September 2013 - Port Vila, Vanuatu
Port Vila, Vanuatu
AUSTRALIA Sunday 1st September 2013 We’re off to Brisbane today. We leave early and drive for a couple of hours. Near Brisbane, we visit a koala sanctuary, called Lone Pine. It’s a lovely park with not only koalas but other animals found in Australia. The kids are very happy to see the koalas. There are shows explaining their lifestyle and the kids can also touch them. You can also hold them and get your photo taken, which we do for all 3 kids. They’re thrilled! Next we stroll around the park, taking photos of kangooroos, wombats, bats, emus, parrots etc etc. It’s lovely day. We leave after a few hours and find a campsite. There are no campsites near Brisbane and the beach so we decide to go to North Stradbroke island which is supposed to be quite scenic. We take a ferry there and almost choke at the cost, £130 return (The island is only a few miles away!). It better be worth it! When we arrive at the little town on the other side of the island, almost everything is closed. The campsite is certainly is and we decide to do some “wild” camping. The sunset is long gone when we go for dinner. It’s very windy and we walk a good mile before finding a restaurant. Four pizzas for £80 is very reasonable, NOT! When we walk back to the camper, we see some kangooroos jumping through the village. It’s been a long day and we’re sleeping by 8:30. At 10pm, someone bangs on our door. I pretend to be asleep and wait for Anna to do something. She does and tells me to check it out. I open the door and it’s a security guard telling us we can’t park here. However he knows a place where we can and drives us there. Where are those headlights! The kids are sleeping while I drive and I’m careful. Ok, we’re there at Point Lookout. Good night. It’s windy and cold at 6am. After breakfast we walk along the path that surrounds Point Lookout. This is the place to see humpback whales, pilot whales and dolphins. We’re excited and hope the place deserves its name. We stare at the horizon with our binoculars and hope. The sea is strong with crashing waves on the rocks and the rolling waves make it difficult to see anything. We stay there 2 hours, changing spots and trying to keep warm. Then we see a couple of humpbacks, first they blow then we see their backs. Then they roll on their side and stick their fin out. Later we see their tails and some even jump out of the water. Woah! All this happens within 200 to 1000 metres from us. The kids were bored but not anymore and shout everytime something happens. We also see pilot whales which are nice but not spectacular like humpback whales. 50 metres in front of us there’s a pod of dolphins hanging around, as if they’re having a team meeting before going hunting. Well, this place is worth it! We book a campsite on the island and spend the rest of the day at the beach. At least the kids do as we've got laundry and other domestic chores (clean camperhome) to do. The kids love the beach, the sea is warmer and they bodyboard. Even Nina tries bodyboarding and enjoys it. I’m on castle-building duty with Lewys and Nina ordering me about. It’s nice to be at a campsite right on the beach, it makes our life easier and the kids enjoy it more. The following day is a repeat of today. Except we go later to watch the whales and they’re here again. Right on time. Anna and I could sit here all day, it’s a beautiful spot but the kids are getting bored now. Transit day. We’ve got a big day today. We take the ferry back to the mainland, drop-off our camperhome in Brisbane and go to the airport. We fly to Sydney first and in the evening we fly to Tonga. The kids pass time by doing their homework and annoying each other. They’ve improved a lot and it’s been easier for us. Boarding the plane to Tonga is chaotic. All Tongans look like front-row rugby players and many push past us. The flight takes 4 and 1/2 hours and we arrive at 2:30am with the kids sleeping. It’s pooring outside and it’s windy. We weren’t expecting that! We’re the last ones through customs and our bags are waiting. We’ve booked a taxi and hotel (someone’s house) so it’s easy from now on. At 4:00, we’re sleeping. TONGA Not much sleep as we get up at 9 to go back to the airport. We’ve got a domestic flight to a group of islands. Unfortunately the storm they had means that flights were cancelled and there’s a backlog of passengers. The pilot is also ill so flights are cancelled again. That’s the chaotic bit. The airline, RealTonga, do take good care of us and puts us up in a hotel in town with food expenses included. Apparently we’re booked on tomorrow’s flight, we’ll see. In the mean time we walk around the capital, Nuku’Alofa. We all get a haircut and take care of logistics. Tonga is 3 hours of Sydney or 12 hours ahead of London, this is where the day starts, however the kids haven’t adjusted yet and fall asleep after 11pm. The capital is on the main island. It’s flat, built on corals with lots of coconut trees and dense vegetation. The king’s palace is the size of a large house and doesn’t stand out too much. The pace of life is slow here, no rush. The Tongans are rather tall and strong. Although they’ve never been colonized they speak english, drive on the left and the kids wear school uniforms. The men wear shirts with a sort of dress with a mat tied around their waist. We’ve also noticed a number of lady-boys which is unusual. So we looked-it up and when families have too many boys (and not enough girls), they raise the youngest boy as a girl so that he can help with house chores and kitchen duties. Finally we’re off to Vava’u islands. We leave mid-afternoon and the chartered flight takes an hour. It’s cloudy and we can’t see much. We land at the small airport surrounded by jungle where a taxi is waiting for us. It’s a short drive to town and our backpacker hotel. Anna sleeps in the girls dorm while I sleep with the kids. It’s a nice place with a lounge, kitchen and covered terrace overlooking the harbour. The harbour is full of sail boats of different nationalities. Pigs and dogs roam around town, life is slow here and quiet. Sunday is a special day in Tonga. Tongans are mostly christians and everything is shut on sundays. I mean everything. There are no flights, no shops open and only a handful of restaurants are opened for stranded tourists. We do as the Tongans and go to church. There are many churches here and we go to the nicest one. They all look nice anyway but this one is the closest. Tongans dress up for the occasion and there must be 400 people in the church. We don’t understand a word but the singing is wonderful. We’ve got some serious praying to do as we’re here on a mission. We all pray. There are quite a few tourists in the church and we chat afterwards with a belgium lady sailing around the world with her husband. Nice to hear other stories. We spend the rest of the day relaxing as the town is dead quiet. I have a few beers and pray some more while I write my blog. We get up early as we’re on a mission today and hope the praying will work. We’ve booked a boat tour to swim with humpback whales. The sun is shining, the sea is calm in the lagoon as we set off around 7:30. There’s another couple from Chile/Brazil with us on the small but powerful boat. The australian captain powers around the lagoon and we all scout the horizon in search of the big mammals. Nothing yet apart from a pod of dolphins that swim around the boat. That woke us up and cheered us up. After 2 hours, around 10am we spot 4 just outside the lagoon where the sea is rough with swells of 2 metres. The kids are unbelievable and handle themselves very well. I’m sick as a dog but I’m determined not to miss anything. I snap away freely while the humpbacks perform. We’re within 50m of them and we’re waiting for an opportunity to swim with them. Not easy with the rough sea. It’s even harder when it’s 3 humpback males trying to impress a female humpback! It’s not the best idea to interfere with the mating of whales the size of a bus. But they perform and I get a good shot of one breaching. Woah! The kids are extatic! The captain drops us (adults no kids) in front of the whales and hope they’ll swim past us, which they do, within 20m. Anna and I are extremely happy but you wouldn’t tell. Snorkelling in swells of 2m waves looking at buses going by with hardly any motion control is not great. No chance of taking underwater photos either but that’s ok, dream number 1 has been achieved. Oh no, I’m sick again. Lewys takes care of me and helps me out while we move to a quieter spot. Anna manages the rest as well as her diabeties, what a star! We see a humpack mother and calf swimming and then a solitary male. A couple of hours later I’m feeling better and snorkel with Ioan in shallow waters. The visibility is 30m and there are some corals but nothing big. Nonetheless it’s nice to swim in warm and calm water. We see a black and yellow sea snake while in the boat as we search for more whales. There aren’t any in the lagoon but at least the sea is calm. There are lots of islands in Vava’u and they all look the same. Limestones with fruit trees and dense vegetation overhanging the edges. It’s very pretty. We snorkel in a cave and there are little fishes, like sardines that swim in a circle. We swim inside the circle and watch the fish resume their life. Back on land, we’re exhausted but very happy. The kids can’t stop talking about the whales. After a day resting onshore, doing homework and watching films, we book another tour to swim with whales. There’s not enough space on the boat so Nina stays onshore with the owner, Diane. Nina is really excited to be by herself without her brothers. We set off early again. It cloudy, windy and cool. The day is pretty awful in terms of whale spotting. We spot about 8 but cannot get close enough to swim with them. Frustrating! Ioan manages once to be in the water and listen to them sing. Apparently they’re quiet loud. After 9 hours and not seeing much, we head back to the harbour. On the way, we spot a mother and calf. The good news about young ones is that they don’t move fast. After observing them for 15 minutes, we see an opportunity to swim near them. Ioan and I are geared up and jump in as soon as the captain says so. We follow the guide and swim towards the whales. They swim past us within 10m, Ioan is a bit scared while I take THE photo and a short film. I’m thrilled, extatic!! As I swim back to the boat, Lewys and Anna watch the whale breach a dozen times, amazing stuff! The boat follows the whales some more and we watch in awe the mother teach her calf humpback tricks. Unfortunately there’s no more opportunity to swim with them and Lewys is disappointed. But he’s really pleased to have seen them breach. It’s almost dark when we get back. Nina had a wonderful day and is pleased to see us. Thank You Vaka Vave for the tours and looking after our daughter. The next day we fly back to Nuku’Alofa. The aircraft MA60 donated by China is accident prone and should not be used, so says the New Zealand government. We take it anyway as the alternative would be complicated. The short flight is uneventful. I meet a french military advisor and he gives me good tips on the other islands we want to visit. Looking forward to it! We stay in Nuku’Alofa a couple of days, taking care of homework and logistics, before flying out to Nadi (Fiji). FIJI Fiji is much bigger than Tonga and much more developed. There are loads of tourists here. We’ve got a hostel booked for the night by the sea and beach with sand. The kids are happy. We have dinner while watching the All Blacks vs. South Africa. Rugby is very popular in this part of the world. We get up early the next morning and take a fast boat to the Yasawa islands. The sun is shining, it’s hot, the sea is calm, the islands are beautiful. Perfect. Most islands have 1 or 2 resorts and the ferry stops to drop-off and pick-up tourists as it makes its way north in the morning. It takes 3 hours to get to our resort, called Mantaray Resort. By lunchtime, the kids are on the beach having fun and we can relax. We’ve got 2 huts away from the beach and they have electricity and a deck but nothing else. The bathroom and toilets are shared. It’s nicely done. The restaurant is on top of the small hill overlooking the bay and reef. In the afternoon we wait for the drum while the kids are playing. We’re ready for the announcement. When the drum beats, it means that manta rays have been spotted and we can swim with them. The drum beats and Anna and Lewys board the boat. They come back 90 minutes later having seen 6 manta rays in the channel. They were within a couple of metres as they swam back and forth. Lewys is thrilled. The next day, when the drum beats, I go out with Nina and Ioan. Ioan swims against the current and follows them around. Nina and I just float and drift in the channel as the current is strong. The boat picks us up at the end of the channel and takes us back to the entrance. We repeat this a few times. Effortless swimming is nice specially when you’re surrounded by 10 manta rays. Everywhere we look we see mantas. There must be about 40 snorkellers but it doesn’t spoil the viewing. We see black and white mantas. They’re about 4m wide and swim against the current to feed on plankton with their huge mouths wide open. We chose this resort to swim with mantas and we’re thrilled to have seen them so close. Dream #2 done! Anna’s got woman-flu and needs to rest. The kids are unsympathectic and that really irrites me. They play on the beach which is washed up with broken coral. Ioan and I go snorkelling along the reef. It’s pretty nice and we see a reef shark. Back on land, I tell Lewys and he wants to go. So I take Lewys and Nina in search of the shark but can’t find it. But they’ve cooled off and swam a little. The resort has kayaks and Ioan kayaks around the reef. He loves it and spends a couple hours kayaking. It’s nice to be with other backpackers and people on holiday. The kids play with other kids but ignore my warnings about rocks and broken coral. In the evening Doctor Anna cleans the cuts and wounds on their feet. Maybe they’ll learn to be a bit more sympathetic next time. It’s Ioan’s birthday today, he’s going to be eleven. We have a little family celebration and in the evening Anna has organised a surprise. There’s a little fijian culture show and they sing happy birthday the fijian way. Ioan’s a little surprise and very pleased. Then there’s the cake and dancing, a wonderful birthday celebration. We stay at the resort 4 nights, the kids have settled in and we’re enjoying ourselves. Lewys and Nina enjoy kayaking as well. The reef is ideal for kayaking as it’s protected from the waves. The rest of the island is not exactly a postcard as you find all that the sea rejects, which is a lot. But on top of the hill, you have a beautiful view of the area and other islands. Ioan, Lewys and I go on a fishing trip. It’s mostly a slow cruise around the lagoon waiting but the kids wanted to do it. There’s a couple with us and when the line whizzes, the guy takes the rod and reels it in. The guy is strong and seems to be struggling a bit. After some effort, he lifts the fish on to the boat. It’s a 20kg yellow fin tuna about 60cm long. Dinner! The next time the line whizzes I take the rod but I’m useless and the fish gets away. We leave the resort and get a boat to the resort across the channel called Barefoot Resort. This resort has a direct view on the channel where the manta rays pass and the beaches are a lot nicer. However the resort is more basic but you wouldn’t know by the price. Location is everything and this suits us better. The kids can safely play on the nice sandy beaches, I can spot manta rays from the beach and Anna can see sunrise and sunset. Our huts are on the beach from which we can supervise the kids. The manta rays only turn up on high tide which changes daily. At the moment it’s at 7am and Anna, Lewys and I go for it. Ioan and Nina are happy to be left alone for breakfast... The channel is calm today, with a mild current and no wind. We see 4 manta rays and they swim up and down the channel. So Lewys thinks he saw 14 mantas. I take photos and film underwater and hope some turn up good. Lewys is happy swimming by himself and chasing the mantas. As we’re drifting slowly, I have to chase him sometimes! Anyway we have a fabulous time as the mantas also stay put in the calm clear waters and do back circles. They’re inquisitive and as Anna and I are the last ones in the water, they swim towards us, mouths open wide, and move away at the last second. Spectacular! We do some more kayaking, snorkelling and play volleyball in the evening with the staff. All good fun. Watching the sunset from our huts is lovely. The restaurant is on the rocks next to the beach from which sunset can also be seen. I’m writing this blog from the restaurant, drinking beer and listening to the waves. By far this is the nicest place I’ve written the blog. We haven’t been connected to the internet for a week now and have no idea what’s going on in the world. A holiday within a holiday, probably best describes this place. We stay here 4 days so everyone can see the manta rays again. It’s always different and spectacular. Nina enjoys her second time with them and swim towards them as they swim by. Trying to get a manta and Nina in the same photo is challenging but fun, specially when another manta creeps up behind me and gives me a fright. We’ve had sunshine so far but today is a wash-out. Constant tropical rain. Perfect to do homework and learn about fijian culture and sea creatures. Our next island resort is not far south. A place called Wayalailai. We have a spacious bungalow with ensuite with a lovely view of the sea. I’m not going in the water today as my blisters need to dry off. I spend the day relaxing and reading. Ioan kayaks by himself and checks out the reef for fish; there aren’t many. Lewys chases all the hermit crabs and puts them in a box. He observes them and treats them well in the hope to domesticate them. Nina helps the staff and makes bracelets. Anna relaxes and reads. In the afternoon we go line fishing and spend 2 hours waiting but we don’t catch anything. We turn back just in time before the storm hits the resort. After a stormy night, the sky has cleared and it’s sunny again. We all go on a snorkelling trip to a reef in the middle of the sea. The reef rises to 2m below the surface. We jump in and snorkel around in the crystal clear water. The guide spear catches a fish and uses it as bait to attract sharks. Soon enough a couple of white-tip sharks appear. Lewys and Nina are not afraid and swim around freely. They’re thrilled. Anna and I not so. The guide attracts the shark with the bait and then grabs the shark with one hand. The sharks are small, 1.5m long, and not strong enough to swim away. He’s wants us to touch the shark and I say “No” firmly. When he lets go, the stressed shark swims away quickly. The shark clearly has no short-term memory as it comes back for more. We observe the sharks as they swim around and below us for about 30 minutes before heading back to the resort. Lewys and Nina are thrilled to have seen sharks. In the afternoon, Lewys and Nina build sandcastles and chat to lovely british girls. The girls play with them and they’re happy to have some friends. Meanwhile Ioan and I do something wild. Some young guys and girls want to swim from the other island back to ours. The island is 400m away with a channel. The resort takes us there and drops us off. It may not sound like much but I’m not a good swimmer and I don’t like swimming. I’m not worried about Ioan because he’s a good swimmer but I swim with him just in case. Ioan is eager and follows the lead at a leisurely pace. The sea is calm and the current is mild. It’s actually a very nice swim. 30 minutes later we’ve swam across, Ioan is proud while I’m a bit tired. VANUATU That’s the end of our holiday within a holiday. The next day we’re back in Nadi where we stay for 2 nights before flying to Vanuatu. The flight to Vanuatu is early in the morning and we struggle to get up. At least we saw the sun rise but the kids are tired and grumpy. The flight takes 90 minutes. Vanuatu is a country and we land in the capital Port Vila. France and Britain controlled it until independence so french and english are spoken here. We take a taxi to our hotel and taxis are very expensive here. Port Vila is a small town around a bay with some little islands next to it. It’s very pretty, developped and there are parks. Our hotel is on the hill with a nice view of the bay. I take care of logistics while Anna feeds the kids and walks around town. Shops close on Saturday afternoons and on Sundays. That’s one aspect of French culture that’s not tourist friendly! So I rush around town trying to get our trip organised. Fortunately there’s the internet with it’s useful information. Nothing is going to happen until Monday so we relax for the week-end like the locals. The kids play in the park. Ioan plays rugby with a guy that plays for Vanuatu national team and practices passing and kicking. Lewys plays...football, of course, with the local kids. Nina entertains everyone with loud banging noises which sometimes resembles music. Last day of the month. We’re picked up at our hotel and driven to the airport. We’re taking an organized tour to a volcano today. We give our names and weight and then board a little 6 seater plane. Ioan and I are in one plane while Anna, Lewys and Nina board another 6 seater plane. If only all check-ins were like this! We’re given brief security instructions like don’t open the door while in the air and the pilot starts the engine. It’s very loud! The plane stumbles along the runway waiting for take-off. Now the engines are full-on and it’s extremely loud. The little plane sways as we gather speed and it’s a relief to be in the air. The view of Port Vila is superb, very pretty with little islands, lagoons and reefs visible. We can also see the cruise ship docked in the bay. The noise is still loud so there’s no conversation during the 90 minute flight. I sit there watching the calm blue sea. The landing on the island of Tanna is pretty smooth. We wait and watch Anna’s plane land. The airport is empty and we walk straight to our 4x4 jeep. We drop our bag at the hotel and drive 2 hours before reaching the volcano. The dirt roads are dusty and bumpy. This part of Vanuatu is hardly developped but they have mobile phones. Apart from that, the majority of houses are made of palm leaves and the roads are busy with kids and adults. It’s clearly a transportation artery. There are cows, pigs, goats and horses wandering around. What strikes me is that it’s very clean. There’s hardly any rubbish around, no plastic bottles or bags. The men along the road all have a machete in their hands. They seem to wander in the dense vegetation looking for fruit or kava and then walk back to their village or hut. The kids are walking back from school which can be quite far. It’s a different world. The road gets worse as we get closer to the volcano. The volcano is visible from a distance, not because of its size but because its slopes are rocky, sandy and dusty, while the surroundings are thick green vegetation. We stop at the base of the volcano and it’s not very impressive with a height of 500m. We take some photos of the moon-like landscape and drive closer to the rim. The jeep struggles up the steep path, surrounded by vegetation. When the vegetation disappears, we’re on the other side of the volcano and park the car within 150 of the crater. It’s still not impressive but we can hear the earth rumbling and the occasional bang. Clouds of dust are blowing out of the crater. After some brief security rules like watch out for rocks blown out from the volcano, we follow our guide up the marked path with the other tourists. It’s a 5-minute walk to the lower rim. The sun is starting to set and the contrast in the colours of the vegetation, volcano and the sea is beautiful. The volcano erupts at regular intervals, like every 2 minutes. The security level of the volcano is 2 at the moment where 4 means evacuation of villages and 3 means immediate danger to the surroundings. The loud bang announces the eruption, then the lava is spitted out into the air, followed by a thick dusty cloud. We’re upwind so we’re okay. We’re all in awe at this amazing site. The crater is actually quite large, probably a few hundred metres and there are 3 pits. After a couple of eruptions from the lower rim we walk to the highest rim where you can see the pits. The kids are great and are loving this, apart that it’s windy, dusty and cold. I happily snap away and take loads of videos. All the eruptions are different in terms of intensity and strength but one is particular strong with the earth shaking and the hot gust of wind smacks our faces. Time to sit down. We can clearly see the hot yellow and red lava and it’s marvellous to watch the volcano erupt and provide a show of fireworks. We stay there for more than an hour until it’s completely dark. Time to head back to the jeep and drive back to our hotel. I feel like I’m covered in dust and I’m looking forward to a shower. The drive back is slightly shorter probably because the driver is speeding in manner that I would say unsafe. Anyway it’s been a wonderful day and a great way to finish this month. Here are my favorite moments of the month 1 - Swim with humpback whales, Tonga 2 - Volcano Mt Yasur, Vanuatu 3 - Swim with manta rays, Fiji 4 - see koalas, Australia 5 - Barefoot resort, Fiji 6 - Swim with reef sharks, Fiji 7 - North Stradbroke island, Australia 8 - meeting backpackers, Fiji 9 - relaxing in Waya lailai, Fiji 10- Port Vila, Vanuatu Here are my worst moments of the month. 1 - leaving Australia 2 - boat ride, Vava'u 3 - road to Mt Yasur 4 - prices in Fiji 5 - prices in Vanuatu 6 - prices in Tonga 7 - everything is shut on sundays, Tonga 8 - kids whinging about food 9 - everything is shut on sundays, Vanuatu 10- arriving in Tonga in middle of night Cities: North Stradbroke, Nuku'Alofa, Vava'u, Yasawa islands, Port Vila, Tanna Distances: 5500 km