Welkam to Vanuatu!

Our Island Girl!

We had a weeks holiday in Vanuatu in July which was fantastic! the people and the islands are so relaxed, friendly and beautiful.  Would have been happy to be marooned a while longer there!



Cheesy grins


Vanuatu is only a 3 hr flight away and is really easy to get around. It is a collection of 83 islands the main ones being Efate (Port Villa is the main town), Espiritu Santo, Malakula and Tanna. The ni-Vanuatu people are a Melanesian race, speaking Bislama a unique language mixed with Vanuatu versions of local, French and English languages. The population is around 200,000 people. 


Traditional fishing


Vanuatu was first discovered by European Spanish explorers in 1606, then Cook in 1774 who named the islands New Hebrides.  Then in 1848 the first missionaries arrived, settlement lead to the introduction of disease and a huge population decline. But they stopped the cannibalism and even though the country is very Christian (evident by the number of churches and missionary institutions) the people have still maintained a lot of their traditional ways and culture (kastom).  In 1906 the British and French shared powers over Vanuatu which lead to the French influence, and then in 1980 Vanuatu gained its independence. History in a nut shell!

Little kids on Tanna Is



Market in Port Villa


Amazingly to our eyes the people have still maintained their traditional village life, obviously they are a poor nation and housing is typically woven palm leaf in the country areas, they also live simply growing their own food and selling surplus at the markets or road side stalls. They have chickens and pigs wandering around for fresh protein and fishing is a pass time.  Tourism is becoming a major employer, lots of taxi drivers that can take you around the island cheaply and tour groups.  So far no horrible Western chain stores yet.  We found out that the people don't pay taxes so it is a user pays system which means education and health is not always accessible for everyone. They do pay sales tax on goods purchased but theres not much shopping here. You realise how lucky you are when you take it for granted the free health and education like in Australia.

However they say Vanuatu is the happiest country in the world, and we can see the benefits of living a simple life.  We certainly enjoyed out time here.


Catching the ferry to Erakor Is


So what did we do, we stayed out of town at Le Lagon a resort which was nice but found ourselves venturing out every day to explore.  I did have visions originally when booking the holiday of lounging around, reading a book and soaking up the sun, but there was so much to do! We hung out on Erakor Is alot, went to Hideaway Is to go snorkeling and post a water proof post card in the underwater post box, flew to Tanna Is to see up close the active volcano and explored the Mele Cascade falls.  We are definitely going back!



Hanging at Hideaway Is!