Category: Santo Sabbatical

 

 

We were pleased to be home yesterday afternoon, despite walking into a very cold house. However, it wasn’t long before we were sitting in front of a roaring fire, drinking our tea.

This year as a way of a change we have planned short holiday breaks reasonably close to home instead of the much longer stints we’ve had away in recent years.

Vanuatu is only a 3 hour flight from New Zealand. Of course, Santo, where we spent most of the week is another 1 hour flight. Being so far north it was very warm and comfortable compared to our winter.

This holiday didn’t pan out quite as we had expected and it is interesting that as ‘oldies’ we need to take stock for a moment, before launching off again. I’m sure when we were younger we took on challenges with far more gusto! But nevertheless we had a great time meeting friendly, helpful, smiley people, savouring the beautiful sights as well as the absolutely delicious seafood!

Tata Ale tata Baibai Lukim yu

 

Day 6  

 

We are here in Port Vila wearing long trousers, jerseys and shoes. Odd, I agree, but it is really quite cold. The heavens opened as we landed. We’d left Luganville with the usual summery feeling of Vanuatu. But now in Port Vila It feels as if we’d landed in another country. The thunder rolled all around us as we drove into town in our taxi. It was a tropical storm! It was at its peak as we stepped out of the taxi into our resort.

Gray got absolutely drenched as he dragged our luggage to reception. Staff at the resort rushed about with beach towels trying to dry him down. As soon as our room was ready he had a nice hot shower and changed into his winter travelling clothes. I’ve also put on a jersey. The Ni Vanuatu are wrapped in scarves and wearing thick woolly clothing. It does seem weird!

We didn’t fancy heading back into town to do our family present shopping, so we chose to shop in the resort shop instead. We figure that strange gifts are better then arriving home empty handed??

By 3pm the rain had stopped but the tropical plants still drip with moisture and you have to dodge the puddles on the pathways. And by 4pm the rain was pouring down again!

We are catching up on news after a week of no tv, limited internet and being in ‘Island mode’. You can very easily slip away from reality when on holiday.

Because we have a very early departure a ‘simple’ breakfast was delivered to our room.

 

Day 5 

 

 

We wake most mornings very early as the Ni Vanuatu women call out for their boat to bring them over to Aore Island for work. We certainly do not get up then; just rollover for another hour or two to doze.

This morning we were on the water taxi after breakfast ready for our day out with John, the taxi driver who brought us into Luganville from the airport on Saturday.

He took us to the Nanda Blue Hole which was spectacular. The colour is so rich and despite the pool being very deep you could clearly see fish swimming. The tropical setting was really well maintained.

Gray wandered off with his camera as I took the holiday snaps on his phone.

There were a few local young people swimming, even though according to them it was so cold. The air temperature was 27!

On the way to Port Olry we passed many coconut plantations. Coconuts and copra are still their main exports.

We arrived at Port Olry just before lunch, so after we put in our order at the cafe, we wandered down the beach. I cannot remember ever taking my sandals off and paddling in the water in June before. School was letting kids out for their 2 hour siesta.

We sat on the benches at the table on the beach and devoured our coconut crab. Needless to say it was delicious and we enjoyed the whole process of getting all the flesh from the shell. Thankfully there was a hand basin and soap in the ladies!

We were quite quiet on our way back to town. We are so glad we were able to have this day out. John was a good tour guide and understood what we wanted to do straight away.

Day 4 

 

We wake to clear blue skies and very welcome sunshine. After breakfast we take the water taxi over to Luganville.

We walk through Santo Hardware onto the Main Street. The hardware is a miniature Bunnings so we check out the prices of plaster board etc – much the same as home. No one would guess we have sons building houses at the moment. The street is quite bustly with trucks carrying supplies and workers to their work sites. There are also many small taxis ferrying people about. The trick is to flag down a newish tidy looking one as some of them do not look road worthy!

After a delicious coffee at the French Cafe we buy a few more provisions, get more money out of the wall and check out the tourist info centre – where I leave my sun hat!

We had planned to have lunch at the French Cafe, but it was too early and too hot to meander about, so we find Sandy, our water taxi guy, at the wharf and head home. The cool breeze over the water is lovely to feel as we speed across the channel.

It is very hot as we amble along the path to the resort. We cannot hurry, so we notice all the wildlife around us. There are various types of skinks skittering about. Some quite small ones have an iridescent blue stripe along their backs. There are a few large black butterflies flittering about. The few birds we see darting about are swallows.

Fish mornay served in a coconut shell was absolutely scrummy.

We spotted a private little beach where we planned to paddle about but once we got home we crashed into a siesta.

Dinner at home on the deck – goodness me it was pasta again!

 

Despite it being a cooler night and early morning, today has been our hottest day. It was very humid and sticky making us feel quite lethargic especially after our large lunch and walk.

 

Day 3 

 

Rain, rain go away! Come again next week when we are back home.

Ever since we arrived we have been managing the weather and haven’t done too badly either. But today the rain has beaten us.

As I sit on our deck and look across the channel Luganville is nowhere to be seen.

We cancelled our trip out to the Blue Hole and Port Olry- maybe tomorrow.

We had lunch ‘at home’ feeling too lazy to trek through the wet path/road to the resort. The tropical plants look so comfortable with glistening raindrops covering their large leaves. No wonder they are so lush. We spend much time out on the deck soaking up the views of this peaceful setting.

This evening we planned to have dinner later, but it is really difficult keeping out of the kitchen when it is so dark outside. By 7pm it felt like 10pm!

We will be used to this evening blackness by the time we leave for home, no doubt. We wonder whether it is different on starry nights. Does the cloud cover add to the darkness around us? It is quite intriguing for those of us who live further away from the tropics.

 

Day  minus 42 

 

In 6 weeks time we plan to be basking in the warmth of a Vanuatu island!

As I write, the winds are thrashing about us and according to Gray we received 50mm of rain overnight. In other words it is quite bleak!

It’s definitely time to be heading north to a Pacific Island!

Many years ago we enjoyed holidays on the island of Erakor in the harbour of Port Vila. We loved the pace of life, the excellent food, (still remember the Coconut Crab) and pottering about in outriggers on the water. Our lives were much more pressured by careers then, so to pop up to Vanuatu was wonderful respite from our usual hustle and bustle.

For this visit we are heading to the northern island of Santo – Espiritu Santo. Just off Luganville, the main town of Santo, is Aore Island. There are a few resorts there but we have chosen to stay on a coffee plantation in a self- contained bungalow. Resorts are great when we holiday with the extended family, but when it’s just the two of us we prefer more solitude and independence.

So holiday planning mode is now underway!