2012 Vanuatu

After travelling to Vanuatu in 2011 we wanted to bring Molly here to experience this tropical paradise.

As she was getting a bit older we thought it would be nice and a bit more fun for Molly if we also brought her best friend, Kate along with us.

As well as going back to Port Vila this time we were going to stay at Paradise Cove Resort on the recommendation of a number of people – a decision we have never regretted & many times repeated.

Paradise Cove is as it sounds – an idyllic setting in a cove protected against the winds on the leeward side of the island with fantastic snorkeling, no matter the tide, right at your doorstep.

One of the other reasons we were recommended to stay at Paradise Cove was for the food. After eating at many of the recommended restaurants in Port Vila I can confidently say that Paradise Cove is THE best restaurant in Port Vila.

The managers & staff are so responsive but at the same time relaxed and have created such a tranquil atmosphere you don’t want to leave.

The snorkeling, as I mentioned previously, right on your front doorstep is quite amazing. The array of fish & coral is quite magnificent. Strangely we had a Moorish Idol Fish, we nicknamed Trevor, that not only seemed to have no fear of getting close to humans but virtually greeted us on a number of occasions we went in for a snorkel.

We also did a day trip out to Pele Island where we were picked up early in the morning and brought back to the resort around 5:30pm that day.

We had a great day swimming & snorkeling out on a reef as well as snorkeling above their giant clam garden not far out from the beach.

We were served a BBQ lunch and given a tour of the local village on the island.

Tanna Island

One of the things we wanted to do after our previous visit to Vanuatu was to travel to Tanna Island to visit the worlds most accessible & active volcano, Mount Yasur.

After a 30 minute flight south to Tanna Island we were picked up and taken to White Grass Resort.

The manager organised all those who arrived that day to be taken in to “town” for a look around. There wasn’t enough room in the first vehicles so we said we would wait. After a while it became apparent that no one was coming back to pick us up so the manager took us to town in a very interesting mode of transport on the back of a small truck.

It was an interesting visit to town where their market was in full swing and we observed an interesting delivery to the local butcher.

We saw a ute backing up to the half door which served as a counter to the butcher shop.

A couple of barefoot guys started hauling a skinned & gutted carcass out of the open top ute and another dragged it over the butcher’s counter.

The funniest thing about the whole thing was that seeing one of the barefoot guys wearing a hairnet presumably so a hair would not fall on the carcass while he dragged it out of a ute that has had who knows what in it across the not quite sterile counter into the dirt floor butchers shop!

As we decided to spend a few days on the island we took the opportunity to do a trip to the Blue Cave, which is a cave you have to snorkel into and has an oculus in the roof letting a shaft of sunlight in giving the cave water its appearance. The first issue came a bout when we got to the cave & the swell was about 4-6 feet. only when the swell receded could we see the opening to the cave which we had to swim to then dive down to get through the opening without being crashed into the rocks.

After getting inside we had to vicariously clamber up the rocks to get out of the wash when Belinda had a quite hard fall on the rocks.

When we got back to the boats we had to stay in the water to stop getting seasick!

When they took us back to the resort the waves were such that they had to drop us about half a kilometre down form our pick up out the front of our resort leaving us to clamber over lava rocks on the side of a lagoon.

All in all an eventful day.

Having survived we enjoyed a less stressful time that afternoon.

The following day we had arranged our trip to Mount Yasur. It was to be about 5 hours duration, being picked up around 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

On the way we stopped off at the obligatory village who gave a musical presentation.

Quite simply one of the best things we have ever done.

Standing on the caldera of a live volcano whilst it is rumbling & exploding is quite an experience and at time not for the faint of heart. As the sun went down it gave some a great opportunity for photography.

The following day we went to a village to learn about the traditional ways they live including their medicine, rituals including circumcision, cultural beliefs and ceremonies.

They scared the life out of Kate when we were walking through the jungle with them listening and one of them had buried himself under leaves, grass etc. and with a loud yell grabbed Kate’s ankle. Very funny after the heart resumed normal programming!

After this it is apparently custom for the oldest person in the group to receive the traditional welcoming kava to be consumed with the chief – lucky me!

As if having to drink that stuff again was bad enough, it was apparently necessary to dress me in traditional garb to make it more realistic!

Our last day included a bit of a tour around the Tanna Coffee plantation to see the process that is undergone to come up with the final product. Tanna Coffee is one of Vanuatu’s most successful export industries.

From growing to picking, sorting, drying and packaging it is a very hands on operation.

We also went to a local school and a Banyan tree which is a small forest of its own.