Wednesday 5th April

This was our last day at Nakatumble, and we had to get out by 10am.  I was up at about 6am thanks to a mozzie (I got her, but it was enough to wake me up).  Then everyone was in packing mode.  With the nannies to look after the kids it was pretty easy, Lizl and I even snuck in a swim.  There were lots of goodbyes and hugs, Romina teared up and all the nannies/helper ladies turned up to see us off.  Bill got a photo of everyone in front of the pool.

When our transport turned up, I was a bit concerned to see it was a twin cab Hilux.  How would 8 of us + the driver fit in?  Maybe another car was coming?  Nope, everyone doubled with a kid, which was especially good on a hot day with aircon that couldn’t quite keep up.  Fortunately about half way down Devil’s Point Road there was a bus waiting for us – they just didn’t want to chance trying to drive the bus on that terrible road so they had sent a ute for the worst of it.  The bus had good aircon and a happy driver; the rest of the trip was uneventful. 

When we arrived at the new place (Havannah Boat House) it looked very nice.  Clean, open, modern but still island themed.  The pool unfortunately was basically in full sun, which meant:

  1. Swimming would need to be carefully monitored like at Nakatumble 
  2. The water was probably warm and not refreshing.

It had ocean frontage as the name would suggest, even closer than at Nakatumble and an actual beach with sand!  Again no aircon at this place (I guess it’s too expensive to run aircon – electricity is NOT cheap here), but lots of fans to hopefully keep us cool…

This turned out to be mostly untrue.  We arrived at about 11:30am or so, and it was pretty hot, but expected.  Then, as the sun crossed the meridian, it became apparent that all the rooms in this place faced due West.  It got hotter and hotter, and as the sun got lower, there was nowhere to hide.  Even in the tree shade, you were blasted by the sun reflecting off the water.  All safe areas were one by one drenched in sunlight, and every man had to fend for themselves to survive.  From what we can tell this side of the island is just hotter, drier, and less breezy unfortunately.  

Lunch was a really nice chicken Caesar salad, served by a Ni-Vanuatu lady and man.  It seemed this place was run by Ni-Vanuatu, or if not, we haven’t seen the real owner.  The main guy interacting with us (Juan) was very nice and gentle with the kids.  Reminded me a lot of Andy Lang actually.  The nannies arrived too, but it seems Phoenix has got their number and now screams when we hand him over.  I guess that’s the end of him going to strangers for a while.  I feel bad for him – can often hear him crying around the grounds with them, and if he catches sight of Lizl or I it’s game over for another 5-10 minutes.  Poor fella.  I try and keep him for longer when I can, he’s not really enjoying the holiday much.  Finn seems to get along with the nannies, knows their name and is mostly happy to walk around with them which is good.
After lunch we asked for some pina coladas, they arrived to great disappointment – Romina’s were clearly superior.  After Juan had cleaned up lunch, Rob went with him to the kitchen to show him how to do it.  The next batch that came out were much better!  Hopefully Juan has learnt the technique now.  Lizl, Rory, Lisa, and Elle went for a stand-up paddle board and Rob, Finn, and I sat down on the beach chairs and stared right into the sun.

Dinner was surf and turf – prawns on top of a steak wish mash and greens.  Very nice.

 

Things of note:

  • We heard that Air Vanuatu had to cancel some flights earlier in the week due to mechanical issues.  Our flight was still active, but made us a bit nervous.
  • Went for a few dips in the pool.  As expected, it was pretty warm.
  • Once the sun went down the temperature dropped a bit which was a relief.  The sunset didn’t disappoint!  We did some stargazing as well tonight, but the moon was up and full, meaning we couldn’t see much.
  • Internet on this side seems a bit slower, but much more reliable.  I don't think it's gone down yet.

 











 

 

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