I would never have guessed that I would have the best steak of my life on a small tropic island in the Pacific Ocean, but I did. Vanuatu was surprising at every step – from the food, the atmosphere of the main city Port Vila, the friendless of the ni-Vanuatu people, the extremes of wealth and poverty, to the lush surroundings and pristine beaches – Vanuatu has it all.
Planning:
Realising that we had four consecutive nights over the Xmas break where Darryl didn’t have to work allowed us the chance to get away for a few days. So we looked at a world map, drew an imaginary 3 hour travel ring around Auckland as a departure point and I started exploring flight options. Using Skyscanner and Expedia initially I looked at how much flights were going to cost to find our destination. This was a departure from how we normally travel (looking at where we’d want to go and finding a time to make it work) but the aim of this holiday was two-fold – rest and relaxation and a childless holiday. N.B. Caleb was away on a school trip to Vietnam and Cambodia so we were not negligent parents who left him behind.
I reasoned that the cost of the flights was going to be our greatest expense; accommodation would be the same no matter where we ended up. We were working to a criteria for our short getaway:
- Somewhere to swim
- Somewhere we could relax and do nothing
- Somewhere we could do various things in case we got sick of doing nothing
- Closer to home – 3 hour flying time, max
Initially I imagined that we would end up in Sydney or Melbourne. However, by clicking through Expedia I found really cheap flights to Port Vila in Vanuatu. By shopping around, I managed to snag return flights for both of us for about $500 NZD each, whereas we were looking at about $850 to fly to Australia return. We flew over on Air New Zealand and returned on Air Vanuatu.
Next step was to find somewhere to stay. Thankfully, Expedia had amazing deals on flights and hotels. So we booked into Mangoes Resort. The attraction there? It was an R18 resort – not in a fifty shades of grey way but no children allowed. Normally, this wouldn’t worry me but as this was our first trip way without Caleb, we thought that we should branch out a little. And branch out we did by booking a lagoon side room with a private pool.
Sleep:
We booked into a lagoon view pool bungalow and it did not disappoint. The room was spacious, included indoor and outdoor seating and a small kitchenette which served our needs. The bungalow was private and even though we had neighbours near us, we never felt overlooked. The private pool was sufficiently deep and cool for those hot, muggy afternoons.
Right below our bungalow was a walkway frequented by locals and tourists alike and even when lounging out on the deck, we felt a connection to the town around us. We ate at the on-site restaurant, enjoying great food and delicious cocktails. We also took advantage of the room service options when the weather turned on us and we didn’t feel like walking into town.
Mangoes is a short walk up from the main town – about 15 mins – but feels far away enough from the action that we felt rested and relaxed. I would stay again and recommend this accommodation to all.
Do:
Climb the Mele Cascades waterfall
While there was a small admission fee to get into the falls, they are completely worth the visit. The weather was not stunning while we were here but a little drizzle didn’t put us off. The walk through to the waterfall is pleasant – we were dry walking in one direction with other towel-clad people walking back to the pools at the bottom. The falls themselves are easy to climb – they have handrails up the rocks and the water flow is completely manageable. Darryl and I climbed in bare feet and never felt uneasy. The water was clear and tepid.
Snorkel on Hideaway Island
This was such a highlight for me. I am a natural water baby – I actually do better in the water than on land and the snorkeling here did not disappoint. We hired gear and paid our admission fee to the island by credit card. This seemed quite reasonable at 2472.00 VT (approx. $31.50) for both of us.
The water was clear and visibility was really good. Walking down the coral beach was a little sore on the feet but this was all sorted once we were in the water. A highlight here is the underwater Post Office. I didn’t post a letter here but did dive down the 3 metres and swim through (and received the fright of my life when a fish was swimming towards me from the other entrance!)
True to Vanuatu style, kids were diving off a capsized yacht as we were coming back to the mainland on the ferry. Completely relaxed, full of laughter. Darryl and I took the time to appreciate the chilled atmosphere here.
