Pele Island - Day 7 in Vanuatu

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?

Day 6 in Vanuatu

Once again, outside of our little home of calm and airconditioning, Port Villa was stinking hot - in both senses of the term.  The kids had done well at Christmas with their snorkelling - though had kept hold of our hands as we swum along. Lilly had given up with her mask at one point and opted just to use goggles - which sort of defeated the purpose - but had been happy to keep dipping her head in and out. Adrian was keen to do a longer snorkel adventure and wanted both kids to be more proficient with their skills - so off to our pool to practice some thing they went. 

After a little while, they all got sick of seeing nothing at the bottom of the pool and as it was so hot and yuck, we got a taxi down to the docks to head on over to Iriki again.  We started our snorkel at the beach, getting both kids used to fins and deeper swimming. Our nemo fish were still there guarding their babies, but as we saw a big fish lurking around, we didn’t want to be responsible for distracting them while it ate the babies.. so swum off to look at other things. 

We wandered up to a more casual cafe on the island for lunch. A point needs to be made here about food outlets.. “whats one thing you never take with you when eating out at Port Villa?”…. answer - “ your appetite”…. basically because things can take hours.. and I mean hours to get served. Once again our search for fish and chips was dashed, as was a hope for a simple salad.  Just as well the local beer was cold and quickly served. 

We walked around to Snorkelers cove to test out the kids with deeper water and fins.  The tide was going out - so we had limited time. Lilly and I got lost in the gardens of coral and the beauty of all the tiny blue fish which floated around like flowers.  Both kids did really well with their gear and we sadly had to admit things were getting a bit hairy over the sharp coral before we headed in. 

That night, instead of doing our normal self catering, we took up a tip from the lonely planet and went to the Chinese place that overlooked the harbour - a very easy 4 min walk from our place. The first thing I’d have to say is that it took Adrian and I back 20 years - it was like the Chinese places we used to go to in the Valley - before things got all posh. The smells and steam from the kitchen, the alters and decorations - all delightfully unashamedly Chinese. 

One thing Adrian was keen to try was the famous coconut crab - which they had on the menu. I love crab - but its so fiddly, I often end up not bothering. However, this was a huge crab, full of the juiciest, most succulent meat ever.  I am not sure if I would go as far as saying it was better than lobster - but its a close second. 

We got home pretty late, but went down to the jetty again to enjoy the bay fireworks.  A real mix - with the calmness of being on the dark water, silent stars glittering overhead, and then be disrupted by a plum of colour as fireworks explode beside you.

Day 5 Vanuatu - Our introduction to fireworks.

Everything was blissfully quiet the morning after the earthquake when we all woke up.

Age was still exhausted and slept till past ten, grumbled as his eyes opened and promptly went back to sleep. 

I was thankful I'd packed a bunch of craft and art supplies for the kids to keep active with. They were really good at staying quiet while we slept and getting their own breaky. 

This mornings craft was spent digging away at a block of plaster of paris which promised glow in the dark dinosaur bones. It made a huge mess and produced a few slivers after about half an hour of hard slog. The kids got a bit jack of it, the heat and the flies. I don’t blame them, I was sick of it after a few mins of scoring and digging at it.  My romantic idea of being a archeologist was finally dashed at that moment…

With Adrian still not well and very tired, we decided to go off for the day and wander around the streets and port. The kids were pretty set on seeing what was open and to play on the parks there.

I’d been amazed at the selection and availability of fireworks around. Here in Aust they are banned and only the older ones of us can remember firecracker night.  It seemed every corner store had a display of them outside, as well as any bloke who had a spare set of stairs to prop them up on. So, what does a fine upstanding, sensible mother do when faced with a load of really cheap fireworks with no instructions in English?  Thats right - she goes and buys a bunch.  Well, to say there was no English my be a bit unfair.  Each one had a picture of where to light it or ignite it and the words - “light and run.”

We wandered about town, knowing that most places would be closed, but delighted in the tiny spots where still attracted people. I know I am going to sound really dumb and culturally insensitive here - but there were heaps of people, just sitting around. On stairs, on the street and in the gutters. just accumulated and sitting.  What the heck where they waiting for?  In one spot we found some live music but after a while decided that Vanuatuan music was a little off beat for us.  They certainly had a lot of joy and energy in their exuberant displays of musicianship.  I guess my ears weren’t in tune with them though.  We found a little cafe and on our mission to have fish and chips - found. yep - no fish.. however they did have chips so we ate local yam fries. They are super starchy and sweet.

We found the juice bar down on the docks and while the kids ate ice cream, I had a coffee, discovering that it had free wi fi. It was pretty slow and timed out alot, so I stopped getting excited about it. I did  load up a few photos from Christmas onto facebook, but quickly dismissed the idea of coming here often as it was a good 3 km walk to our place - one way We played connect four on a set that kept dumping all the disks - but made us laugh anyway. It rained spiratically but you kind of get used to the jeckle and hyde nature of the weather where is stinking hot then suddenly pouring with rain. 

We got home to discover Age had gone off exploring by himself for the afternoon and had only just arrived himself.  Morgan proudly displayed all the fireworks we bought and set about telling all the other occupants in the complex about our fireworks display to night.

In inky darkness, we set all the fireworks up along the jetty. The kids loved the small bangers which exploded when you threw them on the ground.  My personal favourite ones were the cherry bombs which you lit and threw into the water.  They exploded from a depth of a few feet, lighting up the watery surrounds.  Boy they were loud if they didn’t reach the water though!  Age set up some fountains at the end of the jetty, which showered silvery spurts into the sky.  

Our finale was a rocket which was stuck into the sand and lit - and everyone ran and hid ( just as the instructions said) It shot off with a huge sizzle and exploded colours into the night sky.  So awesome!  hummm.. might have to buy some more tomorrow!

There were some other young folk there who were equally impressed and promised to take it in turns each night to provide the fireworks.. what fun!