Vanuatu

9-12 February 2016
We flew from Brisbane to Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides). There are 83 islands in Vanuatu and Port Vila is on the island of Efate.

Our flight was delayed for an hour and a half, because shortly after reaching our gate, police showed up with dogs to search our plane for drugs...bombs...we never found out.

We arrived in Port Vila in darkness but our 'landlord' was there to meet us. He loaded our luggage onto the back of his 'ute' (pickup) and took us to our house. We had originally booked a 'Studio with Lagoon View' but he said that he had upgraded us to a three-bedroom house overlooking the lagoon.

Indeed the house was very spacious with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and large living area with super views of the lagoon. The house needs some maintenance but the location is stunning. The main downside is NO A/Cs and NO BREEZE with sweltering heat in the 30s/80s. Electricity is very expensive in Vanuatu and most places do not have A/Cs. We do have ceiling fans, thank goodness. Second 'downside', after the 'butcher block' beds of southeast Asia, is that mattresses here, as well as in Brisbane, are super-soft and tend to sag somewhat, in the middle. My poor hip doesn't know what hit it...so much so, that after my first night here, I woke up in agony and had to go see a doctor, who told me I needed an MRI!

So we made a decision to cut this phase of our adventure short, and stay in Vanuatu for 10 days instead of a month, after which I will head back to Malta and have my hip seen to. David, on the other hand, will take the opportunity to visit family and friends in the U.S.

13 February 2016
Our first day exploring Efate. Our landlord rented us his ATV (quad) for a great price, and we spent the day driving round the island on the ring road. We drove 138 kms, stopping for a swim and a snorkel at a blue hole called The Blue Lagoon. We passed amazing, huge banyan trees, small villages made up of clusters of poor shacks where the locals live... In March 2015, Cyclone Pam left a lot of devastation here (uprooted trees, damaged buildings) and they are still recovering. Everyone is friendly though, and they wave at you with a smile and a 'hello' as you pass by, not seeming to resent foreigners for what they have and for what they (locals) do not. Another observation on life in Vanuatu...it's very expensive to live here. We originally had dreams of a tropical, unspoilt paradise, where living the dream is easy and affordable...NOT! The cost of living is high, so we have had to re-think spending more time here in the future. Consequently, the quest is still on (what fun)!

In Vanuatu they speak English, French and each village has its own dialect, but their official language is Bislama which is a kind of Pidgin and goes like this: "Exampol (Example), sipos (suppose) ino (I no) gat (got) fres (fresh) fis (fish), yumi (you may) usum (use) tin (tinned) meat (meat)....". This excerpt was taken from a recipe book...yup this is the language they use in print. :)

14-16 February 2016
I'm bunching these days together because the intense heat has been making us very lethargic, and who wants to be out and about in the baking sun. On the 14th we moved from our 3 bedroom 'villa' to a waterfront studio 'chalet'/cabin right on the lagoon. It's a really cute place right on the water but once again no A/Cs...just ceiling fans. Even though we get cooler breezes off the water (at varying times of the day), it is still, for the most part (and especially at night) hot and sticky. Since we had already prepaid for our accommodation, we couldn't very well look for a new hotel, now, could we?

On the 15th, we did actually venture out, only because the promise of a day's good snorkelling within easy driving distance of our accommodation, galvanised us out of our heat-induced stupor. Hideaway Island Marine Sanctuary is a tiny island in Mele Harbour, home to Hideaway Resort and supposedly great snorkelling right off the beach.

We caught one of the many small public buses which constantly roam the Port Vila streets looking for fares, the way taxis would in most western cities and tuk-tuks in southeast Asia. For a few dollars we were driven for about 15 minutes to the Mele Bay pier where a small boat came over from the island to pick us up. A few minutes later we were on Hideaway Island. We paid our entrance fee (nothing is free here), got a couple of towels and crunched over the coral beach to a couple of loungers. It felt, and looked, like we were walking on bleached bones! I must admit, my expectations were pretty low with regard to the quality of snorkelling to be had right off the beach. I was spoilt by a past trip to the Maldives, where the lagoon off the fine, sandy beach, was like a turquoise swimming pool, into which someone had emptied a tank full of tropical fish. I have snorkelled in many places since then, and nothing has come close...except Hideaway Island.

We put on our snorkeling gear and in we went, sizzling as our hot bodies hit the cool water...heaven! That also pretty much described the stunning sight of multi-coloured fish and coral which greeted us as soon as we were in the water. Fish and coral of all sizes, shapes and colours were everywhere. Angel fish, parrot fish, clown fish, butterfly fish... It was like swimming in an aquarium! Definitely one up on the Maldives! I had put an old iphone in a waterproof pouch hoping to capture something of what I saw, but the screen and camera button weren't clear so I just pointed blindly at what I was seeing and pressed the screen where I thought the camera icon was, hoping for the best... In fact, out of about 20 shots, I think I got a couple of clearish ones and these were just of coral because the fish were too fast. I will be hard put to beat this one...

17 February 2016
Today was the day that we left Vanuatu, our hopes and dreams crushed....(couldn't resist being a little melodramatic :). We spent eight days here (an expensive endeavour) and what we saw was very pretty. We would have like to have explored more of Vanuatu's islands but our only option was to fly (no ferries) at a cost of around US$350 per person each time. We couldn't justify the expense, however, so we stayed on Efate and explored that...

In the meantime, I spent the eight days here sleeping on the actual floor (a first for me), hoping against hope that I wouldn't wake up crippled. Our landlord kindly lent me a memory foam mattress topper which I placed on a camping mat. I had also bought a memory foam pillow in Port Vila. All this together with anti-inflammatories and pain killers, kept me upright (so to speak) and mobile.

Anyway as I said earlier, today was the day of our departure, so we packed for the last time, and checked out. Our flights weren't until the afternoon so we took a bus into Port Vila and

had lunch. Our landlord offered to take us to the airport so off we went. My flight was at 3pm and David's was at 4pm...in opposite directions. He was going to Los Angeles via Fiji, then on to Oklahoma. After we said our sad goodbyes :(, I flew off into the 'sunset'...and here's what went down (!)...

Vanuatu to Sydney flight (around 4 hours)
3 hours wait
Sydney to Abu Dhabi flight (around 15 hours)
5 hours wait
Abu Dhabi to Manchester flight (around 8 hours)
3 hours wait
Manchester to Malta flight (3.5 hours)

...and yet I arrived in Malta at 10:30pm on 18 February! I think I lost a day somewhere...

Amazing views of the Great Barrier Reef and Saudi Arabia crop circles from the planes...

19-25 February 2016
Anyway, now I'm back on my 'rock' and even though I miss Bob, I am so happy to be back in my own bed...

I've been very jet-lagged and the floor of my apartment has been moving for days. It's taken me a week to get my Circadian rhythm back on track. I'm still a little spaced out, but getting there...

Part 1 of Bob and Betty's travels has come to an end (see the map for our route of the last three months) but hopefully there's more to come...

For now, appointment with specialist (check), MRI (check)...verdict tomorrow. Then get well PDQ, and on to the next leg of our journey. Watch this space....