Coongoola Day Cruise
Through the on-site travel agent at Mangoes we booked a day trip on the Coongoola out to a turtle sanctuary and on to Moso Island. The cost of the trip was about $100 NZD per person but this covered transfers to the boat, lunch, entry to the turtle sanctuary as well as use of snorkel gear. The boat is a lovely old lady – all timber decks and sails. We headed to the turtle sanctuary first where we learned about the conservation efforts and were able to pick up some of the older turtles.
Then we headed around the island to Moso beach, our private beach for the day. From here we snorkeled on two different reefs – I even managed to meet one of my bucket list achievements of swimming with sharks on the second reef. The lunch was a BBQ cooked on the beach and enjoyed in the shaded seating area. The beach itself could have been from a film set – the pristine white sand was complemented by the gently lapping waves of the crystal clear water – clichéd enough? The only downside of the day – neither Darryl nor I applied sufficient sunscreen when out in the water (without rash vests) and we were both burnt to a crisp, Darryl ended up with 2nd degree burns. Be sunsmart people!
Eat:
On the night of my birthday, we found that stunning steak I mentioned above. The restaurant overlooks Iririki Island and is right on the water. It is a little out-of-town, just near the casino. We went for an easy dinner and were so surprised by both the quality and cost of the meal. We started with steak tartare, my husband had fish of the day for his main whereas I chose (thankfully no food envy here) the filet mignon and dauphinoise potatoes. Bliss!
Our meal cost 8901 VT (approx. $113 NZD) for two, including drinks.
This was the location of our Christmas night dinner. We made the silly mistake of thinking that the restaurant was within walking distance (it was a stretch too far) and as it is out-of-town, down an unlit road, we did contemplate turning back several times. Thankfully, my wise husband convinced me to stop complaining and just leg it and we arrived a little late for our reservation but this did not seem to be a problem.
I ordered duck poppers for my starter, which came with gorgeous mangoes. We had planned on ordering the flying fox (being adventurous!) but this was not available.
Our meal cost 14940 VT (approx. $190 NZD) for two. The prices were more expensive here compared to our previous night’s dinner but the wine, service and atmosphere indicated that we had jumped up the echelons of dining experience. Totally worth it still.
Getting around:
Walking is the obvious choice around Port Vila. We hired a local taxi driver to take us sightseeing one day and negotiated a set fee for the day. This wasn’t heinously expensive but not that cheap either. Our driver took us up to the Cascades and then on to Hideaway. We thought that we had negotiated a full day but he had simply had enough of working so wanted to drop leave us at Hideaway. There were a few panicked moments as we didn’t think that we had enough cash to pay him (albeit it a reduced fee), get entrance to the island, and get home again. Thankfully, we had our credit card to cover island entrance fees and then caught a local “bus”.
From that point on, “bus” was the way we traveled. The only reason I use inverted commas is that these buses seem like the most rickety, unreliable and unsafe ways of getting around. The small vans don’t seem to have any panels that match, or working suspension, and they just hoon around the island. You can tell a bus by the “B” on the number plate. Simply flag it down, say where you need to go and you get dropped off there. For a fraction of the price of a taxi. I think that we paid 100VT per person per trip (less than $1 NZD).
Tips and tricks:
- Don’t forget your good camera, the iPhone just didn’t capture it (apologies for less than ideal photos!)
- Make sure that you wear plenty of sunscreen when out in the water- second degree burns were not fun to deal with.
- Catch the local “bus” – it is cheap, safe and a cool way to meet locals
- Eat! Vanuatu fare is amazing and next time I’m keen to try some ni-Vanuatu specialities alongside the french food options.
- Stock up on water and other non-alcoholic drinks at the local supermarket. It is right in the heart of town and well-stocked.
- Walk everywhere – bring good walking shoes!
- Relax – this is a very safe country to travel in, enjoy the island lifestyle
- Be prepared for some scenes of poverty – Vanuatu is a third world county and frequent cyclones (like Cyclone Pam in 2015) take their toll on this small island nation. While there, give generously.
- DO NOT TIP! This is culturally inappropriate in Vanuatu. Good manners and a welcome smile will do it.
The Peterson Odyssey 