Big Swim

Vanuatu abounds in fitness fanatics. I don’t know whether that is because they flock to this place, or whether living in Vanuatu brings out the inner fitness freak in us all. I suppose there aren’t exactly too many cinemas, theatres or galleries to while away a lazy afternoon in, nor does it ever get cold enough to justify piling on a few winter-warming kilos. Besides, there are so many great outdoorsy pursuits at our finger tips that there really is no excuse not to don a sweat band, grab a drink bottle and get amongst it.

Two of the big events on the Port Vila sporting calendar are the Vanuatu Half-Marathon (21 kms) and the Vanuatu Ocean Swim (3.2 kms). Considering I’d rather eat 21 kms of bitumen than run it, I figured I’d give the Ocean Swim a crack.

The event is organised by a crew called Pacific Swims and they hold similar swims in many different Pacific islands over the course of the year. A sizeable crowd flies in from around the region to compete in the Vanuatu event and many enthusiastic locals also like to join in the fun.

It is a 3.2 km course that runs from the harbour front, out across the deep dark shipping channel, clock-wise around Iririki Island, dodging yachts as you go and then back to the harbour where glory and a slice of pamplemousse awaits.

So at 6.30 am last Saturday morning we all assembled down at the waterfront - the fit and the foolhardy. I fell into the latter bracket, having not actually attempted the swim previously and feeling far from certain that I would make it back to shore without para-medic assistance.

There were about 100 competitors in total and about as many spectators. These were my swimming buddies – game faces ready.

A whistle blew and with a foamy thrash of water, we were off. It wasn’t long before the pack thinned out and I found myself keeping pace with a conservative crew, somewhere around the middle to end of the bunch. I was a bit nervous to begin with and kept the ‘rescue kayaks’ in sight for the first one or so kilometres, but by the time I had reached the far side of the island and the half-way mark, I knew it was all going to be ok.

I would like to say I powered home, but that would be a lie. My race number was 91, which was only slightly further down the line than the place I finally came....

Here I am clambering out of the water, looking a bit worse for wear...

But! I made it. Yeah!!

Romain is currently in training (training? pffft) for the Half-Marathon which will be run at the end of July to coincide with Vanuatu’s 30th Anniversary of Independence. This is the track.

I think it is a very thoughtful touch that the organisers have arranged cocktail stands at regular intervals.

The First Nasturtium...

... and maybe the last. After having lovingly reared this little flower from seed, I discovered this morning that Bella the Dawg apparently spent last night break-dancing in the garden bed. It is all looking a bit sorry and trampled right now, but I am going to attempt a mighty resurrection this afternoon.

Bella is my 'bad fren'* at the moment.

*Bad Fren = Bislama word for enemy.

Secret Surf Spot

We are so lucky because about a 3 minute drive from our place we have a really great surf break called Pango. The water is clear and beautiful and depending on the tide and the wind, the waves can be just perfect for learners, seasoned surfers, longboarders or shortboarders.

It has two problems though.

The first is that it can get quite crowded. There are stacks of expats who go there, all the surfing tourists learn about it and the beach is just next door to Pango village which is full of kids who love nothing better than to spend whole days busting out gnarly surf moves on their home break. They like it so much that recently their village chief actually banned all surfing at Pango beach on a Sunday in an attempt to get the kids to go back to church. The ban applied to everyone, so it took some deft negotiating on the part of the Pango Surf Club owner to have the chief allow us heathen surfers back in the water.

The second problem is that the waves break onto a coral reef. Enough said.

So it was with much excitement that my neighbour Gordon and I set off this afternoon on an adventure to find a fabled surfing break that was perfect at low tide and pretty good all the rest of the time but better still – had a sandy bottom! Which for me as a learner surfer would mean that I could cheerfully launch myself onto waves without the disconcerting thought that I might get munched on sharp coral if things went horribly wrong.

Not only was this surfing break sandy, it was also very very secret.

In fact, it was SO secret that Gordon, who has been an avid surfer here for two years and has heaps of local surfing buddies, only got an inkling of this break’s existence a couple of weeks ago when someone, who couldn’t contain their glee at having spent an amazing day surfing there, let slip. They hadn’t divulged the location but they mentioned sand and that, teamed with another tid-bit surreptitiously passed to Gordon by another friend about this break being near a river mouth, was all he needed to jump on a geo-satellite image of Efate and narrow the possibilities down to about 3 spots. He had ruled out two, and today we were going to test the third.

So after a half hour drive and a secret turn off, we arrived where we thought the break might be. We followed a secret path down to the beach and – ta da!!! It was all true. Great waves, a sandy beach and no other surfers in sight.

Well actually that is not entirely correct, because the local kids had crafted some pretty awesome surfboards from planks of wood and were pulling some radical moves of their own. We got talking to them to try and suss out how many people regularly visited the spot. Obviously the secret has been held incredibly closely, because the kids named the handful of locals who knew about it (all of whom we know).

So now they can add my name to the list.

I like being part of a secret surfing society.

Vanuatu - the happiest place on earth!

I had the honour of attending the National Women’s Day function a couple of weeks ago and I have discovered another reason why Vanuatu is ranked one of the happiest places on earth.

They choose to celebrate this day with performances by scantily-clad dancing men, an enormous cream cake and as much wine as we could all drink!

Cheers to that, I say.