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Welcome to Hideaway Island
The jetty at Hideaway Island Today we headed to Hideaway Island 😊 It seems we picked the perfect days to do the majority of our tours, as it was just us on the bus to Hideaway Island. This suited us to a tee and meant that we got some one-on-one time with the driver and could get to know more about what life was really like in Vanuatu. Hudson (the driver) was from Ambrae and moved to Efate in search of work. Work is very scarce on the outer islands so most people have to move to Efate if they want a job. We had been talking about doing a trek around one of the volcanic islands (Ambryn, which is near Ambrae) at a later date so Hudson was able to give us quite a lot of info on this and direct us to what travel agents to try.
A water taxi took us over to the island from the drop off point. Upon landing, we were given a brief rundown on what was available on the island, then we were issued snorkelling gear and we hit the water. The great thing about Hideaway Island is that you can snorkel just off the beach and see
Beach volleyball, anyone?
Just don't dive for the ball or you'll be landing on some nice fragments of coral - ouch!! an amazing variety of fish. The waters surrounding Hideaway Island are a marine sanctuary and the staff/tourists feed the fish regularly so there was always plenty of fish around us and they weren't afraid to come right up to you just in case you had food 😉
At 10:30am, we went out on a glass bottom boat ride with Henry as our guide. The fish started swarming towards the boat as soon as it started moving, as they've learnt that when the boat moves, food will appear. It was amazing just how many fish there were swimming underneath us after we'd been travelling for a little while. We shared the boat with a young Asian family. Unfortunately, their daughter hadn't been taught good manners and hogged all the fish food so we didn't get a chance to feed the fish. Instead, we had to just sit there and watch her feed them. Grrr!! It was still fascinating to watch the fish though. Some of them were absolutely massive and would've made a good fish dinner but alas, due to the marine sanctuary classification, they were off limits. Henry told us how quite a few tourists have tried to bribe him
Coral beach
The beach consisted of millions upon millions of fragments of coral. The sound of the waves washing upon the shore was absolutely magical but you needed tough feet to walk on the beach without shoes! to catch one for them. He always declines though, as he doesn't want to lose his job.
Our next tour (snorkelling tour) was at 12:15pm, so after the glass-bottomed boat tour we quickly went and grabbed a bite to eat (fish burgers + cocktails). We then bought some fish food for the snorkelling tour seeing as we missed out on feeding the fish earlier.
For the snorkelling tour, they took us a short distance out into the lagoon to where one of their dive sites is. You wouldn't think that you would see that many fish above a dive site but they were absolutely everywhere, especially once the food appeared. Scott duckdived with the camera and managed to get a few good photos of the fish further below the surface. Meanwhile, Kate cruised around on the surface feeding the fish - some of them even ate out of her hand (very cool!). During Scott's ventures below the surface, Scott encountered a Titan Triggerfish, and pestered it for over 5 minutes, hunting for the perfect photo. Unfortunately, the Triggerfish was trying to protect its mate, which it thought Scott was after, and started to get rather feisty. Following a lovebite on
Looking out to sea
The view along the beach out towards the sea the shin by Mr Titan, Scott went on his way to find other fish to photograph. Henry, the boat guide (who accompanied us on the snorkelling) thought Scott was crazy to keep diving deep after the one fish, but did admire the photos resulting from all his efforts. After Henry having been so helpful during our visit to Hideaway, we promised to send him a printed photo of the Triggerfish he liked so much.
Mid-afternoon, we quickly scribbled out postcards and then headed to the underwater postbox to mail them. Unfortunately, it wasn't peak tourist season so they didn't have the underwater post office there, just the mailbox - JIPPED! Oh well... the waterproof postcards are still cool.
At 3pm, we'd had enough of snorkelling (and of getting more sunburnt) and headed back to Vila. We got Hudson to drop us off in town so we could check out the markets before the town was flooded with cruise ship patrons the following day. On our way back to Iririki, we met Estella. Kate was having serious sarong issues due to the wind and was trying to maintain her modesty whilst juggling all the bags of shopping, etc. Estella was walking
A Good Fish Dinner
We wish... there were masses of fish teeming around the glass-bottomed boat and plenty looked like they'd make a good meal, but alas, Hideaway Island is a marine sanctuary so no fish dinner for us nearby and offered to help carry the bags whilst laughing at Kate's plight. Estella was only going as far as the food markets though (which are separate from the craft markets) so we struggled on as we were. She walked alongside us though and we chatted to her on the way to the food markets. Estella has a stall at the craft markets but lives out of town, so every morning her husband drops her off at the markets and picks her up in the evenings (her husband has a taxi). Meeting her was one of the highlights of the trip, as we had the chance to talk in a personal manner with a local, and truly learn what island life is like.
After leaving Estella at the markets, we had a quick shower back at the fare then went to Spa Frangipani for our massages followed by cocktails with the managers. The managers handed out a few prizes but alas, we lucked out. They had some pretty good prizes too! After the draws, local dancers and musicians performed for a while. The dancers tried to get some of the resort guests involved but quite a few people stepped back
View from the Glass Bottomed Boat
Some of the corals we saw through the bottom of the boat. in horror and shook their heads, not wanting to potentially embarrass themselves. When Kate (never afraid to make a fool out of herself) was invited, she graciously accepted and joined in the dancing. The dancing was very tiring after a couple of cocktails but she managed to last the rest of the dance. After the performance was over, we showered and changed and caught the ferry to town. The dancers happened to be returning to town at the same time as us and to our surprise put on a singing performance on the ferry. The moment was totally surreal - sitting on a ferry in the dark with the stars in the sky above us, and a group of native singers singing beautiful harmonies in the spotlight at the front of the ferry. AMAZING! Now THIS is the Vanuatu we wanted to experience.
We left the ferry and headed up the hill to the Tropik Bistro (where fillet steak is their specialty). Scott had read a raving review about it in the local newspaper and it had also received good ratings in the Lonely Planet Vanuatu guide. In the newspaper review, it said that head waiter Lesley could tell you
Fish Swimming Alongside the Boat
These fish knew it was chow time and wouldn't leave us alone until they'd gotten every morsel of food they could. what you would order as soon as you walked in the door. He guessed steak (pretty easy guess 😉) and he ordered a side dish of mustard sauce and a side dish of pepper sauce for us so that we could try both. We weren't disappointed - Tropik Bistro had the BEST steak we've ever had - it was absolutely superb and the sauces were just amazing. If only we could have talked the mustard sauce recipe out of them. The pepper sauce was different from any pepper sauce we've had before in that it was a creamy sauce. Very delicious though.
On our way back to the fare, we decided to stop on the island jetty to take some night time shots of Port Vila and Iririki. Some people walking down to the ferry thought Kate had drunk too much and passed out over the railing (in reality, she was crouched down trying to use the railing as a makeshift tripod - obviously they didn't notice the camera).
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Barbara
non-member comment
Holiday Vanuatu
Hi Scott and Kate, Have just read your travelblog, and was very impressed. Sounds like you enjoyed your trip. I had been searching for comments on Vanuatu, as we have just booked a holiday to stay on Hideaway this Xmas holiday break. We had been told by an Australian girl we met in Raratonga that the snorkeling was very good there. The travel agent almost tried to put us off going there as Hideaway is only a two star accomodation, but we dont mind if the snorkleing is good. Mind you at Xmas the prices are quite steep. Thanks for your comments and great photos. Regards Barb and Ion Quigley - NZ