Jack and Jill went up the waterfall..

Even before he decided to come to Vanuatu, Jack has become familiar with the must-see sights in Port Vila thanks to my screensaver/slideshow that shows my adventures from last year. He’s always been intrigued by my photos in the waterfalls and my smug boasting that I prefer to climb up the waterfall as opposed to using the sissy mud paths that were made for the tourists being herded in and out of the place.

So when we went on a beautiful Monday arvo, he was insistent on climbing up the falls despite the slippery rocks, gushing water and precarious paths. Good job Jack. Neither of us fell and our cameras didn’t even fall in the water and we went up right up close to the twin falls where even I didn’t dare to go before.

The Mele Cascades is about 10 minutes drive from town (don’t quote me on that). You pay Vt1500 (about A$15) per person for entrance fee which they claim they use for maintenance and security.

Don’t be discouraged when you see the puny falls for the first five minutes of the walk. After the long haul up the rock stairs and the little trickles of streams the rock pools and Cascades await..

Don’t forget to have a photo taken in the giant bamboo poles

And climb other things that come your way for wacky poses..

Don’t be shy.. ask the American Dude to take a photo of you. He went to a waterfalls and didn’t bring bathers.  We might as well make use of him.

Lelepa Island Day Tour

We meant to go to Nguna or Pele or some other island overnight. But our schedule was tight and catching the flu and the sporadic downpours hampered those plans. I still wanted to take Mitch to one of Efate’s smaller outlying islands and going on the Lelepa Island Day Trip came highly recommended and fit snugly with the rest of our holiday plans.

The tour costs Vt7,600 (around $A76) and includes a pick up and drop off at your hotel, 40 minute land trip to Havannah Harbour, a 10 minute ferry ride to the island, snorkelling gear, a very short guided bush walk, a cave tour, lunch and morning and afternoon tea. Best of all they give you lots and lots of time to just relax in the beautiful powder white sandy beach of Lelepa Island.

Here are just some photos (out of the hundreds) we took  on that relaxing, breathtaking, perfect day.

1 of 3 ferries that took us to Lelepa island

lelepa island from the ferry

mitch meeting the shore

waiting for the tour of the scary creepy cave

Hanging Out Island Style

Mitch was booked for 3 nights at Moorings Hotel, a small boutique hotel on Lini Highway right on the edge of central Port Vila.

It’s a good sized resort, not too big that you are inundated by running children and screaming families. There are plenty of pool lounges and beach towels to go around. The room is just right, nothing fancy, but definitely adequate. Location is also ideal because the town is just a lazy 5-10 minute waterfront walk. It also has a bar & grill and a night club attached to it.

What I like most about it (and the main reason I recommended this to Jack) is that is right on the water unlike most of the smaller resorts in hotels in Port Vila.

I woke up on Mitch/Jack’s second day in Vanuatu with a flu – fever, colds and cough. The other activities lined up for the trip required leaving the resort for long periods of time or a lot of holiday energy which, in that state, I didn’t have.  So we decided to stay at Mooring’s and exploit the beautiful view and the infinity pool.

We sat on lounge chaises overlooking the Port Vila Harbour while the sky turned from this:

to this

drank Tusker and took photos against the breathtaking background

kites, crabs & carefree

After a morning in Iririki, I took Mitch to meet my bestest friends in the island: crazy/beautiful Rusty, Will my yoda & Polina the lovely. After the usual lunch of inappropriate, life stories and shit talking Mitch and I were invited to tag along to witness the breaking in of Rusty’s new kite surfing gear. So tag along we did to Mele Bay. About a 10 minute drive outside the town right where you go to catch the ferry to Hideaway Island.

The wind was not good enough for Rusty to surf in but it was a beautiful Vanuatu afternoon spent with my most beloved people.

rusty unfolding his 9 meter kite

poli learns to fly the smaller kite

and it soars while i dig my feet in the sand

the sea and me <3

will takes a turn

Port Vila Market

When I lived here last year, I would go to the Port Vila Market every week to stock up on fresh produce.

The vendors are mostly Mamas from all over Efate who come to Port Vila to sell their harvest. The Mamas (often with their small children) stay and sleep in the market for as long as it takes for them to sell all their produce and only then will they take the long trek back to their own villages.

Bargaining (and tipping) are not part of the Ni-Vanuatu culture so don’t even bother.  My very Asian mum finds this hard to fathom and still try to no avail to bring the prices down.

