Independence Day and School trip

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 22 August 2013. Posted in Vanuatu

Ni-Vans know how to celebrate and instead of one day they start celebrating their Independence Day on the 24^th July with the Children’s Day all the way to the 31^st July. Everywhere they started building little huts for food and Kava stalls.

Since we were on the island we decided to visit our village Tassiriki and meet up with our village workers. We had excellent food, tried the Kava and saw them dancing until the music had to be switched of since the small generator had to work the lights for the stalls.

It was an interesting experience and we made our way back to the village to hand over some school material we got from our parents a month ago. At the school the school principle gathered the kids and we unpacked our few school materials.

Fascinated about the rainbow bubbles the kids got big eyes and when we handed out balloons to everyone we were surrounded by hundred little hands and excited laughter. We took some fun picture with jumping kids and than we got invited at Robson’s place to eat Laplap.

This was so delicious; we should offer this to our guests. We enjoyed another memorial day in the village. And our dog Tanna was happy for some adventure.

Tanna – on top of an active volcano

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 24 July 2013. Posted in Vanuatu

This trip is worth 50 pictures! 3 minute slideshow and you will know why. This is all real, unbelievable.

So we hopped in another small airplane and flew over the endless ocean to Tanna. On the back of a jeep we drove over a dirt road to our hotel. There we dropped our backs, had a quick lunch and got on the back of the jeep again.

We drove through remote areas, passed some villages and enjoyed the happy people on our way to the volcano. Kids jumped on the road and did some dancing for us. Everybody was waving and it was so exciting.

We finally arrived on the moon landscape. We stopped for some pictures and heard the rumble. It sounded like dark thunder and we just thought “wholly molly, are we really going up on the rim of this active volcano?” While we were thinking and taking pictures, a big pile of ash just shot up in the air.

It was real. So off we went in the jeep closer to the volcano. The driver had fun as well and they had some competition going on. Who can drive the highest loop and so it happened that we got stuck – pretty sideways.

Before we went up I had to mail some postcards since you can find a mail box on the volcano. How cool is this? The toilets up there were funny and worth a picture as well.

And than we finally stood on the rim of this active volcano and looked down in its crater. Every couple of minutes it went off and a lava flow shot up 100 m in the sky. It was impressive and we couldn’t believe it. What an experience, just magic!

Efate Ring Road and Mele Cascades

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 10 June 2013. Posted in Vanuatu

Since the Efate Island Ring Road Tour was absolutely amazing we will put 45 pictures in the gallery. Hang in there, it is worth the extra minute.

We got invited by our lovely guests John und Laura from New Zealand to drive around Efate. They rented a bungalow at Devil’s Point and a car to cruise around. They picked us up at Gideons Landing. First we drove into Port Vila to buy some food for lunch and dinner.

Than we started off on the Ring Road and stopped at some beaches. The blue holes with their magnifying color were just fantastic. To windy to jump in, we continued to Beachcomber Hot Springs.

We got a bit spoiled from all the fantastic natural hot springs in Idaho so we found us sitting in this warm pool inside a plastic chair restaurant with a cheesy picture of Vanuatu and a plastic dolphin in the background.

After sharing our lunch with a hungry looking dog we continued our trip around the island. At the end we stopped at the Summit with an amazing view over Hideaway Island. The Sandalwood Factory was quite interesting so I bought a refreshing body mist with sandalwood and lime.

We had a great time with John and Laura and staying at their bungalow felt really like vacation. So we did it again. They invited us for another tour to the Mele Cascades.

Here we spent a couple of hours introduced by a very skilled A Capella Band and enjoyed the refreshing water. Afterwards we stopped at the Tanna Coffee Factory and at the Coconut Factory.

We had another great evening with a delicious dinner and a great conversation with John and Laura. Thank you again for this fantastic trip guys.

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