Monday, August 10, 2009

Port Vila, Vanuatu

Ifira Island as we cruised past.
My World, do visit lots of other people's world.

Cruising the Pacific. Port Vila, Vanuatu.
The Pacific Sun sailed during the night, from Mystery Island, on to Port Vila the major island in the Vanuatu group. We have been here before for a couple of weeks, 2 years ago, when we met and made friends with Christopher and his wife Niven and child Trisha, they had us visit their home on an island out from the city of Vila where only the native people live, no white people at all. We were really looking forward to seeing them again, there had been many emails about where we were to meet and the things we would all do when we met up. It would be the day before Vanuatu's Independence Day and Christopher said we would all celebrate early over on Ifira Island with all the family, we really looked forward to this, it probably meant lots of kava drinking for the men and lots of talking and singing and eating for the ladies, but we never got to find out unfortunately.
The ship docked about 8am and we managed to get ourselves off ship and into a local bus which for $6.00 Aus took us into town, usually it would be about $2-00 Vatu but it was cruise ship day, a chance for locals to make a little extra, so we played the game with all the other passengers, but we got dropped off at the Ifira jetty rather than where ever the others got taken. First we went to the market, where I found a huge coconut crab all trussed up and photographed it with a small boy that was nearby, how we would have liked to buy that crab, last time we didn't get a chance to try this great Vanuautuan delicacy and wish we could of this time. We then bought a huge hand of bananas to take as a gift for the family ( we already had masses of gifts from New Zealand for Christopher, Niven and Trisha, which we had in our bag, along with our swimming togs and towels and sun screen etc.
But although we waited more than an hour at the meeting place we had agreed upon Christopher didn't arrive. We left messages with lots of people from the island, and several people tried to phone him for us, but it was no go. We wonder how we managed to miss each other. So eventually we decided we had better do something with our day, so we caught the free ferry to Iriki Island, at least we knew it as a free ferry as it had been when we were there before, but all the other tourists had to pay, since it was cruise ship day, we just walked on like we owned the ferry and sat down, no one asked us to pay. When we got to Iriki resort we were met by a native dressed in traditional clothing, then we just hailed a cruising small transporter and went to the big swimming pool complex that we had swum in before. (There are at least 4 or 5 different pools all near each other) No one stopped us but after our swim we found a notice saying the pool was only for paying guests! Too late we had already swum. So we bought some food and drinks from the resort and ate up all our gift bananas, them lazed in the sun with others from the ship that had found the same place, before catching the free ferry back then catching a local bus back to the ship, this time for $2.00 Vatu. We had a great time and enjoyed ourselves but we did so miss seeing our friends again. maybe next time, if there is a next time.

17 comments:

Stephanie V said...

That crab is enormous! It's too bad you missed your friends but you seem to have had a nice outing despite the disappointment. Lovely place.

Irene said...

Nice resort..wowed by the native welcome.

Hit 40 said...

I am sorry your friends were not able to meet you!! I imagine that they forgot. Too bad. You made a great day of it anyway! Good for you

I love to "pool hop" when I am on vacation. No one ever kicks you out. Very fun.

Thank you for popping by my blog for a visit :-) I hope to see you again. I love company. Your blog looks fabulous!! I think I will go enjoy a couple more posts.

Indrani said...

That coconut crab is interesting... never seen something like that before. Great outing you had and lovely shots shared. That dress is interesting too.

Reader Wil said...

Such a pity to have missed your friends! Your trip was a great one! Thanks for taking us on this trip!

Reader Wil said...

Hi Glennis! What I mean by Aboriginals is the original people of a country, like the Celts in Ireland, our Frisians, may-be the Vikings in Norway, who are all white people like you and me. I am not an Aboriginal for I have French, German and probably more foreign blood in my veins.

Arija said...

Always a disappointment whem things go awry. I too had some lovely experiences on Rotuma when we were the first boat allowerd t dock there. The islands are lovely and the people so friendly.
There is reason in all things, it just was not meant to be.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Glennis: That was really a fun post, glad you had a great time.
I thought that crab was some sort of carved statue until I made it bigger.

Pat said...

What a beautiful, colorful place! It's a shame your friends didn't show up, but it sounds like you had a very enjoyable time anyway.

Rajesh said...

Lovely snaps of the island. The market looks pretty busy.

BeadedTail said...

Sorry you didn't get to meet up with your friends but it sounds like you had a great time at Port Vila! Your photos are wonderful and I enjoyed reading about your cruise!

Phivos Nicolaides said...

Excellent post. Mind you that the name of my blog 'TAXIDIARIS' in Greek means the person who loves travelling!

kleine-creative-Welt said...

Wonderful post - i´m glad you had such a nice holiday -
it´s a pitty, that you missed your friends -
thanks for the pictures -
Ruth

buffalodick said...

First time to your blog, and I am greeted with a song I've never heard that made me kinda misty-eyed.. Don't you tell the other bloggers you did that to me(he said gruffly, regaining his composure..) You make a good first impression, my dear!

Anonymous said...

[url=http://firgonbares.net/][img]http://firgonbares.net/img-add/euro2.jpg[/img][/url]
[b]when did adobe buy macromedia, [url=http://firgonbares.net/]student academic software[/url]
[url=http://firgonbares.net/][/url] software reseller malaysia coreldraw photographs to line drawings
kaspersky removal tool [url=http://firgonbares.net/]autocad lite[/url] adobe photoshop software for free
[url=http://firgonbares.net/]purchase of software from[/url] nero 9 cd key
[url=http://firgonbares.net/]autocad blocks[/url] software webshop
adobe photoshop cs4 extented [url=http://firgonbares.net/]nero 9 serial[/b]

Anonymous said...

[url=http://sunkomutors.net/][img]http://sunkomutors.net/img-add/euro2.jpg[/img][/url]
[b]free nero 7, [url=http://sunkomutors.net/]the best educational software[/url]
[url=http://sunkomutors.net/][/url] oem software online office access software
software like macromedia [url=http://sunkomutors.net/]education software store[/url] windows vista transformation pack
[url=http://sunkomutors.net/]adobe creative suite 3 master collection upgrade[/url] filemaker pro database development
[url=http://sunkomutors.net/]online store software review[/url] professional software discount
order software australia [url=http://sunkomutors.net/]guru academic edition software[/b]

Anonymous said...

[url=http://murudobaros.net/][img]http://murudobaros.net/img-add/euro2.jpg[/img][/url]
[b]can i buy macromedia, [url=http://murudobaros.net/]windows vista recovery disc[/url]
[url=http://murudobaros.net/]when did adobe buy macromedia[/url] buy photoshop cs buy cheap computer software
academic licensed software [url=http://murudobaros.net/]Pro Mac OS[/url] nero 9 trial crack
[url=http://murudobaros.net/]campus store software[/url] Studio 4 Pro
[url=http://murudobaros.net/]buy software uk[/url] selling custom software
adobe acrobat 9 pro activation error [url=http://murudobaros.net/]serial number for adobe creative suite 3 master txt[/b]