Composed of over 80 islands, Vanuatu has won the Award for happiest country in the world twice – lots of smiles all round while we were there.
Whilst popping into Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, we visited the delightful main market in town centre, where we saw big piles of vegetables, coconuts, peanuts, bananas artistically bunched together ready for consumption.
On the foreshore, beautiful kastom tamtam or traditional carvings were on display. The carver can only create tamtams with permission from the tribal chief otherwise the item is confiscated.
Serene public parks are adorned with Poinciana trees, locally known as 'Christmas Trees' because they bloom at Christmas time.
As our base, we used Breakas Resort in Port Vila which had seafront and garden bedroom fares or coral and cement walled, thatched huts. The pool had a lovely vista of beach, lagoon, reef and surf break far beyond.
The resort had local entertainment every evening for the dinner tables beside the pool. One night we had a kava tasting ceremony where Robert had a swig of the peppery drink dished out by a nattily dressed local.
Musical highlights came from a group from the Futuna islands playing with bush base, ukuleles, and bottle piano, a medley of religious anthems plus Bob Marley classics and the somewhat incongruous rendition of Knock Knock Knocking on Heaven's Door, followed by a romp through West Virginia. It was a bit curious after the performance to be thanked for listening to their culture.
Dance highlights were enlivened when Robert joined in the choreography with debatable results.
Food was a great variety of crusty croissants and treats for breakfast; then a dinner menu ranging from local tasty steak to the pricey seafood platter with an orgasmic pyramid of bugs, oysters, prawns, and more, all washed down with happy hour margaritas.
The day after arrival, we set off for an overnight trip to Tanna, an island 90 minutes away by air, but centuries apart as a traditional tribal community quite different to the Westernised hustle and bustle of Port Vila.
At noon, George, a young laid back Kiwi pilot packed 5 of us into a 1970s Cessna at the local airport. Parked close by on the airport apron was a jet from the charmingly named Air Calin (Air Cuddle) from New Caledonia.
The Cessna puttered on a bright sunny day at 8000 ft across the sea and past Erromango Island, ending with a final and impressive flyover of steaming volcanic Mt Yagur before touchdown on sleepy Whitegrass airfield.
Here we decamped on a long dirtroad trip through lush valleys, working our way towards the volcano, first breaking out onto the wide sweeping expanses of colourful, eroded lava plains.
At the foot of the volcano, we stopped for a welcome ceremony with grass-skirted dancers stomping rythmically.
Then we switched to 4wd utes for the last 5km to the rim. Mt Yasur is the oldest erupting volcano in the world. In fact, it has been erupting non-stops for hundreds of years, since the Pleistocene. The innards of the volcano roar from time to time as we ascend steps to gain exciting views into the volcanic mayhem. It is a case of refreshingly straightforward each to their own for health and safety – keep behind the white poles indicating the dropoff, or you are molten toast.
Clouds of sulphur smoke roll over us as the first spurts of lava bombs erupt, blowing ash in our faces. Way below, the lava lake churns and burns fiercely in bright red and orange splendour. Later at the hotel, judging by my own lava deposit, I establish I must have ingested a purging dose of ash.
In case you feel the urge to send home your last wishes before meeting lava hell, there is an incongruous postbox, the only one in the world on an active volcano.
From the volcano we retrace our route to the Whitegrass Airport area where we duck down a dirt road to Rockwater Resort, a flamboyant coral and concrete pleasure ground in a fabulous position beside the sea.
The owner, John, after a lifetime of building resorts on Tanna and in Port Vila, is building this one to include all his dream creeks, pools, garden plantings, and secret spots. The worst disaster for the Vanuatu region and Tanna in particular, was Cyclone Pam which occurred in 2015: 350 km an hour winds wiped out anything and everything, flattened all vegetation, destroyed all in its path – the resort land had all its greenery down to the smallest shrub ripped away. John’s pride and joy is the reef below the property which is bristling with sealife, healthy coral, and fish communities, including some 30 protected parrotfish which nurture the coral by assiduously cleaning it.
We were unfortunately going to later find parrotfish for sale at the market in Port Vila.
Life is tough: John revealed that locals don’t go to GPs or hospitals which are rare anyway. They use kastom or native doctors instead which doesn’t work well. The young, fit star of a film called Tanna, which was shot on Tanna a few years ago, recently cut his foot. The Kastom doctor enlarged the cut, digging deeper and put on a mud poultice which brought on massive infection which triggered the actor’s death.
We returned to Breakas Resort, Port Vila and did some day trips. Hiring our local taxi driver, Chris, we went to the Reef Rehabiliation Centre, a lovely rescue and rehabilitation centre for local wildlife.
Hawksbill and Green Sea Turtles of all ages are nurtured in beautifully laid out pools where they cruise around and enjoy feeds of tuna. Watch out for your appendages, turtles can mistake finger or toe for a juicy morsel.
An enclosure has a group of friendly Fijian iguanas descended from ones that sailed over on bits of wood driven by cyclone Pam.
Also on display are huge Coco crabs whose adults reach 4.5 kgs. They are protected, but puny fines mean they are sold to restaurants, such as those at resorts.
A nice touch to the guided tour is a reef walk to see Blue and Orange Starfish and very squidgy sea cucumbers.
The following day we are off with Chris again to Pepeyo, a cultural village of Futuna islanders.
