The photos are out of order. The top one is after church service havng a meal in a local village. The next two at the air port
We have been in Port Vila for 5 nights. I (Jon) made a rather dumb mistake when getting the airfares sussed – I didn’t ensure they were return so when we arrived in Port Vila, customs would not let us in (if I didn’t purchase return tickets to Auckland they would have put us on the next plane out of Vanuatu). The tickets were rather expensive but apparently can be canceled with a full refund (a slight fee). So not a good way to start our adventure.
Arriving – the kids excited
In away we'd rather be in Talua, we would like to know what Talua will be like. On the other hand this is a time to catch-up on sleep, spend time learning Bislama and give some time to adjust to a new culture then straight to Talua. (the Pearsons have satellite TV, at Southerland House we have power 24/7 where as in Talua its going to be 3 hrs per night, a 40 minute drive from the nearest town, no TV and who knows what the internet connection will be like).
Airport Welcoming Committee
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Woa – it’s hot, then the cool music in the airport (welcoming committee) – but then the 1½ hr wait in customs. When driving from the airport into town on the back of the ute (enjoy not wearing seatbelts) How can they live like this? It seems pretty budget – like the houses are pretty rough. Seems same to Tonga.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST?
Connie – Gobbies (Ghecko’s – has gone from worst thing to best over a couple of days)
William – swimming
Simon – snorkeling/standing up in church (you get a chance to cool down & loosen up the clothing – get some air moving)
Phillip – snorkeling at Hideaway Island/fruit
Vivienne – tropical flowers/smiling faces/lush greenness around
Jon – mangoes/visiting village/chatting with Roy/ceiling fans/the usefulness of MP3 as compared to music on CD’s/having close family time – card games etc./giving the family new experiences
DISLIKE THE MOST?
Connie – don’t like walking everywhere in the heat
William – bugs landing in my drinks (it only happened once)
Simon – the cockroaches that are about 2 inches long/the house (Southerland House “it’s pretty cruddy”)
Phillip – the heat around midday
Vivienne – not being settled/the hight cost of living in Port Vila/not understanding the language and not understanding the exchange rate/not being able to keep up with the news/cockroaches/swollen feet & ankles/don’t like being considered by everyone as a rich white tourist spending up large
Jon – living in busy Port Vila – would rather be in Talua and be able to know what the year will be like/remoteness/lack of connectivity/miss technology/being here in a different context. i.e. the last couple of times I was here were only for a few days – this time its for a year, last time it was a different group of people and that group created memories, this time it’s a different group – my family (and it’s great having the family here) yet it is different for me and some expectations based on those past memories are now different. And in bringing my family there are different levels of responsibilities compared to the previous group where there was a level of yahooness and carefreeness plus more adult conversation then what children bring.
Meal in church after the service in village 25 minutes out of Port Vila
What is Port Vila like?
A tourist town, selling lots of stuff for that tourist market. Heaps of small Van’s (“buses”) and taxis running around taking people from A to B.
It is a strange mix, poor people living in the town still living a kind of olden way of having a garden (somewhere) which grows most of their food, and western people going to the supermarket buying expensive food (western food is more expensive than in NZ – just about anything one can buy in New World Tauranga one can buy in Port Vila) A ½ hour drive out of Port Vila people live in villages, the old way, with no electricity, subsistence living. (As villages get power – for the first month they love it, until the power bill arrives and they turn it off – I guess till they work out a form of moderation).
