I had breakfast with Richie and Andrew from Auckland who had moved to my hotel from a more remote one. They were going to get a rental car and drive around the island. I opted to do my own thing as I had done that before but gave them a few tips.
I hopped into a minibus around 0930 from outside the hotel for the Hideaway Resort a few km on the other side of Port Vila. It is a resort island a few minutes by ferry from mainland Efate. The alternative was Iririki, another resort island just a few minutes by ferry from the heart of town, which I might save for tomorrow instead (weather permitting) before my 1700 flight to Fiji.
I paid the resort fee of VUV12500 and got a beach towel on loan and found a banana lounger under a tree. The weather was quite nice; the best day I’ve had so far.
I had two long swims with lunch in between. The water was reasonably clear in the shallow area where the bottom was broken coral. I understand the reef was quite badly damaged by the cyclone. The underwater post office is now just an underwater postbox. Further out, the visibility wasn’t great. I opted not to do any dives; I’ve had too many disappointing dives due to my extraordinarily good dive experiences in Sipadan.
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- Low tide at Hideaway is still swimable.
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- Keeping in the shade to moderate my amount of sun.
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- Ferry back to the main island.
At around 1500, the winter sun was already casting long shadows. I packed up and returned to my hotel with a tan line. That was my token day of sun on this trip.
In the evening, I joined Rich and Andrew for dinner of Coconut Crab. It was about NZD75 split three-ways which is quite reasonable. Cooked in garlic cream, it was a delicious treat and a new experience. The claws were nice and fleshy, and suprisingly parts of the body were as well.
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- Coconut Crab before it is cooked.
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- Coconut Crab cooked in garlic cream sauce. Main shell on top while the chopped up portions are below.