A chatty member of the tribe shows us their conch shell used as a means of communication. He jokes this is the chargerless precursor of mobile phones.
Then he demonstrates fishing skills using spider webs, even introducing his cooperative pet spider; clever traps to catch pigs and wild chickens; special huts for women having babies; and how to use plants for healing.
Other members of the village join in a cheery display of music with bush bass, guitars, bottle piano, and bamboo pipes.
Hot rock walking is next, with the village expert curling toes wrapped in plant juices over sizzling lava rocks. Finally, the tribe does a farewell shimmy and we leave.
The day continues with a drive to Rarru Rentapao waterfalls, a long series of translucent rapids and deep holes edged with neat gardens. Not only kids and adults enjoy the water fun, there are even dogs joining in the excitement on top of a waterfall in the middle of the torrent.
Just before we get to our final stop for lunch, we pull over at turquoise beach with crystal clear water and coral formations.
Our lunch stop is at the Blue Lagoon, a clear blue, creek fed bay with lots of little shelters for shade and relaxation. Locals and tourists dip into the lagoon and some jump onto ropes to swing over the water.
On the foreshore, beautiful kastom tamtam or traditional carvings were on display. The carver can only create tamtams with permission from the tribal chief otherwise the item is confiscated.
Serene public parks are adorned with Poinciana trees, locally known as 'Christmas Trees' because they bloom at Christmas time.
Musical highlights came from a group from the Futuna islands playing with bush base, ukuleles, and bottle piano, a medley of religious anthems plus Bob Marley classics and the somewhat incongruous rendition of Knock Knock Knocking on Heaven's Door, followed by a romp through West Virginia. It was a bit curious after the performance to be thanked for listening to their culture.
Food was a great variety of crusty croissants and treats for breakfast; then a dinner menu ranging from local tasty steak to the pricey seafood platter with an orgasmic pyramid of bugs, oysters, prawns, and more, all washed down with happy hour margaritas.
At noon, George, a young laid back Kiwi pilot packed 5 of us into a 1970s Cessna at the local airport. Parked close by on the airport apron was a jet from the charmingly named Air Calin (Air Cuddle) from New Caledonia.
The Cessna puttered on a bright sunny day at 8000 ft across the sea and past Erromango Island, ending with a final and impressive flyover of steaming volcanic Mt Yagur before touchdown on sleepy Whitegrass airfield.
At the foot of the volcano, we stopped for a welcome ceremony with grass-skirted dancers stomping rythmically.
Then we switched to 4wd utes for the last 5km to the rim. Mt Yasur is the oldest erupting volcano in the world. In fact, it has been erupting non-stops for hundreds of years, since the Pleistocene. The innards of the volcano roar from time to time as we ascend steps to gain exciting views into the volcanic mayhem. It is a case of refreshingly straightforward each to their own for health and safety – keep behind the white poles indicating the dropoff, or you are molten toast.
Clouds of sulphur smoke roll over us as the first spurts of lava bombs erupt, blowing ash in our faces. Way below, the lava lake churns and burns fiercely in bright red and orange splendour. Later at the hotel, judging by my own lava deposit, I establish I must have ingested a purging dose of ash.
In case you feel the urge to send home your last wishes before meeting lava hell, there is an incongruous postbox, the only one in the world on an active volcano.
From the volcano we retrace our route to the Whitegrass Airport area where we duck down a dirt road to Rockwater Resort, a flamboyant coral and concrete pleasure ground in a fabulous position beside the sea.
We were unfortunately going to later find parrotfish for sale at the market in Port Vila.
Life is tough: John revealed that locals don’t go to GPs or hospitals which are rare anyway. They use kastom or native doctors instead which doesn’t work well. The young, fit star of a film called Tanna, which was shot on Tanna a few years ago, recently cut his foot. The Kastom doctor enlarged the cut, digging deeper and put on a mud poultice which brought on massive infection which triggered the actor’s death.
We returned to Breakas Resort, Port Vila and did some day trips. Hiring our local taxi driver, Chris, we went to the Reef Rehabiliation Centre, a lovely rescue and rehabilitation centre for local wildlife.
An enclosure has a group of friendly Fijian iguanas descended from ones that sailed over on bits of wood driven by cyclone Pam.
Also on display are huge Coco crabs whose adults reach 4.5 kgs. They are protected, but puny fines mean they are sold to restaurants, such as those at resorts.
A nice touch to the guided tour is a reef walk to see Blue and Orange Starfish and very squidgy sea cucumbers.
The following day we are off with Chris again to Pepeyo, a cultural village of Futuna islanders.
Hot rock walking is next, with the village expert curling toes wrapped in plant juices over sizzling lava rocks. Finally, the tribe does a farewell shimmy and we leave.
The day continues with a drive to Rarru Rentapao waterfalls, a long series of translucent rapids and deep holes edged with neat gardens. Not only kids and adults enjoy the water fun, there are even dogs joining in the excitement on top of a waterfall in the middle of the torrent.
Just before we get to our final stop for lunch, we pull over at turquoise beach with crystal clear water and coral formations.
Our lunch stop is at the Blue Lagoon, a clear blue, creek fed bay with lots of little shelters for shade and relaxation. Locals and tourists dip into the lagoon and some jump onto ropes to swing over the water.
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