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Published: April 21st 2014
Saturday 19 April
For whatever reason I didn't manage to sleep beyond 5am despite not having an alarm set until 7am so I was up and about early. That didn't mean I was packed and out the door early though, left at pretty much 9am on the dot. Past Goulburn, transferred to Stuart's car and headed to Wollongong where we had lunch before heading to the airport. Bit of a queue for check in and then a quick bite to eat at Red Rooster before we boarded the plane right on time at about 6:30pm. Stuart took the window and I got the middle, next to this very strange middle aged woman. After sitting down she proceeded to unroll what appeared to be a sleeping bag of some description and put it over the chair, and then hopped into it. She then commented on the length of the book I was holding and proceeded to tell me she had a low immune system and would be wearing a face mask for the flight. Okaaayy then.
Plane seemed to take off slowly and we headed out over Botany Bay. Served drinks but failed on the glass of water front which
meant I had to ask again for a glass of water when they came to collect empties. Never flown with Air Vanuatu before, they were ok, safety card indicated you weren't allowed furbies on board.
Then it was dinner service and I opted for the butter chicken. It was average, as was the salad but really what do you expect. I asked for both a coke and a water and only got the coke. Hmmm, they want to make me super thirsty.
After clearing the plates I politely asked the women next to me if she minded if I got out and she asked what I would have done if she had said yes. She was very odd.
Then it was back to my seat and reading, a book called 'The Puppy express' which was supposed to be light hearted and fun but had me tearing up in the first chapter over a dog's death.
Then a short nap before landing, a very long immigration queue, grabbed bags and straight to the airport transfer and into a mini bus. Driver was fairly chatty and we got to the hotel at around midnight. Grabbed a shower, poor
The Beef House
Food of last resort after everything else was closedpressure and a crappy shower head, and then pretty much headed straight to sleep.
Sunday 20 April
After getting in late it was a late start this morning. I was first use to use the rather crappy shower and took forever to wash my hair, thinking it was lucky my hair isn't the thickest. When Stuart showered again. he worked out how to fix it (by taking all the sediment out of the shower head) so for subsequent showers it was much improved and made showering much more pleasant. Then I checked the fridge and discovered the Easter Bunny had been and not only left me a Malteaster bunny but also a large bag of small eggs. Yummy.
Then it was time to formally checking in, having not been able to do it this night before.
Breakfast at the hotel was finished, and needed to be booked anyway, so it was about a 20 minute walk into town where we found a cafe restaurant and grabbed 'brunch'. I had a juice smoothie and a ham and cheese toastie with odd tasting ham. Lights were out in the toilets which made using them an interesting experience.
Then we kept heading a little further into town. Being both a Sunday and Easter Sunday pretty much everything was closed. So we found a supermarket, stocked up on water, snacks, soft drinks and juice (to go with the duty free alcohol) and then grabbed a local bus back to the hotel.
By the time we got back it was early afternoon so after booking some tours for the next couple of days, we grabbed a drink and then headed to the pool, where we were lucky enough to have it to ourselves for about an hour.
Spent the rest of the afternoon on the balcony with a drink and snacking and sunbathing and generally enjoying a bit of sunshine. Kept reading the sad puppy story, if it doesn't get any better I will write a letter of complaint to the author, it certainly isn't the holiday read I thought that it would be.
About 5pm we got dressed and started googling places to eat, decided on one called Nambutam which was supposed to be on the waterfront and showed movies as well as being good food. Took a bit of a decision to get there, and
we headed off around 6pm.
It wasn't a promising start when the local bus driver didn't know where we were going. We had gone less than prepared, having not written down the address or taken much note exactly where it was on a map. Got dropped off in town around where we thought it might be and then proceeded to walk.
Anyway we couldn't find it. So we kept wandering, opting not to go to a place called Chilli and instead return to where we were for brunch as they had a decent dinner menu,
It was closed.
There was a fast food joint opposite so we ended up there for a beer, fish, chips and calamari topped with ice cream for dessert before hopping a local bus back to the hotel and giving up for the evening.
Hoping that tomorrow being Monday we might have more success with finding somewhere (anywhere) open!!
