Postcards from Vanuatu

Packup had been achieved without much fuss the night before, and we were pretty much on time with departure. The promised two vehicles had become one, so once again some of us were required to ride bronco. Pete, Li, and Jade were the lucky patrons. After farewell to the family, we headed off. Not long down the track we were waiting for someone who never materialised. This included a bit of backtracking (in reverse... Seems Nivans are good reversers. We became slightly anxious but Denna reassured us that we would be "stret". In fact the journey seemed shorter than on arrival. Apart from a bit of a wait on the grass, all went smoothly and we were in the air.. Again on the faithful Emily Bess. At Vila we unsuccessfully tried to store our luggage, so we lugged it onto a bus and headed for town. Le Cafe du Village was again our target, and the meals were still good. We had arranged for our driver to return, and this he did, just as we were starting to worry that he wouldn'...

Mike had his car booked for a service today, so our schedule had to work around his appointment. The plan was simple... Visit and bathe in some Hot Springs, then visit a beach in Resolution Bay that's got good snorkelling. It actually didn't work out quite that way but near enough. After a bit of a journey we skirted the bay and headed to the surf coast for a look. This was windswept, with breakers and not unlike many of our east coast beaches. The onshore wind was strong enough that you had to raise your voice to be heard. We left no donation (apparently one greedy family benefits only) and headed back to the local Yacht Club from which we descended to a sheltered beach. Looking out there were several moored yachts. This is where Captain Cook visited, and where some of his crew scalded their hands picking up rocks from the beach. We weren't quite ready for a swim and decided to walk the bay.. Setting off at a lovely gentle pace. Passing several groups of children we tr...

Today we based our activities on acquainting ourselves with our vocal friend, Mt Yasur. In the morning we sat on chairs and watched Yasur. This volcano is absolutely enchanting. Watching it is better than watching television (maybe Channel 9 at least). Billowing smoke, tantalising silences punctuated by rumbles or booms. I know I've mentioned it before but really words are inadequate to describe what it's like being this close to the unleashed power of inner earth. We were pretty keen to visit the ash plain, despite knowing that it could easily be unpleasant if it was really sunny or windy. Full of a great breakfast (really moist bread that we tried to but failed to resist) we lolled along the track, crossing the river, and making our way through forest until we emerged on the plain, overlooked by Yasur. Pumice and other volcanic rocks scattered along the way reminded us that we weren't 100% guaranteed safety. But the volcano looked benign from below, and we enjoyed the p...

Dianne had organised a minibus and we actually managed to wolf down a little amount of breakfast before we departed. May I mention Vanuatu's food here. Don't expect anything "flash". I can pretty much guarantee that unless you are at an upmarket resort, and even if you are, your breakfast is almost guaranteed to be cereal, fruit salad, toast, a few basic spreads, and coffee. If you are really upmarket, you might get yoghurt. Anyway, we ingested feasted and ousted. Checking in at Luganville airport was quick and efficient. We paid our departure tax (valid all the way to Tanna, despite the 4 hour transit in Port Vila). Feasting again on peanuts and Twisties, these purchases entitled us to a seat, so we waited. Vanuatu time is a little more relaxed than Melbourne time. Add an hour to any given deadline and you should be OK. Luganville airport had a chalkboard departure screen, so we didn't expect minute by minute updates. The takeoff was good. I don't like ...

Turtle Bay Lodge Breakfast was simple and enjoyable- cereal fruit and toast. We finally planned to do some kayaking (after days of anticipation and quite a bit of research by Li) The lodge hires out kayaks to its guests, and we decided that the convenience of having kayaks for the day, no time pressure, and no vehicle issues made it a no brainer to hire them from here. 3 lifejackets should be plenty for 9 people! That's all they had. One had no straps, so I retrieved two belts from the rooms. The kayak rudders were all disabled due to multiple damaging incidents. Janice wasn't really sure of her capabilities, being a novice to the fine art of circling aimlessly in kayaks, which is what Mary and I tended to do. A bad workman blames his tools, but a bad kayaker has only themselves to blame. I insisted that our kayak pulled to the right, despite there being no rudder, and really no physical law to possibly explain the behaviour of our craft. Janice had chosen the single kaya...

