Non-ocean Swimming

Today we were off to a couple of scenic spots on the Eastern side of Efate which is a first for us. Our driver yesterday said we could get a bus from Port Vila to them, no worries so we were keen to experience a bit of local life.

Breakfast was corn fritters, the edges were golden crispy but more kumara than corn, but pretty good anyway. Louie had the French Toast with fruit that I had yesterday.

So here we are in one of the local buses, but not a bus for locals. I asked the woman at the hotel reception where to get an out of town bus from and the immediate look on her face told me it was a very bad idea. For about $80 she arranged for a driver for the day who came and picked us up and took us wherever we wanted to go. The only difference between this and our other tours was that we had to pay for entrance to the places, whereas the other tours it was included. It pretty much worked out the same and from what I can figure out, it's a good deal. We talked to a couple of other couples and they got absolutely conned by bus operators with being hired out for over $200 a day. So glad we stayed at the resort we did, and they did a great job of looking after us! Yes, I've posted the 5 star Google review.

You can see from the photos it was raining on and off all day, but it really didn't matter too much because it kept things cooler, we were going swimming anyway and we were less likely to get sunburned. Even the river water here is relatively warm, and despite the rain over the past week the river water was still pretty clear and clear. East out of Port Vila was mostly farmland and foresty areas, and apart from the odd homestead and kava bar it was pretty green and lush.

One other aspect of getting a driver was the fact our first stop was a long walk from the main road, much further than Google would have us believe, in some decent, humid rain.

So, so glad we listened to her!

Our first stop, Eden on the River is a kind of park with rainforest walks, river and waterfalls plus a whole bunch of other outdoor stuff we didn't do. Just the swimming for us! We spent a good while in here, and it was pretty warm despite looking a bit freezing and miserable.

There were a few fish in the river but nothing too terrifying that I could see. I don't thing any of the water snakes a freshwater, and I don't want to know.

One of the benefits of going when the season is off and the weather is a bit rubbish is that there are very few other tourists. Both stops today are full of people going by their websites but today there were just a handful - perfect!

We did a bit of exploring afterwards and set off shirtless and only in our togs along a track through the rainforest. What could go wrong?

Nothing actually, and surprisingly. No slips, falls, attacks or charges of obscene or distressing behaviour.

Second stop for the day was the Blue Lagoon. Here the river mixes with the seawater so you get all sorts of fish and warm water currents. I also got savagely attacked by a fish. I could feel some small fish them flapping about my legs as I was floating about and shooed them away. Then I felt a nibble on the back of my leg! I can move like lightning when I want to!

One of the many dogs we met in Vanuatu and they all seemed to know exactly who the soft touch was. Blackie here happily shared in our snacks. Now I'd like to point out that Blackie is actually her name, the lady running the shop told us. Not quite a Guy Gibson thing but I wouldn't be running around calling the dog's name. 

Loads of these Kava Bars around the place, often just randomly situated in the middle of nowhere. There were other, far more rustic setups as well. They have a table out the front with bottles of water that looks like they collected it from a puddle. I guess the idea is this tempting array draws you in to the shack down the driveway.

Ron our driver and saviour joining me in admiring the accessibility of the aircon units for the local supermarket. Funnily enough they didn't seem to work very well, since inside the shop it was as cool and dry as a Vanuatu rainforest. 

Finally back to the hotel, creamy pesto spaghetti with chicken, I'm going to try and make this it was so good. 

Louie's chicken parma, but done to perfection.

Our last meal in the Cafe Vila, despite a shaky start we have had some amazing meals here!

Tomorrow we head home, honestly I'm kind of glad to be heading off. Vanuatu wasn't my favourite place, loved the snorkelling but it was way too expensive for what they have to offer, the weather was quite shit (obviously nothing we can do about that) and just way too disorganised and half-assed for my liking. 

Tour of the city, plus a bit more

Today we chose Tua Numbafo, City Tour. I think this is the most practical and useful tour guide setup I've ever encountered. Our guide was late this morning so the lady behind the counter rang him, made demanding noises and he arrived a couple of minutes later. Absolutely top service.

While we were waiting I spotted these beasts across the road, a highly revered beastie I learned today. Like everything and everyone else here, they looked pretty chill and in no fear of becoming ham.

Our private tour guide for today donned a magnificent Santa Claus themed shirt and a good nose for interesting destinations. We didn't have anyone else joining us so we got to choose what and where we went and had the best seats. About $100 each for a personal guide for the whole day including entry to any of the things we went to isn't too bad!

The New Zealand Consulate - it's pretty faceless and has pointed fence tops. Could have been a bit more friendly.

The national symbol of Vanuatu, the pig tusk and I think the tree to the right is the frond in the flag.

First stop of the day was the National Museum of Vanuatu. As is the way, the museum guide hadn't shown up for work yet so we waited about for a bit, had a look at some of the very dusty and worn displays which didn't bode well.

Our driver (either Terry or John, we never sorted that one out) gave us a brief and very innacurate run down of the various islands. I had to correct him a few time, including pointing out the actual island we were on. His local navigation had to be better that his regional. 

The back half of the museum.

And the front half, which also includes all of the front half in the photo above. It's not big.

