Where in the World is Vanuatu?

Vanuatu is an archipelago about 1000 miles east of Australia, which makes it an easy destination for Aussies and New Zealanders. They make up the majority of tourists there, by far, because it's an easy 2-3 hour flight for them. We didn't meet any other Americans during our five day stay, even though I hear that more Americans are visiting ever since "Survivor: Vanuatu" aired in the US. Matt and I knew absolutely nothing about this place before we booked our trip, but now I think it is a really fascinating little corner of the world. Vanuatu has only been an independent nation since the 1980's, and before that it was ruled jointly by the British and the French. That made life really confusing for a hundred years or so, but things seem to be sorted out beautifully now.

That's the capital city, Port Vila, on the main island of Efate. There are something like 80 islands in the archipelago, some of them uninhabited, and only a small handful have any kind of tourist infrastructure. Port Vila is a good-sized town, actually it's really the only town. The locals call everyplace else a "village." We stayed our first two nights at a place on the little island you can see in the harbor up there.

Here's the ferry coming to collect us to take us to the hotel on that island across the way. The boat ran between the resort and the mainland at any hour. You could summon it from the other side by stepping out onto the dock.







This is the Iririki Island Resort. We had a little one-room bungalow that I loved. Following in my tradition of blogging hotel bedscapes, I offer you these. Actually, I loved the decor, and could not get enough of those bed sconce lights (which dimmed, perfect!), and the cute throw pillows everywhere. I believe, if you liked it then you shoulda put a pillow on it. (Except for on the actual bed itself. Odd, no?)

The view from our little porch. At night the sound of the water was lovely.

This was kind of the plush part of the vacation. (The other part, to be shared in a future post, was more like mosquito nets and no ice cubes. I loved that part even more.) But for now, it's mai tais at the Bali Hai pool!

Here's a view back to Port Vila from the pool. This was the "no kids" section of the resort, just for mama and daddy time, don't you know, and it was a relaxing place any time of the day. We sat here and read a lot. We ate ridiculously huge meals in the adjacent restaurant. Like, crepes-set-on-fire at your table ridiculous. One night we came to the pool bar at last call, and sat down by the water until midnight, watching the harbor.

There are newer and bigger resorts in Port Vila, but I loved this location. Watching the water and the boats never got old. The town was just a three-minute ferry ride away, but we felt like we were on our own little Fantasy Island. And here's my Ricardo Montalban.



I'd ordered a beer on this occasion, and the waitress set down the tall fancy drink in front of me instead of Matt, then we corrected her, then we all laughed. He's sipping defiantly in this photo.

Okay, is anyone still scrolling besides my mom? I'll stop now! But there will be more, because we did do stuff besides drink and laze around, I think.