The market doesn’t offer a wide variety of fresh produce. Often, it’s a hit or miss kind of experience. One week the market is full of mud crabs, carrots, and lettuce; the next week there is none to be found at all. But that is the beauty of going to the markets every week, you’ll never know what you will find.

bananas and young coconutsMama arranging her stacks of pechay

Night Sky

The light fades
In angry flashes of orange
As the sun that rose for you
Begins to set

The blue that is settling
Will get darker
To reveal the stars
That will twinkle in your place

The moon’s ominous grey
illuminates the path
I must now take
Before the dawn

it’s a sign

Often times in Vanuatu you are walking along, minding your own business when suddenly you are confronted by a hilarious sign or graffiti that would make you smile, laugh and nudge your companion so you can both have a giggle.

Here’s just some that made me whip out my camera.

“Love is like an ice cream LINK it before it melts.”

Oh indeed.

Rex & I can’t stop giggling when we saw this.

Whitegrass International Airport; Tanna Island, Vanuatu

“You stole my heart when you say you love me. You break my heart when you say you gonne leave me”

Rex & i loved the poetry.

Whitegrass International Airport; Tanna Island, Vanuatu

you want my WHAT?! checked by security?!

ummmm.. spell check anyone?!!

Whitegrass International Airport; Tanna Island, Vanuatu

breakfast at tilly’s

“your coffee’s getting cold”

I roll over in bed at around 8 AM to see messages like this 2 – 3 times a week from my favourite breakfast buddies Osama & Rust. These two don’t give any warning. No questions asked. Nothing gets me out of bed faster than demanding messages from them. I jump in the shower. Pull something out of the closet. Brush. Blush. Gloss. Plait hair. and I’m out the door before my coffee gets cold.

Random days just require crazy breakfast sessions whether it be because one of us is feeling sad or happy but most of the time it’s just that the three of us are just plain bored and need laughter to start our days.

We meet up at Tilly’s a beautiful place for brekky where the staff knows their names and let them get away with their wild early morning antics & our loud uncontrolled laughter. Nobody has the nerve to kick them out even when they pull their silliest stunts in a room full of serious business men and ladies who brunch because they order two full breakfasts and coffees too often. Besides.. it’s Vanuatu. You can get away with everything almost anything here.

The view is often spectacular, the coffee is tolerable and the food is devoured within 5 minutes.

View from our usual table

But it’s not about the food. Not about the food that goes to the tummy anyway. We’re all for food that nourish the soul. Our breakfasts often start with serious talk. Well as serious as we can get before 10 AM anyway. News, plans, gossip, life altering decisions and relationships for the first 10-30 minutes.

But what our brekky sessions are reknowned for is the inappropriate content of our conversations. Our topics range from very straightforward, cringe-making, squirm-inducing “adult talk” (better known as overshare) to Rust’s previous life death defying stunts (I’m talking about base jumping here. No kidding) to disgusting, multicultural poop stories. All these before the second cup of coffee. It’s great. It is amazing how we never run out of stories, jokes and x-rated talk. We literally laugh till our tummies hurt & water is spurted out of noses. There’s no better way to start the day. Some people go their whole lives without laughing as much as we do in just one breakfast session.

Osama after another one of our marathon laughing fits

Rust & his “O” face

Some things that have happened during our breakfasts make the rounds and we hear about it that same arvo from someone who wasn’t even there. Like the time Osama stood up on top of our table, peppered his feet & had Rust lick the pepper off and then casually stepped off the table & sat down like nothing happened. All this while about a dozen old ladies stopped enjoying their omelettes to stare at a 6+ foot man’s feet being licked clean by a 30+ year old man while a little asian girl berated them both and tried to keep the plates from sliding off the table. True story.

But these two.. I love. They’re the funnest (albeit most embarassing) people to be around but when I have something serious to talk about.. they’re there. They listen to my emotional outbursts, confused blabberings, paranoid delusions and relationship dramas. All ears. Kind hearts. Open minds. No judgments. They don’t even tell me what to do. They just say that I know in my heart what I have to do.. and to do what would ultimately make me happy.

the breakfast club

They both left the other day for a week in Sydney. & they promised to “get me something *burst of laughter* *evil glint*”. I worry. But I miss them sorely. They’re the best morning companions one could ever hope for.

I once told them, much to their delight & utmost appreciation, that ‘in my life you two are the toilet paper. because the shit’s just not complete without you guys.’

I want my loo rolls back. Those two better be there with my flat white with two teaspoons of sugar bursting to tell me stories of the adventures and misadventures they got up to in Sydney.