Day 3 Thursday 9th July 2015 - Round Island Tour

Bear with me on this one, as this is a bit like a Pearl Penny Travelogue and slides.

Up early this morning for the Round Island Tour. Our neighbours had warned us that they waited outside the office to get their tour and had been picked up by an unscrupulous bus driver so no commentary, no free lunch etc just a drive around the island. (After our experience with a bus driver we were very wary) What a shame, as our tour guide Glen and driver Noah were excellent. We were joined by an Australian family of Paul and Bonnie with teenagers Breanna, Tuela and Liam. We passed the main Tribal meeting house woven in colours of red, green and yellow - same as their flag. This large traditional structure had been badly damaged in the cyclone and would take quite some effort to repair.

Then passed the Parliament which has frequently changing Prime Ministers. With 83 inhabited islands and 120 languages they all use a sort of Pigeon English now. Vanuatu is part of the Commonwealth and will host CHOGM in 2017 - they hope to get the roads fixed by then!!

They are also building a new sports stadium for part of the South Pacific Games

We drove on passed the University of the South Pacific. Vanuatu has the faculties of Law and Sports (Fiji has medicine, PNG has engineering etc).
The countryside is made up of area of flat land which rises steeply into Volcanic highlands which are virtually uninhabited. The appalling roads make way for the Round Island road built by Downer (NZ firm with funding from The Millenium Challenge and the New Zealand government) They also had to replace many bridges so while this looks like a bit of a wreck it is just a very out of date structure.

Our first stop is the Blue Lagoon and we pop in for a dip. Not much snorkelling joy as it is part freshwater, part salt, but it is very refreshing. Fresh fruit and kumara and taro chips are provided for morning tea.

Back on the bus then a stop to walk through the aerial roots of the Banyan Tree.

 Glen and Breanna come out of the root "Maze"

 We had a stop at a school at Epao where the children sang so lustily some of them had to block there ears.

 A lot of the resources of the school were damaged in the cyclone, but I think by the time all the cyclone aid has been distributed they may be in a better situation than before. Lets hope so.

Naturally we were invited to give them a donation - which we did.

Back down to the sea shore with its heaps of broken coral - they used this as a substrate to the road around the island.

We waited there for our visit to Taka custom village. This man put down the challenge...

and then we were rushed by a group of tribal warriors.....

and finally the chief can along with his cycad branches of peace and we were escorted into the village.

Round their feet they had seed pods which acted like a rattle. It emphasised their foot movements which would otherwise be lost on the sand

This little guy stole the show. He was SO earnest! probably only 3yrs, he knew all the moves and at any stage he wasn't sure he watched the men and launched into the next sequence.

The dances were short and not boring at all

Duncan and the others had a peaceful group shot....

Obviously they fancied me and I was taken hostage!!

Now the lunch was a typical meal and since much of the fruit had been wiped out by the cyclone so root vegetables were the main staple. The tapioca and coconut cream was my least favourite!

This incredible coloured lizard was on display.

Here is Duncan at the lunch - looking very like his father.

Next it was onto the hot springs and volcanic mud.

Interestingly Duncan had an irritated foot through running with sand in his sock. After this treatment the rash had gone.

Tuela had bad acne and the lady persuaded her to have it as a mud pack on her face. (applying in photo below) By the end of the end both Duncan and I noticed how greatly her complexion had improved.

Close up of Tuela's face mask

Round round the top of the island. Here are some shots of the countryside. The Americans had a field hospital up here during the second world war, but the order was to destroy all buildings and they dumped tanks and trucks and empty drums etc into the sea. They are NOT fondly remembered.

Many of the traditional fale look damaged after the cyclone, but the motivation - or perhaps the skills to repair them seemed to be missing. I kept saying - all they need is proper roofing lessons and a town planner and the island would not suffer such damage.

They are very proud of their organic beef - you can just see a bit in the shot below. It almost seems incongruous in the tropical landscape. We had mixed experiences with it on the dinner plate.