Bettine has gastro today. She suspects the hole in the wall food. Not good.. Bettine is such a trooper.. she went to the hospital to do some work and felt like fainting. Fortunately she isn't moving from M and A's for a couple of days so hopefully the illness is short lived. I had a big sleep in which was wonderful, then it was into town to do some shopping for Tanna, and to inactivate as many ATMs along the Main Street as we could. This was not our intention... it just happened. Much as we tried, all attempts to withdraw cash were met by "INVALID TRANSACTION" and eventually by "SYSTEM BUSY" accompanied by machine inoperability. I felt sorry for the people in the queue behind us. Another machine had different error alerts, but the conclusion was the same.. "Operation not possible". Eventually we were directed by a helpful Nivan into the bank where a teller helped me to get money using the EFTPOS in the ban, but only after he had borrowed my passp...

Well not really island hopping. The others were keen on a trip to Aore with some snorkelling and coffee included. I was pretty keen on a sleep in, which I had. I haven't mentioned the nights here.. We are sleeping at Michael and Amanda's place, which has several guest rooms and bathrooms on each of the two floors. Each room has a fan. The whole house is open with slats, so when locked up there's air circulation. While there are screens, any mosquito with anything beyond a grade 1 education could easily gain access, and they did. I haven't talked about mosquitoes so I will, then I'll get back to the nights. When you think mosquito here you think Malaria, and Dengue. The others are taking malaria prophylaxis, but it's still wise to use repellent as an added level of protection. Michael and I prefer to be outrageous daredevils, so we are flying by the seat of our pants. As long as we look out for mosquitoes flying by the seat of our pants we should be ok. Mic...

Saturday - Millenium Cave. This is a full day's expedition. It's awesome and it's physical. It's like a 5 hour workout with breaks. The bit I was looking forward to was the "relaxing drift down the river" at the end. It was a cool day, so this was more like a "chill out" which I think were actually their words.. Clever! Here's a sample of descriptions from the web. Pure Epic Insanity! This tour is so off the hook. It's likely not even legal in most countries. No other way to put it, this is a TRUE jungle adventure. It's insane.... Here's a review that tackles the touchy subject of risk assessment- "It's only a matter of time until someone is killed at Millenium Caves.... There are many unnecessary risks and incorrect caving equipment." To read more of this review go here... Here's what the company says on their website. Safety & Risk Millennium Cave Tours is a physically demanding adventurous act...

This was a sleep in morning, so I didn't. At 6:30 I was wide awake and up. This is quite unusual, but it was nice to sit with the throng at breakfast. As usual with this group, the communal energy transforms into a plan. The plan was... Check out Turtle Beach Lodge! Full of newfound purpose we were off in the vehicle. I know I have described this before, but it's worthy just noting that travelling at anything above about 20km per hour on a main road with all the hazards, vehicular, pedestrian, animal, and even the odd overhanging branch, is not without its anxieties. At 80km/h it's exhilarating but you know that in an accident you are basically dead. There's just no way you could protect yourself, hold on, or plan to minimise injury. Even sitting in the tray (which you end up doing sometimes) you are quite vulnerable. Such is life. The east coast road is now a familiar one, and soon we were beyond Sapi, on rural roads, waving to virtually every pedestrian, especially ...

A quick breakfast was followed by rapid setup and we were in action again. The demand was much more paced today and we felt slightly more proficient. My cases included a scabies that was a bit tricky to diagnose, a woman with hyperventilation from anger with her husband (I got a chance to do some basic feminist advocacy), and a classic case of a child with nocturnal asthma. I was pleased that this patient understood my demonstration of how to use a spacer. I got a minor injury making the spacer using Trevor's Swiss army pocket knife on a water bottle. Everyone worked hard, and Trevor entertained the children continuously, which was delightful to see, and gave a lighter atmosphere to what could have been overly serious work. By lunchtime the waiting list had dwindled to nearly nothing, and there were several requests for housecalls to the village. One patient was the chief here and another a 76 year old who was in basic good health and starting to develop signs of ageing. Unf...

The plan was a 7am departure. This is well before my normal time of morning brain activation. The following paragraph is typed deliberately to reflect my brain functioning at this time of the morning. (It's an artistic technique I'm experimenting with.. go with it.) Very early. Alarms everywhere. Footsteps. I know Robyn and Amanda are early risers. I think I heard them but they were probably trying not to disturb. I need more sleep ... can't be near time get up.. check watch .... it is.. that's very disappointing. Bed is warm. Bed is horizontal. Packing can't be done horizontal. That's very disappointing. I am pretty much packed. Can lie for longer then. Breakfast is optional. Dozing is imperative. Rest is a basic human need. More footsteps, now voices. That means I have to get up soon, probably now, very disappointing. Judder. Must have fallen asleep. Time check. 5 whole minutes of unconsciousness. That has to be good. Now the whole house if pulsing with ac...

