Around Island Trip

  Port Vila, Vanuatu Friday, January 23, 2015

We were due to leave at 9am this morning for a round the island tour with Christine as our guide. So we sat for breakfast a little earlier than most days of late and enjoyed the wonderful spread Loulou had set out for us. We noted Christine wasn't around so we asked Loulou if she was ready for us and he said " oh no, she's taken the day off today to go into town and see her friends". Well, we certainly don't begrudge her a day off but it might have been nice if she had told us about the change of plan! With a few frantic phone calls, we managed to contact Korin as Bryan had already scouted out a similar trip that she ran. She told us that her trip had already left but we could catch them up at the first stopping point. So we set off in a rush (or as fast as that dreadful road would allow) and switched to a another van in town. They in turn drove us out of town for about 30 minutes to the Blue Lagoon. It was a really beautiful spot and the colour of the water was pure turquoise. The rest of the group had already been there an hour so we didn't get too much time but we both enjoyed a dip in the water which was a gorgeous temperature. There were loads of local kids all swinging on a rope and doing acrobatics into the water and families picnic-ing all around the area. It seemed like a favourite spot to hang out for everyone. We jumped onto the empty seats and Jody immediately realised she was sitting next to this annoying family from the airport when we arrived. Everywhere she went at the airport they were in her way. Always standing where she was trying to get to - blocking the gangway, blocking the toilet door, blocking this exit - you know how it is sometimes when everwhere you turn, you have to navigate your way around the same person or people. She recognised them straight away as they were still wearing the same clothes! Anyway they were quite friendly as is usually the case. Our proper first stop was a tribal village. This wasn't a village inhabited by day for the benefit of tourists, this was a real working village with people who live the traditional way with just one or two modern conveniences like solar panels and mobile phones! We got out of the car and were asked to wait in this area before going to the village. The next thing we know we are surrounded by men and boys in grass skirts, shouting and waving sticks at us and your first though is "cannibals!". Of course it was all part of the welcome and the tribe leader appeared with two palm leaves crossed in the air as a sign of peace. We watched them dance some traditional dances and the Tribe Leader (who spoke very good English) explained the meaning of the dances. Then they charged at our group and some of us were offered their sticks, this is your invitation to get up and dance with them,b although all that entailed was running around in a ring behind them. The Tribe Leader then invited us all to have some photographs taken with them before leading us into the 500 year old banyan tree. For those who do not know about banyan trees, they are a parasitic tree and they grow on a host tree. It takes a while but eventually the completely surround the host tree and eventually the host tree dies. When it dies it leaves a void inside the banyan where it once stood. The bigger the host tree was, the bigger the void in the banyan. This must have been a huge host tree as you could walk through it and it was explained to us that the Tribe Leaders hold their private meetings in the biggest ones and villagers shelter from cyclones in them too. We did go in it but Jody would only go so far as she was worried about spiders living in the tree but Bryan got a great shot looking up through the middle of the tree. Next stop was lunch but it was quite away away so to kill some time, our guide Tom told us stories as we went. He told us about cannibalism on the island. Incredibly, the last person eaten on Vanuatu was in ....1968 - and some reports say as late as 1987! Not all that long ago. He reassured us and said they don't do that now and explained why people were eaten. He said if you were not a good villager and caused problems for everyone else in the village, the Tribe Leader would give you a warning. If you ignored this and got into more trouble you would be told for the last time to sort yourself out. If after this final warning you caused problems for the village - then they would eat you. Now there's capital punishment for you! The more people they ate, the more powerful the leaders became as they always got to eat the good parts (although what the good parts were no one seems too sure about). We arrived at our designated lunch spot and luckily there were no naughty villagers on our menu - the food was lovely. More beautiful beach views and a small restaurant to one side, all laid up ready for us and guess what?....Another out of tune string bang. Brilliant. Genuinely brilliant - not being sarcastic here as we loved it! Lunch was buffet style again with lots of gorgeous vegetarian food for Jody too. To add a bit of extra flavour, there was a little local boy all dressed as a warrior with his big stick trying to look scary. Bryan certainly looked scared of him! One thing we didn't like was the fact that they had captured a turtle for showing to the guests who came this way. The NZ family were oohing and aaahing but we walked away and made our feelings known later to Korin. Back on the bus and we were off again. A few more stories from Tom, this time about their great leader a few hundred years ago. He attempted to restore peace to the island and he held a great meeting. Leaders from all the tribes were invited and asked to bring something from their village that represented the village. So one would bring a coconut, another a fish, another an octopus or a potato. And when they all came together at this great meeting, some tribe leader had brought the same thing. And what did this great chief do if 2 tribes brought a coconut? This very wise man said "you two tribes are so alike, you think alike, you are therefore brothers and you will work together and help each other. The same for everything else and these bickering tribes went off in peace. what a great idea. Because of this man's wisdom, he is still revered today and the whole island of Eretoka where he was buried, is a sacred place. Since 2008, the entire island is a part of Chief Roi Mata's Domain , a World Heritage Site of UNESCO . We stopped at the World War 2 museum. We say museum but it was a ramshackle old hut clinging to the side of the beach but it is famous on the island even having signposts for it! We were met by Mark, the grandson of the man who started it and he conveyed his grandfathers passion for collecting things from the immediate area either in the sea or in the ground. He also showed us coke bottles which had been collected and were all subtly different as they had different USA states printed on the bottom. Ummm! not riveting stuff but you could tell he loved all these little facts. Our driver took us through the old American airbase where you could still just about make out the old runway and where some of the buildings were. It wasn't that interesting again and not really a tourist destination, we think they just took us through it because it was close. Who knows though, some people may have found it fascinating. Onwards again and next stop was for more snorkelling on another beautiful coral beach. Plus the best bit - tea and biscuits. Oh we were ready for a nice up of tea! It had been a long day and we saw most of the island that is accessible, it is about 150 km (100miles) around and luckily for us the road was tarmaced in 2008 so at least it was a smooth and comfortable ride. After a shaky start, we had a really lovely day and it proved to us that everyone on the island is just as lovely and as friendly as the people we had met in Port Vila. Wonderful...! [gallery columns="4" ids="10232,10239,10246,10254,10262,10269,10275,10288,10297,10305,10313,10325,10335,10347,10357,10373,10382,10390,10411,10426,10436,10445,10456,10470,10478,10488,10499,10507,10515,10525,10536,10544,10556,10563,10574,10583,10590,10602,10613,10619,10628,10637,10650,10659,10667,10674,10684,10698,10701,10706,10708,10713,10715,10718,10721,10725,10727,10729,10734,10737,10738,10740,10741,10742,10743,10744"]