Wednesday 3rd August
We had a lovely excursion to Mele last night. Our Vanuatu Family picked us up in the big black twin cab ute and Pete and I, prepared for the ride, climbed into the tray with our cushions – luxury! It was a beautiful starry night, and only about 20 minutes drive to our destination. Dara (my niece) did a teaching prac session in this village in 2008; there is now a lovely little beachfront restaurant, selling curry (Pete) and woodfired pizzas (everyone else.) When she was there the village straggled all the way to the beach…now it is all prettified and urbanized. But…one hopes this brings income to the locals. We were very impressed. I was particularly taken with the toilets – they were truly glorious! Clean and beautiful, with stone water basins, liquid soap, paper towels. Posherama! I congratulated the staff and they beamed with well-found pride. Monique and I ordered margaritas… Pete’s G & T arrived swiftly, followed by large glasses of lime juice for Dara (Nursing Mother) and Leah (preggers), and for Mark (DriverMan). Monique warned me that last time her margarita had been nice enough….but warm!! This time…well it took ages for our waiter to scurry about (we could see him anxiously mixing and testing behind the bar). But…the margaritas were so cold and so delicious we had to have another one. Each!!

This morning we struggled away trying to get internet connection – ho hum, samesame… And then at 10-ish we putt-putted into the wharf to buy picnic supplies at Au Bon Marché and to wait for Island Princess (the twin cab ute) to arrive with our Vanuatu family. Monique had brought her own cushion and joined Pete and me in the back for our private tour of the island. Recently – and how lucky for us – the government decided that Efate (the main island, where the capital, Port Vila, is,) would benefit greatly from having a proper bitumen ring road, 160 kilometres around the whole island. Until then the only sealed bit of road was a thirty metre strip built by the Americans during World War II and never mended since then… So our trip would have been a whole world of hurt and discomfort. Mark drove us most expertly, and it was just gorgeous. My only issue (yes ofcourse it is all about ME ME ME…) was that sitting facing backwards made me feel – yes! – sick sick sickedy sick!! Sigh sigh never mind; it wasn’t that bad and I greatly enjoyed the tour. When we got back to 2XS I peeled a few potatoes for dinner, in a fairly lackluster fashion, and then Pete took over and whisked up a very nice meal – lots of veggies from the market, and some local steak.

We stopped at Eton Beach for our lunch, and for a swim. What a beautiful place! Monique and I were the only ones brave enough to face the chill – it was only about 27, and the water was probably about 23… There is a sheltered little lagoon area, with a deep blue hole fed by the nearby stream. We swam into this and bobbed about, enjoying the peace and calm while the ocean roared away just across the rocks. Mark swam in the stream; he doesn’t like salt water. We walked over and threw breadcrumbs to him, and to the tiny fish swirling about hoping for a feed.

The US Army in Vanuatu? Did I hear your ears prick up?? No it wasn’t a great scene of carnage or part of the masterplan, and I gather the soldiers based here got heartily bored. They contributed a few things to this country:
Some additions to the gene pool…
A pesty vine which is growing all over the island, smothering everything very thoroughly. They planted it to camouflage their army vehicles from…nobody at all…
A very ugly swimming pool, labeled as “The American Pool,” by the side of the road, right next to a gorgeous beach with crystal clear azure water. The pool is a square concrete box…
A whole lot of coke bottles, which had been hurled into the sea. Locals dive for them and sell them at a roadside stall. They must have drunk LOTS of coke – how long is it since WWII??? 1945 is a long long time ago….
Possibly the highlight of our trip was a visit to Mark’s mother, Taushi. She teaches at a village school in Ekipe, about halfway around the island. She lives in a little hut in the village and was waiting for us with the most huge white smile in the world. She is a small, neat woman, warm and kind, and she just adores her Tasmanian family. She regards Dara as another daughter; she had been teaching at the school in Mele when Dara was doing her prac there, and she is also delighted beyond words to have beautiful Leah as her daughter-in-law.

Richard and the volcano:
I am glad you went to Port Resolution.
After my last sailing trip to Vanuatu I flew down to Tanna from Lugganville on Santo to have a look at the Yasur volcano.
I phoned ahead and was to meet Wherry from the Port Resolution Yacht Club at the Airport for a three day stay.
When I arrived (about 4 pm) there was no one there but after half an hour or so and being reassured by some local people, he arrived.
The only problem was he could not locate his ute. He took off again in someone else's ute leaving me patiently waiting until he arrived after another half hour - some one had driven it into Lenakel!
Next came the ride across the island. It was dark when we started and just like your ride we stopped and started, picking up and dropping off people and stuff along the way.
It got very cold about midnight in the back of the ute but fortunately I was able to reach into my pack and get my warm sailing jacket - not so good for the others though who were freezing.
We went north and then onto the east coast and a pitch black Jon Frum cargo cult village then over the moonscape, coughing and spluttering in the ash from the unseen volcano arriving at Port Resolution at 1.1.00 am.
Quite a place ha?
The next morning I went around the bay to the boiling sand that you described and looked around the school near the Yacht Club.
When I came back Wherry said he needed my hut for a BBC film crew and I could stay with his brother in law Kelsen at Jungle Oasis near the volcano.
Back into the ute I went, passing the incoming film crew on the way, and getting a bit annoyed by now.
My stay at the Jungle Oasis was amazing. It was a bit like the Yacht Club but not so grand? and I was awakened several times in the night by the sound of the volcano which is about 1.5 ks away and by earthquakes which shook and swayed the slightly built hut on its wooden stilts.
Next day Kelsen organised a guide who (very cheaply) walked me up to the rim for the evening fireworks display. Amazing, awesome, wonderful spectacle as you said.

Monique, Dara, Leah and Mark at the volcano:
They all took a trip to Tanna in 2008, and, like Richard, stayed at the Jungle Oasis. (I don’t think I mentioned that Pete and I met the owner of this little establishment when we were on our long walk to Yasur. He appeared out of the bushes, as people do, all along any road or track in Vanuatu, and introduced himself. A very nicely spoken man, maybe in his fifties. He asked us if we had heard of Jungle Oasis and was a bit perplexed when we apologetically said no… “But…we are in Lonely Planet Guide!”)
Our Tasmanian Vanuatu girls unwisely wore white… They breathed, swallowed and endured many waves of volcanic ash on the ride there and all through their stay. Everything inside and outside their hut was lined with ash – the wind must have been blowing just the wrong way that day. When they were sitting having their dinner, Dara was in an interesting kava-induced state of mind. “Woohoo!’ she said, vaguely, looking at the rippling curtains. Monique, kava-less, looked at them more sharply. “Rats!” And yes a whole family of rats were running around behind the curtain. They leapt out onto a beam and galloped across the ceiling to indulge in a bit of fighting right above their heads. (Apparently there are lots of rats in Vanuatu; so far we haven’t seen a single one. A treat in store!)
Their trip up the volcano was very dramatic – how could it be otherwise? They had a guide, who was very frightened and wouldn’t go anywhere near the crater edge. Apparently someone was killed there recently – a thwacking great lump molten lava flew out of the volcano and hit them on the head. They remained safe from such threats and enjoyed it all very much and were mightily impressed as they gulped in great lungs-ful of ash and surveyed their once-white clothes with some dismay.