Around The Island

Before we set off for Tanna, we’d arranged with two other couples to go on a “round the island “ tour. We met up with Aussies Les and Roma, and Kiwis Dave and Renée, in the morning, and set off at 9:30 in a bus driven by Taso, who would be our guide for the day.

Apart from in the capital Port Vila, there’s really only one road in Efate, and that’s the one that goes around the coast. The only choice is whether to go clockwise or anticlockwise. We opted for widdershins, on the basis that we wanted to go swimming. We’d brought snorkels and masks, with the expectation of using them. First stop was at the Blue Lagoon, where Nicola and I went for a quick dip. There were also some other people from our resort who clearly had the same idea and were also doing the same trip as us. The lagoon water was warm, and we splashed about a bit, but the others declined to join us.

Just up the road from the Blue Lagoon was Eton Beach. The winds there were quite strong and there was quite a current outside the reef, so we stuck to the lagoon which was only about a foot or so deep. It would be nice on a less windy day, but we decided not to hang around there for too long as well, and headed to the north of the island, leaving the trade winds behind us and finding the hot springs at Quoin Hill. There we started with a hot spring bath, before moving to the mud pool and covering ourselves in the mud, which “has healing properties” according to the sign. As I climbed out of the mud path I shouted “I can walk! I can walk!” Everyone agreed that this was highly amusing, and advised me to immediately pack in my day job and start a new career as a comedian. We were then hosed down before finishing up in the hottest pool of all.

After drying off, we boarded the bus again and were driven to our lunch destination, Wahoo’s, on Havannah Bay. After placing our lunch order there was time for a quick swim in the bay. Lunch was the local fish, poulet (“chicken fish”) and chips, washed down with the local island brew, Tusker. The service was also at island pace, and we were quite hungry by this stage, so there was a little discernment amongst our fellows when the promised accompaniment of chips failed to arrive. All was resolved In the end.

Unfortunately, due to the length of time we spent at Wahoo’s the final stop of the day was closed by the time we got there. These are the waterfalls at Mele Cascades. We may try to get a trip to them tomorrow, as they are only about 10km from Port Vila.