Blogs from Vanuatu, Oceania - page 2

I'm one of those people who finds the human condition endlessly fascinating. What is it exactly that controls our emotions, the mystical trigger to determine our likes and dislikes? And yet these very preferences are different from person to person, as by definition personal taste is an individual thing. But there does seem to be a constancy in our genetic makeup, such that the things individuals like do not really change as the years go by. It has been twenty years since I last visited Vanuatu, where I stayed on Efate for a month chilling out by the beach, and discovering the rhythms of the local culture. It all seems so long ago, yet the positive memories of my time in Port Vila have always stayed with me. The years roll by and memories of past ... read more

Finally I have made it to Vanuatu, we were welcomed by a traditional band and greeting with a shell necklace when getting off out of the We had a short 30 minute bus trip to where we are staying. Checked in and straight down to get something to eat and drink. Edgar who is a local Vanuatu man was doing sand drawings which tells the story of Vanuatu. They were simply amazing to watch him to them, I remember doing something similar on a doodle sketch when I was a child. It was amazing to hear the stories of the land, reminded me of the dream time stories the aboriginals tell. After an extremely long day of travelling I was finally able to shower and head to bed, my head did not even hit the pillow ... read more

The long await has begun, waking up from a nice sleep in as I do not know the next time I will be getting a good night sleep. The nerves are fine at this point until I step out of my room for the first time today, only to find that I have several notes all over my door from my friends wishing me luck and not to leave until they have finished their exams. Now the nerves have well and truly set in, I have gone through my bags at least 4 times now taking stuff out and adding other stuff in. How do you place importance on items what makes one thing more important than another, I ended up sacrificing my clothing in order to make room for more teaching supplies which I could ... read more

Friday 25 April Today is 'do nothing beside the plunge pool day'. Unfortunately, the weather didn't know about our plans. Went down to brekkie at about 9am since it was included. I technically had croissants but they weren't what I would call croissants. They looked like croissants but weren't the usual flaky pastry, just tasted like bread. Before heading back to the room we swung past reception and booked a return airport transfer and managed to get a late check out for midday the following day so we didn't have to hang around for two hours in the reception area. Back to the room for a swim despite the overcast skies, followed by lots of lounging on the lounges on the deck overlooking the lagoon, interchanged by coming inside to use the internet or sit in ... read more

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 ... read more