This morning we said goodbye to Vanuatu or as the Ni-Vanuatu people would say ‘ia moning yumi talem tata tu Vanuatu’. We were up before the crack of dawn to make it to the airport for our 7.00am flight (the transport service picked us up at around 5.00am).
It was lucky that we were well rested, having spent most of the weekend lolling about in the gardens at our accommodation.
So until our next exciting adventure Yumi Talem Tata.
Tanna Island is a 35 minute flight south of Port Vila. Most of the island’s population continue to live a fairly traditional lifestyle living off the land; only 6% are in paid employment. We went on a tour to a custom village where the residents have chosen to live a traditional lifestyle, speaking only the local dialects and wearing traditional dress (or lack there of). The kids played a game similar to blind man’s bluff, one of men demonstrated how to light a fire by rubbing a stick on a piece of wood and the villagers did some traditional dances for us.
Tanna is probably best known for its active volcano, Mt Yasur, which we visited on our second day on the island. Whilst the island is only 10 km wide, it was a circuitous 35 km 4 wheel drive trek to get to the Volcano. The 90 minute journey was well worth it as the volcano put on an exciting display for us, blasting molten lava hundreds of metres into the air at regular intervals.
Snorkelling is also a highlight and there was great snorkelling just near where we stayed. We also went on a boat trip to the Blue cave. The cave is only accessible from the sea and has featured in one the James Bond movies. A small opening at the top of the cave allows shafts of light to penetrate the water in the cave.
We took a taxi to the main village on the island (population about 600) to escape the expensive prices at the resort restaurant. The village restaurant had one item on the menu so we ate the meat and rice. The few tiny morsels of meat tasted like shoe leather, but it was cheap (except for the taxi fares to and from the village).
Overall we had a enjoyable time on Tanna it really was a nambawan destination.
Last night we had dinner at a local French restaurant and tasted the local cuisine (flying fox and wild pigeon). We recommend the pigeon. After the romantic dinner it was back to our lodgings to experience the earth move.
We arrived safely and in Vanuatu yesterday and are staying in a suburban area of Port Vila. Our taxi driver from the airport told us how cold it has been lately. It got down to about 20 last night brrrr!!!
After settling in, we walked to the town centre last night and bought fresh fruit at the market that we had for breakfast.
Today we visited the museum and wandered the streets down town. We have found the people to be very friendly and are doing our best to understand Bislama one of the official languages of Vanuatu (fortunately English is also an official language). So far we are confident with the word blong.
We continued our cruise up the Rhine with stops to explore Cologne and another place before traveling along the ‘Romantic Rhine’: a sectio...