Luckily Edgar finally showed up and asked us if we wanted the long or short tour. Given the size of the place, I think the difference would be about 2 minutes so we opted for the long tour. He talked quite a lot about Pentecost Island which is where he is from, and by the sounds of it is the most interesting Island. This is where the cannibalism was most common and longest practiced. Apparently you're not supposed to look directly at the meat you are eating in case it's human flesh and the spirit curses you. For 52 years the chance of being cursed this way has been 0% until now. Actually the chance is still 0% since curses aren't an actual thing but the chances of meat being human while we are here are no longer 0%.

Pentecost Island is also where the land diving is practiced. If you do it right the top of your hair is supposed to brush the grass at the end of the dive. One of the most famous dives was for Queen Elizabeth in 1975 when one absolute champion head butted the dirt and paralysed himself in front of her. Twat.

These statues represent people who have passed, with their large eyes giving a portal to the spirit in the other world. I was sure to tell Louie I want to be represented by the large colourful one on the left. And displayed in the lounge. 

The rest of the tour around the exhibits was a random collection of some pretty tatty objects. Edgar tried to tell us that the cobwebs on a funeral hat were to catch the essence of the passed person from the dust kicked up in a dance. Or you could just open the cabinet and give them a clean instead of making up this fanciful tale.

There were a couple of cabinets with stuffed animals in from Vanuatu, and some that weren't. We had snakes, which he told us that none of them in Vanuatu are poisonous. Apart from that cobra, but they don't live here. Well what the fuck is it doing in the case, Edgar?

Then we got onto the sea snakes, they are very poisonous, and they live here. Right.

He confirmed we were from New Zealand and pointed out the albatross. Okay...

Which part of New Zealand are they from? Er, not Meadowbank that's for sure.

He thought it might have been blown over from NZ during a cyclone so they stuffed it and chucked it in the glass case. Apparently absolutely zero knowledge of the natural world is required for this job.

We got to see Edgar do some sand drawings which is an ancient tradition, along with stories that go with them. Very old stories apparently since they were in black and white.

This contraption actually made fantastic music, like a combination xylophone and maraca. He played the Vanuatu national anthem, then told us he was going to play everyone's national anthem, the Australian and New Zealand ones. Awkward looks from the English, French and possibly German tourists. He started with the Australian one, which wasn't Waltzing Matilda to everyone's surprise and then decided that was enough.

To be fair, he did have a lot of knowledge of the history and culture of Vanuatu and did a fantastic job of navigating the very mixed bag of exhibits he had to work with.

What would have been a very basic 10 minute browse turned into a really interesting hour or so.

Next stop was the Gaston chocolate factory, which was a very small setup, with a very manual process but it gave a great look at how it's made. Also the puppy guarding the front entrance was cute. 

In the mixing room, all sanitary and hygiene practices were follwed by putting on a green hairnet. And that's it. Pretty sure they missed some steps here. The other in photo were our neighbours from the hotel, who were great people but my god did they fit the stereotype of Aussies from the Gold Coast.

The sampling table, including a Kava one which made my tongue go numb. It tasted like someone dropped it in a puddle, until I couldn't really taste anything.

Probably the most expensive chocolate I've ever bought, I'm not working out the exchange rate, I'll probably cry. The samples were excellent though!

Next stop was the coffee factory! I'm reallu glad we had a guide because we would have never found this place by ourselves. Vanuatu is full of places that are barely signposted and are down unmarked limestone roads.

And this is it. Pretty much the entire factory, other than a bean grinder off to the left. The tour took about 5 minutes. This included the girl, from our hotel neighbour group who also visited here, asking if they could take coffee back to Australia. The guy above said "Australia, Sydney and Melbourne, yes", she replied "what about the Gold Coast?". He was far more generous with his reply than I would have been.

Pretty cool cafe as part of the Tanna Coffee factory, with chocolate cake so good half of it was eaten before I could get my camera out.

Two types of coffee bought as well, looking forward to giving it a go back home.

Somewhere under these badly and over-poached eggs are reasonably good corn fritters made with kumala (again, yes that is spelt correctly).

The cafe and another of the many dogs in Vanuatu. Each and every one of them have been so friendly and laid back. I defied the tyrant and gave this one my overcooked egg yolks.

Our final stop for the day was Hideaway Island. Which isn't very well hidden, it's right there.

One very short and rickety ferry ride later, we arrived. The docking process is pretty mcuh the guy crashing the front of the boat into the dock and you leap off. Reverse for boarding.

I wonder how many tourists, phones and suitcases have ended up on the bottom of the water.

The main point of this visit was the snorkelling. Quite a bit more murky than the other day, but a lot more fish and other bits to see. I spent the best part of an hour just tootling about chasing fish and exploring the reef and rocks.

One famous part of this area is the worlds only underwater post box. For the sum of $8 you can buy a waterproof postcard and post it. The whole thing is a bit of a trap, and since the tide was in there was no way I would have been able to get my bouyant backside down to it.

Sights I saw, and what the local wildlife saw.

It was gloomy the whole time here, I can only image how amazing everything is when the sun is out.

Every holiday destination from now on will have the question asked "can I snorkel there"

Very happy after my underwater fun. 

Final part of the day - dinner. We've pretty much given up on the restaurants in town and just sticking with the decent hotel one. It's expensive but bloody good.

Tonight I had Chicken Bunia, which is kind of a hangi but wrapped in banana leaves and tropical veges like cassava and plantain and cooked with coconut milk. Bloody good.

Louie had the Kumala gnocchi that I had the other night - loved it too.

And finally a brownie with toasted coconut.

I was knackered again at the end of the day so this was delayed a day - one more full day to post (spoiler alert: swimming) and then we are back home.