The Volcano

We readied ourselves for the Volvano trip, bringing head torches and jackets as it gets cold up there. The ride was bumpy and steep as we drove around wash out and through creek beds. This time I rode in the back of the truck with its tiny narrow wooden seats for 18 km of twisty cut in through the muddly trails.  Morgan and Lilly were given some mangos to eat and were shown how the locals consumed them - skin and all.  I was told they were the most delicious and sweetest mangoes they had ever had.. certainly the juiciest and messiest.

The closer we got to volcano, the more apparent the steam and smoke became as it burped out. I wasn’t prepared for the ash plains below though. It was an incredible desert of black ash. We stopped for a while to look up at the volcano as it periodically puffed out its black clouds. The ash constantly feathered down on our faces. Apparently there is a local group who take tourists half way up this side of the volcano with pieces of board - so you can sand board down.  Looked like a steep old trek for a few mins of fun.

Our truck took us around the base of the volcano to the other side and then we began our ascent. It was a bit unsettling to see puffs of smoke rise from the track as we passed and tiny outlets of steam on the side of the road. ( I am using the term road very loosely here)

We arrived at a desolate rocky plateau. I am now sorry not to have taken photos of the toilets there. We were all so excited at getting to the top of the mountain, I forgot it was going to be night time by the time we made our way down.  Basically they were tiny huts built over pits. Thin logs stretched over the hole and rudimentary box with hole in top to sit on. Very scary in the dark I can tell you.. I think I am obsessed with toilets…

Anyway , our guide - beguiled by Miss Lilly, put her on top of his shoulders and carried her to the top, whilst wearing thongs.  Note that the surface was loose ash and rocks and very steep. On the way up, cold, stinging rain pelted down on us.  There wasn’t a patch on us that was dry - not undies.. nothing. 

When we got to the edge and looked over, it was incredible. There was too much noxious smoke to see the pit of bubbling lava - but we only had to wait a few moments before it was shot up in the air in an explosion. Huge sprays of lava and enormous rocks were shot into the air every minute or so. Looking down we could see when the next big explosion was to happen as there was a disturbance in the air, the ground rumbled and then …. BOOM.

We stayed till it was very dark, marvelling at the fireworks display against the night sky.  Coming down wasn’t so hard - especially with our very funky and highly unfashionable head torches.  Despite the bumpy ride back both kids put their heads down and fell asleep.  We were filthy and covered in ash, smelling like a bitumen truck when we got home - but the care factor when we got to our beds rated very lowly.

Day 9 Tanna

We had an early morning flight to Tanna Island and had fully packed the night before.  I’d arranged with reception to get a taxi transfer for 6 am. She really ripped it into the guy over the phone to ensure our booking was not forgotten.

It was therefore a bit of a rude shock to be woken by a bang on the door at quarter to five telling us our taxi was outside and waiting for us. At first I thought we’d all slept in and my heart just pounded. Thankfully the kids were all set and automatically got into their clothes and grabbed their bags to sit in the taxi while we did a final sweep of the rooms.

The airport was only a few mins drive away and of course we got there in bucket loads of time. Locals with their cardboard boxes taped up and coconut frond matting all rolled up lined up in front of the check in desk. It was oppressively hot already at was not even 6.30 am. The trip over was quick and uneventful. Tanna was alot bigger than I had imagined. the airport was a few rooms, but maintained a customs desk as it was an International airport ( flights from New Caledonia were now coming in every week!)  The baggage handling was a laugh. We all waited in an open room where a low desk area thrust out to the tarmac. The baggage guys threw the bags up on the desk and people grabbed them as they landed.   Morgan was a super boy and stood, searching all the bags darting in and out to get ours.

Our transfer was a ute - where the kids sat in the back with one of the Island boys. I tried to get in the back with them - but they wouldn't let me.. I am a bit glad as the sparkle would have well and rely dimmed after an hour and half of kidney shaking, muddy slippery roads.

We arrived at Friendly Bungalows - part of a traditional village a few kms away from the foot of the volcano - our whole reason for coming to the island.  

The beach was pure black. The sand and rocks reflecting in the waves as black water rolled in endlessly. The beach was pretty steep. I was fascinated with the tiny glittering sparkles as the waves withdrew over it. All volcanic rock and ash built up over thousands of eruptions.

I walked the kids down the beach to the end of the cove. I was very proud of Morgan as he went straight into the surf and made friends. He body surfed with locals kids for a bout half an hour until my nerve gave out. I am not a strong swimmer and am very nervous in the waves. It gutted me to have to call him to come in - but I was getting frightened at how far out and deep he was getting as the local kids got braver and braver.

We settled into our hut, delighting in its rustic nature and the view over the beach. Our beds were built up on bamboo and the shower and toilet had no flooring - other than a thick layer of broken coral. No plumbing to take the waste water away - what feel from the sink and the shower went straight on the floor and soaked up underneath.  Again - not going to think too deeply about the loo - it was a slow drain away type thing where the water going to it was equally slow in filling.

One of the local lads climbed the Coconut Palm besides us as quick as winking. he retrieved a coconut each and when he got down, cut them open for us to drink out of.

I'll do a separate post for our trip to the volcano.

