Les Alizes Port Vila

... the driver that the path to the cascades was closed. We tried our best to appeal and beg and even considered putting on our most pathetic, sympathy inducing looks but they just stood there, shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders, so it was an early ride back to the hotel, an early dinner, and an early night.<br><br>Our holiday certainly did not get off to the best start, but we had faith that things could only go uphill from there, and what an uphill climb it was!

... rat did not help things. If I went back I would stay at Paradise Cover and/or Hideaway Island. Port Vila istelf is a great town and the Vanuatu people are fantastic. Best exchange rate was by far at Goodies - Sydney airport offered 70 cents for a 100 vat. At Goodies we got between 82 and 84 for our dollar. What an Australian rip off. Bon Marche numbertwo (cannot remember the right spelling) was definitely the best place to shop - but don't ...

... a cliff top overlooking a bay, and Captain Cooks Hat, a sort of rocky island in the middle. The most important advantage of this though was the sea breeze which keeps it fresh. Once again we got a honeymoon deal, for just 3,000 a night. The staff were overboard friendly and they even had a litter of kittens to keep all the guests entertained. What we only found out later was that the staff were being paid really poorly, so it's a sign of their warm hospitable nature ...

... s have it easy at the village since we don't have much to: we don't have to go thru the process of gathering or catching food, preparing food, cleaning the dishes, washing our clothes, etc. We'll all learn those things during our stay at the village but we don't have to do them on a daily basis like the villagers do. For lunch all the mamas cook for the training group. It's a buffet feast and it's the meal that I most look forward to because there is so much ...

... Total area of Vanuatu 860,000 sq km. Only 12,200 sq km is land. In true free spirit style I left the airport &amp; wondered into town to try &amp; find some accommodation for the next few nights. Along the way I met up with a local Vanuaton man who said I could call him Richard. This was my first taste of just how friendly these people are. He walked with me &amp; pointed out all the local places of interest &amp; where would be a good place to seek further ...

... went on for a bit longer and I asked "Did anyone feel the deck move?" but it appeared as though I was alone in the earth moving thing... but we later discovered that Vanuatu had been shaken by TWO BIG EARTHQUAKES!! Holy moly... that's exciting. Day Three My stomach is still a little upset but not enough to hold me back from exploring the mainland. The markets were open and were huge! Food &amp; vege markets are open 24hrs (except Sundays of course) and ...

... are not paid then the children don't go to school. Some parents raise the money for school fees by begging tourists when them come on the luxury Cruise Ships once a month. Others buy baking ingredients and bake 'Kato' or cakes/sweet breads for the students to buy during breaktime. Those with vegetables and fruit trees growing on their land will send their kids to school with bags of fruit or vegetables for the students to buy at breaktime. The food is all laid out ...

So, here is the low down. We arrived Saturday to Independance Day Celebrations. Sunday we walked around a bit to get our earings and Every day since then has been spent in a seminar on Coral Reef protection program just being implemented and we are now the new amassadors for it. And we are now trained to do data checks on the reef here. It taught us alot about local corals and fish in the area but we have been in a small village ...

... film and there are claims that there's hardly any fish left there now. Fortunately this proved not to be the case well certainly in the places we were diving. Tranquility Island Resort, Moso Hat Island, on the way to Moso Island The beach at Moso Island Anenome Fish, Moso Island Swim through, Moso Island Crocodile Fish, Moso Island Random Fish, Moso Island Anenome Fish, Moso Island ...

... of a mere four numbers. In two days (much of which has been spent conserving energy by the pool and soaking up some well deserved UV rays) I've seen the registration '2' on a delapidated pick up truck and '007' on a car that would have made James Bond wince, even by the low standards out here. Activity has been low on the list of priorities thus far but I managed a poor attempt at a round of golf, suffering the indignity of having to pay a 'lost ball ...