Port Vila, Vanuatu

So I'm a little behind with the posting.  My brain has been busy thinking up quilt patterns lately to the point that it keeps me up at night.  Sad, I know.  I wrote of the wonders of Tanna, Vanuatu but neglected to write about Port Vila so here goes.

We arrived into Port Vila late Friday night and stayed at the casino hotel right in the middle of the downtown area.  It was right on the water, but one of those places that made us glad to be leaving the next morning.  It was just a stop over on the way to Tanna.

Iriki Island from Port Vila

After a few days on Tanna we returned to Port Vila and stayed at Nasama Resort on Erakor Bay.  It was a little ways out from town which was exactly what we were looking for.  We had heard that food was very pricey in Vanuatu so booked a place with a kitchen in preparation.  This worked out very well because we didn't have to go out for every meal.  We could just hop on a "bus" (any mini van with a B on the license plate) and for $1.50 each way stock up on food and the local Tuskers beer at the market.

horrible view from our resort

On the occasions that we did go out one of the things I couldn't get enough of was lime juice.  It was a lot like lemon aid (American lemon aid that is), just made with limes.  So good for a warm day on the beach.

We were pretty tired after relaxing on Tanna so we spent most of our time in Port Vila sitting around the pool reading.  We walked up the road to golf at a neighbouring resort one day.

golf day

Another day we took a ferry to Erakor Island where we sat on the beach and stared at the bay from a different direction.   The neat thing about Erakor Island was the water was absolutely covered with giant starfish.  It was truly amazing to see how many there were in their natural habitat.  These starfish were red and orange where as the starfish at our resort just 500 metres away were blue.  

Our resort is in the background.  No starfish were touched in the taking of this picture.

I was very excited with the starfish :)  Can't same the same about the no touching with this one though.

The makings of a new palm tree to lie under.

Erakor Resort had a Malanesian Feast and show and we enjoyed the music and fire dancing after the feast.  

The band - I loved how one guy played the bottles.

silly tourists!

Fire dancing

We also took a kayak around the bay and explored the sea life from the water.  And then the rest of the time we sat by the pool and read some more.  It rained the last couple days we were there but it was warm rain by Melbourne standards so we sat around the pool and read some more.

Sitting by the pool enjoying the rainbow in the distance.

The last day we tried to go on another adventure (more on that later) but unfortunately were rained out. But now I know exactly what we're going to do on our next trip to Vanuatu!

Phil preferred Fiji to Vanuatu, but I think he's just comparing the all-inclusive heaven of a resort we stayed at in Fiji (Nukubati Island).  As far as the city areas go I much preferred Vanuatu.  It was so easy and cheap to get around with the buses and there were lots of options for food.  I didn't feel as nervous walking through the main town in Port Vila as I did in Nadi.  Also, in Vanuatu it is rude to bargain, so the people seemed a lot less shady from a tourist perspective.  

That's it for us with tropical beaches for awhile, the next chapter in the Crazy Adventures in the Southern Hemisphere tour is snow shoeing up the highest mountain in Australia with my brother in a few weeks.  I think we will have to take more luggage for that trip!