The Holiday- Day 1 & 2

Day 1
Arrived in Port Vila approx 1 1/2 hours late as Virgin decided to wait for people moving through customs as the plane was only half full. When we got there is was raining and humid. We took a taxi to Le Meridien http://www.lemeridien.com/vanuatu/port_vila/hotel_vu1668.shtml (cost 1000 Vatu). The journey to the resort was rather shocking- I wasn't prepared for the dirt roads and run down shacks - certainly a culture shock. When we arrived at the resort we were greeted by the porter dressed in traditional grass skirt and head gear. We checked in and another porter took our bags to the room, he also showed us the bathroom, a/c, tv etc. He seemed to be hanging around so the boy gave his a nice tip which he seemed grateful for (later on we found at that it is not custom to tip however the tip we gave equated to a weeks wage so hopefully he was happy and not offended). We strolled around the resort and checked out the facilities, played on the suspension bridge and walked on the sand. That night we had dinner at La Verandah (me- Grilled Butterfly Cut Santo Sirloin with crushed Kumala, sauteed island cabbage & grain mustard sauce, Boy- Chicken Breast, Lime & Lemon Marinated Oven Roasted & served on pumpkin & green pea risotto with chermoula- cost 4600 Vatu). After this massive meal we retired to our room for sleep!

Day 2
Awoke and had room service breakfast (2 x scrambled eggs with has brown & tomato- cost 1800 Vatu). We then ventured into town on one of the local buses (cost- 200 Vatu), basically most mini vans are buses. These buses are run and owned by the locals and you can just flag them down and they will take you exactly where you want to go for 100 Vatu each. The great thing about this is that you get to see a bit of the country side as people as dropped off at their destinations. We spent the morning down the main street of Port Vila. The markets were really great- necklaces, woven baskets, lava stone sculptures, wood carvings etc- all at great prices. The most annoying thing was the fact that I wore my hair out and as every second stall holder wanted to know if I wanted it braided. At the markets we ran into Bob the chief of Mele Village. He persuaded us to attend the Melanesian Feast in his village that night- cost 5000 Vatu for 2
- it also included transport to & from the resort. We also agreed to the round island tour the next day- cost 4000 Vatu for 2. We continued down the street and found heaps of cheap dvd's, computer games etc as Vanuatu doesn't have copyright laws. The most annoying thing were the hundreds of fake LV's.
After lunch we were exhausted and went back to the resort and hung out by the pool bar. At 6:30 a bus arrived to take us to Mele Village. It took about 20 minutes and when we arrived we were presented with strange head gear woven from leaves. We enjoyed a cup of Kava and sat back back to listen to the singing and dancing of the villagers. The feast was amazing- fish, seafood, vegetables all baked in the ground. Afterwards we got up and had a dance then returned to the resort for sleep!