk up to it the edge of the pool and the ocean blende into one and it
looks. So my birthday dinner was a candle lit affair with the sounds of the ocean lapping in the background.
The next few days were much the same, I would begin with an ocean view breakfast, a day at the office and the afternoon watching the sun set with a relaxing drink. On Friday I went to dinner with some work colleagues at a new French restaurant. Dinner was amazing, I began with a lobster salad, followed by beef cooked to perfection and finished with a Grand Marnier soufflé. Naturally we needed a few bottles of wine to wash it all down with. So all in all it was a fantastic evening of good food and good company. I also got a preview into the life of the truly rich. While we were eating dinner a large group entered the restaurant, followed by the distinct smell of money. The women were all immaculately dressed, dripping in jewels and the men, for the most part were all groomed and handsome. Except for one poor middle aged chap who waltzed in, devoid of any shame, with a see through leopard print shirt, teamed with an impressive set of gold jewellery. I
guess no amount of money can buy good taste. My local hosts proceeded to give us a summary of who’s who in town, along with a few introductions as people passed by to say hello. I met a beautiful woman, who looked in her mid 40’s, she was so pleasant and lovely. I soon discovered she was actually the owner of the hotel I was staying at; she had just returned from a European holiday and also owned property in both the Southern and Northern hemispheres. Some people really do have it all. Well almost everything, I later also met her husband; I tried very hard not to giggle as the shook the hand of the leopard print shirt man.
My last day, in what I had decided was a little slice of paradise, ended on a great note. My friend (a quasi tour guide) picked me up in his four wheel drive and we went off the beaten track. You don’t have to go far out of Port Vila to be off the beaten track, the road turned to dirt pretty quickly. Which also marked the end of conversation between us, all the bumping and rattling of the
car made it a bit noisy and sore on the tucas. But it was all worth it, when we started seeing glimpses of the ocean through the trees, and then a clearing opened up and we were treated to a stunning view of clear blue water crashing on to a perfect white sand beach. And what made it even more spectacular was that we were the only people in sight. I was spell bound, and seriously tempted to do a runner when I got out of the car. After a short stroll along the beach I was only enticed back into the car with the promise that our destination beach would be even more impressive. And true to his word, when we arrived at the next beach I could have sworn we had just stepped into a south pacific dream. The photos don’t do this place justice, I struggled to capture the magic of this place and I don’t think my words will be descriptive enough. We were the only ones at this beach, the water was a myriad of turquoise blues and the sand was so soft and white I had to look around just to make sure that
we hadn’t actually walked into a manufactured movie set. So we spent the morning snorkelling and lolling around in the water. This time it really did take a lot of convincing to get me back in the car when it was time to leave, I stalled for as long as possible, but I had a flight to catch and I couldn’t think of a good enough excuse to explain to my boss why I had missed the flight.
So I dragged myself back to the hotel to change and pack. By the time I had gotten onto the plane, after a few wines in the airline lounge, I was in a serene state of relaxation. I will definitely return to Vanuatu, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a holiday destination.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.093s; Tpl: 0.023s; cc: 10; qc: 32; dbt: 0.0377s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb