Above: Arriving at Port Vila airport.
Making Vanuatu happen!
I had written off the likelihood of visiting Vanuatu this year for their seasonal Nagol (land-diving). While in Niue, I had set my heart on doing another Pacific trip, choosing diving with the sharks in Fiji. Then I received an email from one of the travel agents in Port Vila saying that the Nagol dispute (which resulted in the jumping tower being destroyed) had been resolved and the event was back on.
My brain worked overtime and managed to come up with a combination of Vanuatu and Fiji. How lucky am I to be able to do this using Kimball’s discounted Air New Zealand staff tickets a month before I lose that privilege?
Flying up
Due to the 4x a week schedule, it worked out better for me to take the flight operated by Air Vanuatu. It is quite rare for us to be allowed on codeshared flights – this is a rare but welcome exception. The flight was very empty (maybe 25%). The meals were more generous and I was pleasantly surprised by the liquer offerings afterwards of port, Amarula etc.
Arriving
Arriving at immigration, I was asked if I had a return/onward ticket which I did. They weren’t interested in seeing it. The airline at check-in had already enforced it at check-in and people without return/onward tickets were asked to buy one or not go.
Because I was seated in front, I was out landside in no time even though I had to open my bag to show them my breakfast cereal.
After visiting the ATM, I walked next door to the domestic terminal where I finalised my Twilight Tanna / Mt Yasur volcano air-tour. I had wanted to do an overnight one but there hadn’t been enough customers, so I switched to a Twilight one with another company.
From the domestic terminal, there is a minibus for VUV150 to town, as opposed to the taxi for about VUV1500! Checking in at the Coconut Palms, I was given a big room with a balcony. I noticed that the wifi was non-existent. Before asking for another room, I walked around the property and realised it was available in the cafe area. So I asked for a room facing that area, and voila, there was enough of a weak signal to get messages (but for anything else, I’d have to go down to the cafe).
After a little rest, I explored the town. It is fairly compact and has a reasonably nice feel to it. One can still see remnants of damage by Cyclone Pam a few months ago. I imagine the waterfront area facing Iririki Island would have been quite nice pre-Pam [the cyclone].
Getting hungry, I checked out some prices. Eating at the market was slightly cheaper than in New Zealand whereas anything in a nicer sit-down place was rather dear. I opted for a mid-range sit-down place for an enjoyable Salad Nicoise.
The sun sets rather early at around 1730 at this time of year. I felt that it could easily do with being in the same time zone as New Zealand. Wandering back through the dark hilly road, I was glad that I had brought along my strap-on head-lamp on the trip but wished I hadn’t left it in the hotel.
Vanuatu has been rated the Happiest Place on Earth (there are often many ratings so it depends on which one you pick). People I met today were all nice and friendly in the island style. So I don’t doubt that I’m in a happy place.