Tuesday was another big day. Jade and Janice had organised a physio home visit in Luganville, so we had to be all sorted by 1.30. There was a fair bit of washing and tidying up to do after the big night last night, and some preparation for the big night tonight. Lawrence, the local hospital doctor, and Ednah the Medical Santo nurse with a strong public health and TB leaning were coming to dinner with their spouses. Was, Ednah's man, was our driver on the trip up the east coast. He also had entered into an agreement with Michael that he would supply a vehicle for the trip to Big Bay, so we needed to pick up a hire car as well to transport the 13 of us. The day started with an amazing event. Amanda had arranged for us to visit the house of Rex, the local paramount chief for the community in which their house was situated. Rex is a thin man with a soft voice, an entertaining sense of humour, a past history of "stuffing up" and a newfound devoutness with rejection of his pa...

Today started with a bang. The bang of people up early. By early, I mean they were up before 7.30 am. While this is admirable for some, I find that my brain doesn't start functioning until about 9am, so I was on autopilot until then. That means that I really took in very little of the tour of the Medical Santo clinic, but it was wonderful to meet the lovely staff and to see Michael and Amanda so much in their element. The whole medical scene in Vanuatu is an amazing and complex interaction of immense potential with modern technology, hampered by variable presence of personnel, large variability in standard of medical care, with huge cross cultural factors (Doctors can be "western" or "eastern", the latter mainly being China trained), high likelihood of supply chain breakdowns (no reagent for serum sodium in the last few weeks), and poor health literacy. The clinic hadn't really opened for the day, and after the "registered" practitioners donned t...

Today there was a full schedule. The plan went a little like this...communal breakfast then bus pickup by 9, followed by visits to a lovely beach (Lommoc), lunch at Oyster Bay beach, a blue hole swim and then head out for a simple local meal. Suffice it to say we achieved 3 out of four. Our driver was Was (see what I did there?) and his delightful wife Edna, a community nurse, was our accompanying Nevan guide and interpreter. Ednah is so lovely, and very patient with us as ignorant tourists. She tolerated our gaffs brilliantly and told us many stories of her life- growing up in a local village, doing high school in Luganville and nursing training in Port Vila. She has also lived in Wodonga for three years so her cross cultural knowledge and wisdom is considerable. She's also pretty adventurous, and when we got to the blue pool she tried a snorkel and goggles for the first time. The trip up the East coast was lovely. It's basically the only main road and pretty much hugs the...

After sleeping like a log, we had a really relaxed breakfast. Pete, Jeff and Michael were disembowelling a microwave oven in an attempt to resuscitate it. The diagnosis was hopeful: a blown fuse, so there was an increased need to head for the big smoke. Luganville is a town that reminds me of an Australian seaside town in the 1960s. Morning view Strip shopping with each shop like a 1960s shed or a basic upgrade- if they were Aussie dwellings you imagine they would be made of asbestos. Very few signs are professionally made. They are mainly handwritten. The names of the shops often don't indicate what's inside. Luganville Shop for instance gives no clues. Even once you are inside it's a difficult job to identify the genre - hardware store? $2 shop? Clothing store? Appliance store. It's sort of the Vanuatuan equivalent of a low level Walmart. People here are very friendly. Generally their smiles and laughter seem genuine, but sometimes I couldn't help t...

Ok. So getting to Vanuatu from Geelong isn't the quickest procedure. But before I make this into a First World problem festival, can I tell you about the complete failure of the Taxi industry to respond to the Uber challenge? I won't bore you with the long story. Short story is...Michael (Uber fan) feels sorry for taxi drivers so prebooks 13Cabs online for early pickup to take us to Avalon airport. Taxi fails to arrive. In panic we ring. No taxi on the way - "glitch in the system". No apology. Never again will I order a taxi. Nup, not one of these arrived Sunrise from the plane from Avalon to Sydney was awesome.  Sydney airport was its usual "ants nest" of activity as metaphorised by Mary. Sydney to Vila was a highlight for me owing to watching the movie "Tanna" filmed on Tanna Island, Vanuatu, with mainly locals as actors. What a superb movie- Like Himalaya and Anarajuat (two of my favourite movies of all time) it's beautifully ...