Monday 21 April
Woke up about 5am with doors slamming - presumably people booked on the Air Vanuatu early morning departure. Managed to snap until about 7am, which was when the first alarm went off. Down to breakfast, an enormous amount of fruits. The toast and croissants showed up after Stuart's pick up had arrived so I had to resist the temptation to eat everything in sight. He was off for a dive while I entertained myself.
Had a quick shower and dressed before heading into town via another bus. The driver's other passenger looked to be a local but turns out was from Brisbane. I got dropped off next to the markets which sold food and fruit, so I had a wander thigh there to start with. Very different to Asian markets, no pressure to buy and people asking me to 'lookie', I was pretty much left to my own devices.
Then wandered a little further into town and found lots of shops open. Port Vila actually felt like a town! Wandered through some tatty souvenir places, picked up a fridge magnet, postcards and stamps, then some strepsils at the chemist as I have had a little bit of a sore/dry throat for days.
Back through the clothing/ slightly more touristy markets where I had a browse and resisted purchasing anything. I did however encounter other tourists which after Sunday was slightly surprising. From talking to the taxi driver on the first night I think today is the only non cruise ship day so expect town will be bustling for the next couple!
Then it was back into a bus and back to the hotel. By this stage it was a little before 11am so changed into my swimmers, grabbed water, sunscreen, postcards a pen and a book and headed to the pool where I stayed for the best part of an hour. Grandparents - expect a postcard from me about a week after I get home. Author of the Puppy Express - expect a complaint via email.
Back then to the room to snack on corn chips and coke while finishing up the somewhat depressing book (so not a holiday read) before changing into appropriate clothing for the afternoon excursion to the waterfalls. This consisted of a clean and dry set of swimmers and shorts and reef shoes. Only took my snappy camera as the reviews suggested we were likely to get soaked so left the SLR in the hotel safe instead. Stuart got back from his double dive at about 1:15pm or so, enough time to reheat the croissant I saved him from breakfast and chill briefly before we headed off.
We got picked up in a mini van for the tour and discovered there was no one except for the two of us on the tour. It was about a 10-15 minute drive out there. In the carp park we were met by a dog (I called him Snickers) and we started the 15 minute walk up to the base of the main waterfall. Apart from one lot of rather steep but awkwardly sized stairs that were deep enough to make taking them two at a time difficult but quite shallow, we got to the bottom of the main falls. From there it was down to swimmers, into reef shoes and time to clamber up to the falls via rocks and ropes. The climb wasn't as difficult as it looked, but was not one to take the camera on the trip, so it stayed at the bottom in the bag and with the guide.
We sort of meandered up to the main waterfall, with me realizing about three quarters of the way when the waterfall was splashing me and I was finding it difficult to see, that perhaps this had been an ideal opportunity to use the new semi prescription goggles I had made. I say semi prescription as they couldn't make them in my strength so one eye is to my exact prescription, and the other is out by -2.
At the top there was a 'secret cave' that you had to climb through the waterfall to get too. I opted not to do that, Stuart said it wasn't that exciting anyway. Instead I chilled in the pond at the top for a whole.
After spending a bit of time up there in the slightly chilly water it was time to make r way carefully down. When it doubt I tended to move forward pretty much in a sitting position, lower centre of gravity and less likelihood of hurting myself more seriously that way!
Then it was the walk back and grabbed a beer and got some more fruit at the cafe at the base of the falls before getting transferred back in the mini van to the hotel.
Chill time at the hotel, including some pool time and a drink before showering and heading out to dinner. This time we found a place that was open, La Tentation, which was the same place we had brunch at the previous day. We did also find Nambawan open too but neither of us felt like pizza so figured we'd probably go back there tomorrow for the all day breakfast.
At La Tentation I had the grilled chicken with a tarragon sauce, potato gratin and 'seasonal vegetables' (read: beans and carrots), and Stuart had steak with the same potato and veg. Also accompanied by a bottle of New Zealand wine and followed up with two desserts, I opted for the Creme Brûlée which was in a very shallow dish and slightly over cooked on top.
Then it was a short bus ride back to the hotel before bed.
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Ben
non-member comment
Haha love your account so far, going back to read rest.