The last next two photos show the huge devastation caused by "Mile -a- minute" weed introduced by the Americans as a camouflage  for their activities during the war. In a tropical setting it just went wild and the only way to reduce it is by fire.

We stopped at a snorkelling point but Duncan said it wasn't all that good, so I sat in the rotunda and enjoyed a cup of tea. On to the last point where they process coffee grown on Tanna Island (where the volcano is)

Beans before roasting

The finished product

And finally, just before 5 o'clock we made it back to our accommodation. A quick freshen up and we went to the Stone grill Cafe to sample some of that Organic beef - a very good experience this time.

A week in the Tropics - Day one and two

Tuesday, 7th July 2015
An early start this morning with a pelting shower as we arrived in Auckland. However it soon stopped and we walked to the overseas terminal in time to get some Vatu currency before boarding the airbus - very cramped - you can't stand up at your seat. I watched "Gone Girl" but the vital 11 minutes were interrupted by landing procedures. (The flight was just over 3 hours). We had a transfer arranged to Nasama Resort, and our unit is right on the beachfront.

We were tempted by the massage Buree, but in the end didn't get a massage. View from unit.

We decided to visit the supermarket using the "bus" service which is a series of minivans with B on their numberplates. We had a very unpleasant trip with the driver haranguing us about what trips he would take us on. That, and the appalling roads, were a rude introduction to Vanuatu life.
However we enjoyed a Tapas Platter for dinner at the Nasama restaurant.

 Day 2 Wednesday 8th July 2015
A sunny day so we swam in the sea and then in the pool, and read our books and magazines. We bought a nice french stick at the shop just up the road for lunch. Duncan went for a short run and I had a nap.

Trying some beer at lunch-time

The back view of the new bathing suit!!

Loungers by the pool

Front view of the new bathing suit

 We went to Le Jardin des Saveurs for dinner  early as we walked and it gets very dark quite quickly from about 5.30pm. The restaurant wasn't open till 6.00pm but they grudgingly let us in early. The menu and winelist (and owner and chef) were French. The highlight was our entrees, but I couldn't resist the chocolate souffle for dessert.

The little crispy dumplings on sticks are filled with creamy goats cheese (hot) and the melon balls had a angostura bitters dressing.

Chocolate mousse

Creamy garlic snails in a toasted brioche

 We got a Bus home. There are very few birds around but the moths and butterflies are huge!!

What we did with Theo

Last weekend we hopped in the car at Friday lunchtime and went off to Hamilton. Good trip up and not nearly as much wet weather as we had expected. Simon cooked tea and we settled in.
Next morning we were left in charge while Simon and Jackie had a night in Thames. What a shame the weather wasn't nicer. We had to go up town so that I could get some paper from the Trade Aid place for a market day project. We decided to grab a bite at Sierra  and Theo picked his own - but then we had a bit of sharing around. A good place to go as we got a Gold Card discount of 10%!

 Then back to do the serious playing! There were stickers for the sticker book.

 A rather hardened set of playdoh which we moistened with water which was very messy, but with a huge amount of enjoyment.

 In the odd bright break there were games of soccer and a new variant of Piggy -in-the-middle. I've never used those rules before.

 Duncan felt that a bit of rough and tumble was called for. "No Grandad, you have to do that on the bed or you'll get hurt" Simon texted a few times during the day. We were doing OK as babysitters - never heard him cry once.

 Next was a visit to Barry and Liz who are in reasonable health and looking forward to their campervan tour in Oz with Wren and Margaret. After playing very quietly for over an hour Theo said, "I want to go home now" Placated with another piece of Liz's shortbread we managed to stay another half hour. What a good little chap!
Dinner, bath and bed and at least three books and he went off to sleep and we didn't hear from him apart from snoring until the morning, although I did go in and straighten him up a couple of times.

Sunday was another miserable day , so it was more inside activities like the old favourite of making a house with blankets and chairs and the sofa.

