Blogs from Vanuatu, Oceania - page 3

Oct 2nd We were up at three to catch the red eye flight to Brisbane with a connecting flight to Vanuatu. It was cold and windy in Adelaide, but warm and balmy in Pt. Vila. Several planes arrived at the same time so it took a while to get through customs. We caught a mini bus with another couple back into Vila. The other couple had just got married the previous day and were at the airport seeing some of their guests off. We arrived at the Kaiviti hotel and were pleasantly relieved to find that it looked much better than the time we had stayed there 3 years ago when they were renovating and the pool had no water. The room was nice, however there was a kava bar right behind next to our open ... read more

7 October 2012 Sunday. Sea day, which was pretty much as described previously. 8 October 2012 Monday. We arrived in Port Vila, Vanuatu at breakfast time. Vanuatu is another of those South Pacific Islands favored by “The Survivor” reality TV show which Linda and I have followed since the first season. Vanuatu used to be called New Hebrides, the name given it by Captain Cook when he arrived in the islands in 1774. He was preceded by Portugese Captain De Quiros in 1606 and Captain Bougainville in 1767. But it was the Americans who arrived there in 1942, just ahead of the Japanese, who made the greatest impact on the people. The Americans built the largest forward operating base in the South Pacific, from which it would start to turn the tide of WWII. One officer ... read more

In September 2012, Paul and I had one of the most amazing holidays in Vanuatu. We had the pleasure of staying four nights in Port Vila. We went to relax and chill out, yet we experienced so much more! Vanuatu has the friendliest people and beautiful, natural landscapes I've seen. In our time there we got to drive buggies through the jungle, spend time with local villagers, swim in the Cascades Waterfalls, visit the Secret Garden and eat at a Melanesian feast, plus much more! We stayed in the most beautiful and secluded resort in Port Vila called Paradise Cove. It was 25 minute drive from the centre of town and only had 10 bungalows.The resort is set in an established tropical garden and on a beautiful reef, which is great for snorkelling and swimming. We ... read more

Shore day in Port Vila Vanuatu. This is the capital and on the island of Efate, the south west of the group of islands formerly known as The New Hebrides as named and chartered by Captain Cook. A small capital of around 30,000 people from a mix of nationalities with the principal language of Bislama (pidgin type of language ) English and French. In the harbour lies the island of Iririki which has expensive looking resorts doted around. There seems to be quite a lot of marketing of homes and villa to expats, lots of real estates. The harbor had a constant sea mist today, not sure if this is usual. It was hot and muggy when we disembarked and we ran the gauntlet of the taxis and vans lined up and took one to town. ... read more

Today's shore excursion is to Champagne Bay which is situated on the East coast of Vanuatu's largest island, Espiritu Santo. This is Spanish for "Holy Spirit" and was first sighted by Europeans in 1606 when the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandez de Quiros landed at Big Bay west of Champagne Bay. The beach has fine white sand, and this fringes forests and mountains. 200 residents live in this bay and today they were all out flogging their wares. $2 for a photo with a snake, lizard or turtle, the usual sarongs, shirts and woven products as well as food such as banana, pineapple, passion fruit, coconut, mango, pawpaw, dried banana chips, dried tapioca chips, and a local nut that we used to eat in PNG which we called Gallup nuts. The market area was set up in ... read more