Ok, so we had been here a week. Slept in a heap and done a great deal of nothing. This is the sort of holiday I had never had before. I’d always organised and planned every minute. Not this time. I’d not organised a single trip or tour, but now was starting to get itchy feet. So yesterday I organised for us to go to two places which boasted great snorkelling. I had been keen to check out the dolphins and the turtles, but were told that the resort which held the rights to this area was under renovations. bummer! There is heaps to do in Vanuatu - from cultural village visits to horse riding to extreme sporting pursuits and obviously all the diving and snorkelling. I feel a bit empirical and snooty but I am a bit over the whole cultural village thing. I’m sure its all very exciting, but can’t help but feel its all too Hollywood and even through the mud and plastered feathers, a bit too glitzy and false. I know its a sign of my exhaustion that I am feeling this intolerance but just cant be bothered. 
We set off for Pele island at 8.30 - the earliest we have had to be organised for ages. We were stuffed into a small van with a very enthusiastic islander, passionate about his countries history. It was a shame that his voice was muffled by the engine as I only caught every few words. In saying ‘tour’ I mean it in the looses terms, our full tour entailing 8 people. We went half way round the main island, climbing the mountains and ripping down them just as fast. Incredible to see the roads the Americans built in the 2nd world war still maintained by them. There were plenty of reminders of the war still laying around. One which brought a smile to my face was the American bath - an olympic sized pool built near the shore to capture one of the fresh water streams. It was used as both recreational and to fill fresh water on ships.. ewwwwww. The locals now use it to wash their clothes and things.
Our trip out to Pele island was on a small boat and we were given the first bit of safety equipment I’d seen since I arrived - some ancient life jackets. The tour i’d chosen was run by the isnders from Pele and was supposed to be 100% owned and operated by them - ensuring that all the money they made stayed on that tiny island. There are four villages on the island and we had been invited to visit with Chief Georges village. I was delighted to see him on the deserted beach in his chiefdom regalia to welcome us. The chief was a gentle friendly old man, sinewy and strong and obviously very proud of his tropical paradise island. He told us a little about island life and promised to show us around after we went snorkelling. After some yummy banana chips ( like potato chips) we geared up for a snorkelling safari out on the reef. Back into a small motor boat, we were taken to a spot between some islands in about 10 metres of water. Morgan and Lilly winged like mad when I insisted they wear lifejackets, but even in the open water here, I was a little apprehensive. I needn’t have been. I was completely entranced by the most gorgeous coral displays over about four metres of water amongst the breakers. The tow was a bit strong - so even in our super fins, I felt like I was going no-where. Lilly had come into her own with snorkelling and was little a little fish. Morgan was having issues with his mask and as anyone knows - once you start having a crappy time with it - its often the end of a good snorkel.
He was like an anchor as I dragged him along. He refused to kick as he didn’t like the fins he had and kept wanting to take the life jacket off. Regardless, we did see some fantastic fish and reef. The Chief came and collected Morgan and spoke gently to him, coaxing him back to the boat and allowing me to continue exploring. I could have been there for hours, however there were a few other people on the tour having issues with the depth of the water and freaking out - so we got back in the boat to go to another spot.
The Chief stuffed his wetsuit full of bread and lepta into the water, waving at us to do the same; which we did , sans the bread. A massive school of parrot fish and larger fish surrounded us, all desperate to get to the bread as the Chief swam around laughing. he then motioned us over to a deeper part of the reef and told us to look down. Underneath were huge clam shells; rows and rows of them and the biggest parrot fish I’ve seen. he took us around that part of the reef, showing us tiny caves and enormous brain coral. he was quiet a showman, diving down and ducking into caves and swimming through the arches.
We got back to the village and was treated to a BBQ lunch with freshly cut pineapple and watermelon for afterwards. We had some free time to just sit and relax on the beach, go swimming or mooch around.One of the most charming and slightly disturbing additions to the island was the toilet and change room, built especially for the tourists. Over the years and through the countries I’ve been in, we have seen some pretty interesting configurations of loos.
Voted most disgusting was the market place loo in Nadi, where floating sewerage matched the smeared faeces and despite being six month pregnant and busting there was no way I was going there. Its of course followed closely by some of the Greek loos where toilet paper is used and put in a bin beside the loo, and the swilling ones where you squat trying to avoid the waves on the Thailand boats.
However, the royal loo is at Pele Island. Vanuatu. A full porcelain loo atop a concrete slab and tiled in. It boasts a shelf full of cleaning products and brushes and sits overlooking the beach under a banana leaf hut. No running water or pipes. So - how do you umm actually use it? - You get a bucket of water and force your doings down the u bend and it goes somewhere into the sand. I’m not going to think too much about it actually.
The Chief took us around his village, showing us their tiny church and the water hole they draw all their fresh water from. The well is a hole in the ground , protected by nothing other than a tuft of grass and is about 6 feet deep. I guess if you lived here, you’d know where it was and not fall down it. He took us to see where all the mats were made and building materials for the homes. he demonstrated how to use the conch shell - his island mobile phone - where announcements were made to other parts of the island. We trekked though the jungle to where the pig fences were. He admitted that they had not been maintained for years and now all the domestic pigs run freely in the village. I tried to get photos of said pigs, but only managed to get their tails or a rustling branch as they ran past.
Our trek home was pretty uneventful - most of the people were asleep, including both kids. Home, they sparked up and yep.. wanted to go swimming. I’ve snapped our pool - where it overlooks the bay. More fireworks viewing on the jetty before we headed to sleep. I could get used to all this rest.. I wonder if this is what normal people feel like all the time?
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