The miserable weather meant that Simon and Jackie were home just after two - I think that they were a little underwhelmed by the welcome they got. Theo just kept on playing - but it was nice to have a snuggle in the deconstructed house.

I had cooked dinner, but not being used to the oven it was not too brilliant. Will pay to go out next time! Then we were allowed the TV on to watch Dancing with the stars - they don't watch too much TV in that house which is why Theo has such wonderful powers of concentration for a 3 1/2 year old.

Time to go on Monday morning - a ferocious farewell from this little lion! We didn't have much rain again on the trip home but it got very cold going over Traffords Hill - 4 degrees and the Waioeka was running very fully with lots of waterfalls - Not a day to be doing the Tauranga Bridge crossing!!
PS I think Duncan has been able to fix his glasses that got mangled in the rough and tumble!

Hard Core Climbers

Queen's Birthday weekend allowed us time to get down to Dunedin. Both Duncan and I had very fraught mornings, but everything worked out OK and we arrived in Dunedin about 5 pm. Millie had prepared butterchicken which Jill put the finishing touches to as Millie had  ice-skating, and Jill had handmade Naan bread. This delicious meal was finished with mango mousse.
It was cold and dull the next morning which was a shopping expedition. Grandad and Alex went off to hunt down shoes - Alex chose bright pink Vans, while Duncan went for something more restrained in grey and a pair of slippers. We got Millie a skirted black coat which I hardly saw her out of, Jill  and  I got Kumfs, (hers were boots with zips and small studs and mine had tigerskin) and I bought Jill a leather handbag as an early birthday present.
We went out to lunch at Ironic, and since most of us had Mexican meals we managed to knock off a nice bottle of Spanish wine before heading home for a nap. A nice easy meal of soup and ciabatta for dinner and then we watched a documentary from Netflicks, starting with the lady who burned herself on MacDonalds coffee and continuing with an insight into the corrupt judicial system in the US.

Next morning Duncan went off to play golf with some optos. We were both a bit shocked at how dark it was just after 8am. The sun was very low in the sky almost blinding us as we began the steady climb of Flagstaff Hill.

 It is only 2-3km up but steady uphill all the way. The cold air bit into my lungs, causing quite a bit of huffing and puffing  - just as well there were views to be looked at on the way.

 Just at the top was it a bit slushy underfoot and I steadied myself on the rocks as we neared the top.

 Then of course there was the inevitable selfie. Believe it or not I am actually holding Jill's hat on here!

 Here I am at the top. I just want to stress that I had a skivvy, jersey, padded vest on underneath my coat - I'm not really that wide.

From up here you could see all down the Dunedin Harbour and I mused that if a tsunami came there wouldn't be much hope for St Kilda residents as it would barrel  up the harbour as well as come in at St Claire and St Kilda beaches.

There were plenty of pockets of snow on the side of the track and amongst the tussock. I managed to miss Jill with this snowball as we wended our way down, with thoughts of warming Hot Chocolates at the Cadbury factory.

Unfortunately the Cadbury Factory was closed so we went home and showered and changed and THEN went to the Cadbury factory. My year 9 and 10,s are doing a statistics project on candy coated chocolates - ie, a very serious body of work on Pebbles, smarties and M and Ms.

 More shopping followed. I went and helped Rua choose a new outfit, the shirt of which you can see below - just a shame that you can't see the red and black plaid trousers that go with the quite plain shirt. We went to Customhouse for dinner - unfortunately they had changed their name and menu recently, but the food was still very good quality.

 Millie scrubbed up beautifully for this occasion. There's no doubt that being in school shows certainly improves your make-up skills.

 Monday morning we played Monopoly with the kids - the NZ version with up to date money values which was a little confusing for the old codgers. However Duncan still managed the win.

Then on the plane for a long, but quite pleasant trip home. Great trip, and so pleased we didn't stay longer for floods and earthquakes in the subsequent days.