Vanuatu Day 1: At Home in Paradise

Before this trip, I didn't know anything about Vanuatu. I finished up a few school assignments (1 a week early which has never happened before) and off I went. Based on a few bits of random advice, I brought some food and expected the worst. Vanuatu consists of over 80 fairly small islands. I went to Efate to start with because it was the cheapest/most accessible from Brisbane. Port Vila is the main 'city.'

As I walked down the stairs off the airplane, I felt immediately at home. All I could see was endless green vegetation and blue skies. It was similar to Hawaii, just without the scent of plumeria in the air. The tropical warmth and feel was intoxication and I soaked it up willingly.

I took a taxi to the hotel I planned on staying at. The taxi was a rip-off ($18) and the accommodations which I had been told were back packer style had morphed within 2 years to ‘resort’ style. I figured it would suffice for one night even though a bit out of my budget. I quickly remembered that patience and going with flow is key to island living.

By the time I got settled in, it was definitely time for a beverage so I changed clothes and headed into ‘town’ (Port Vila). I found a great little café right on the water but was almost immediately disappointed to find out that there was free wireless access after 3pm. This was not where I wanted to be. I collected my overpriced but strong cocktail from the nice man with pink fingernail polish and settled in for some people watching and reflecting. I was surprised to see a version of drunk Jenga at the café. I was also surprised at the lack of young non-touristy backpacker styles.

In my experience, most males have a fascination with transportation vessels whether it is cars, motorcycles, boats or whatever. As previous boyfriends mentioned fantasies about life on a sailboat, I would immediately tune out and go to my fantasy of life on my own island. But, for the first time, I watched people taking their dinghy's in from the big boats anchored just outside the harbor and I wanted to be one of them. Surely I could overcome my motion sickness tendencies if it meant complete freedom.