Hideaway - Day 8 on Vanuatu

Today we had booked to go to Hideaway Island - one of the most famous here. Our mini bus was supposed to pick us up at 8.30 to take us to the ferry but by 8.45, it still hadn’t turned up.  We weren’t too concerned but I did call and confirm with them.  iWe were assured that it was coming at 9.15 … but at 9.45 still nothing.  V time is very lax, but this was a bit silly.  I called again and found they had forgotten us.  Not to worry, we finally got a chance to catch a local bus over to the ferry.  It was a very short trip across deep water to tiny island. I was a bit disturbed to hear that both this island and Iriki island used to have villages on them, but the people were moved ( forcibly apparently) off to make way for the tourists. 

Completely contrasting to our experience on Pele, this island was set up for tourists in a fast efficient and pretty impersonal way. It was too bad so sad that we had lost 2 hours of time on the island and were shuffled immediately onto a glass bottomed boat.  I was delighted with the method of feeding the fish - a tube down near the glass - where the captain allowed the kids to pour pellets down in regular intervals. Once again we were greeted by giant fish of all sorts, making us very keen to get out and snorkel on our own.

Hideaway Island is home to the only underwater post office. It is personed by a scuba guy every day - he will take special post cards from your hand as you dive down to post them.  Morgans duck diving was very good - so he got to post both our postcards.  We aught to have hired him out as many of the other tourists found it difficult to get the depth and kept handing him their cards to post.

The beach is very steep and covered in sharp coral, so reef shoes are a must. It was sad to see alot of coral close to the beach had been damaged by the amount of tourists who blindly stood and crushed it. Its been a good lesson for our kids and one we stressed every time we went in the water - not to put your feet or hands down and only to surface where you can float freely, and not stand on anything.  Spectacular snorkelling was had very clsoe to the beach. They had several pontoons set up in the deeper parts, to allow swimmers to slither on board and rest.  Lilly went with me this morning and was brilliant.  However she grew tired after about an hour - so I let her sit on the pontoon while I explored some of the deeper parts of the reef.  

Went went into have lunch and straight up on the menu - we all chose fish and chips… guess what?  yep.. no fish.. An island, surrounded by fish, and no fish could be had to eat.

We went on the glass bottomed boat again to be taken out to the further reef and the 80 foot drop off. This kids refused to have lifejackets , but given they had done so well with snorkelling previously, I wasn’t that worried. That safari  was incredible. The variety of fish and coral was mindblowing.  We only had half an hour out, just not long enough. I won’t forget the feeling of space and nothingness as I glid over the drop and into the deep blue.  I felt so alone and so together with the ocean. An incredible moment I wasn’t keen to end.  However, my imagination kicked in and I started to look for giant octopus with slimy tentacles ready to pull me down, freaked myself out with dark shadows deep beneath me and swum like mad to get on the boat again.

We had a little time to explore the pool and eat and icecream after we got back. Age and Morgan went back out to snorkel, but I felt a bit waterlogged.

On the exact stroke of 2.30, a very scary islander woman shouted at all the tourists to line up and get on the boat home.  Its the first time anything on Vanuatu had been on time!  She shuffled us all off and sent us packing quick smart.

The blessing I guess from this was that we got home in a good hour and I had time to pack and sort stuff out before we went out for the evening.  We walked into town to find some fish and chips at the harbour. At last, in a greasy spoon local joint ( underneath the swanky restaurant “Chill”) we enjoyed fish and local chips. There was spotlight out into the harbour which illuminated the masses of fish waiting underneath us for our scraps.  We were rewarded with a sighting of a turtle before we left.

We walked through the park and sat on a concrete seat to watch the fireworks. It seemed that anyone who had them could line up and have a turn at exploding theirs. A rabble of fireworks sellers sat on the fringes to satisfy the pyro in any of the standerbys. 

One of the cafes on the harbour host a free movie night every Sunday and Wednesday nights. They sell popcorn and great icecreams and you basically sit back and watch the movie. It has a short interval in the middle so you can grab a pizza or coffee and then settle back to watch the rest.  Movies are hit and miss - I believe they are whatever the guy can pirate or borrow - so a mix of brand new ones nad documentaries. Sadly the movie was an m rated on tonight - so we didn’t stay long. Just enough to eat an icecream and decide the movie really wasn’t suitable. 

It was a tired walk back home, but at least it didn’t rain on us. One of the young blokes in one of the units had a few fireworks left over from the night before - so invited us to the jetty to watch them get blown up. Spectacular again with lots of laughs.  The last one - the biggest and supposedly the best was set up stuck in the sand.  He lit it and did what it said on the packet - ran. We were all standing on the jetty when it went off. 

You know in the movies when a bomb floats into a room and everyone stands and looks at it?  You in the audience scream “get out!  Run you fool!”.. but everyone still stares at it.?  I now know 1. why fireworks were banned in Australia and 2. what it feels like to be one of those fools in the room. 3. how someone who is standing at the back of a group can be the most injured when one of these things goes off. 

The rocket was stuck too firmly into the sand and didn’t have enough “oomph” to free itself.   So when the explosive which allowed it to shoot up into the sky was exhausted, the next chamber of explosives went off - you know the ones which had the big bangs and coloured flares? One of the flares shot into our stunned group and incredibly bypassed all the adults , hitting Lilly on the upper thigh. Poor little thing had a bad burn, which I immediately treated by throwing her into the pool. She was ok in the end, but it shook most of us leaving out ears ringing for several minutes.