Mifala wishem yufala wan Hapi Krismas long Vanuatu!!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
A day on Aniwa.
I have just returned to Vila after a day spent on Aniwa island.
Aniwa is a teeny tiny speck of an island in the very south of the Vanuatu chain. It has made a bit of a name for itself recently - with even Julia Gillard spreading the good word about the little islet - after the community there did great things with a sports program funded by Australia.
So a delegation was sent down to give them all a bigfala pat on the back for all their good work. The Vanuatu Minister of Sport was part of the group as well as officials from both Vanuatu and Australia, including me.
We squeezed aboard our charter flight at about 7.30 this morning. Within an hour we had touched down on the grassy air strip in Aniwa and were greeted by the local transport operator.
Aniwa is a one-truck island. This is the truck. And we were all hopping in.
After a quick bumpy ride - passing a John Frum settlement on the way with its USA flag a-flutter (see earlier postings for more about the John Frum cult) -
- we arrived in the village and were greeted by these inhospitable chaps.
Thankfully it turned out it was only for show and they really didn't intend to spear us to death.
A lovely lady made up for their shennanigans by presenting us all with an incredibly fragrant frangipani garland.
An official hand-shake
And the cutting of the "cake" (they tricked us! it wasn't a cake at all but LAP LAP decorated to look like a cake!)
Then the sports demonstrations began.
We saw the local women play 'island cricket' which uses bats whittled out of wood and a big rubbery ball made out of tree resin. The official uniform for the women is their island dresses. I was told this was because one of the techniques of the game is to use your skirt to scoop up the ball. However I suspect the dresses are worn so as not to offend the menfolk by wearing trousers. But we didn't see the men play - so maybe they wear the dresses too and it has nothing to do with being inoffensive.
After the match was over, we broke for lunch. Lobster was on the menu.
As was roast pig, an enormous baked fish, a roasted goat and of course, mountains of rice and lots of lap lap.
I was served a portion of each and hit a carb/protein overload about a quarter of the way through. There is no such thing as 'left-overs' in Vanuatu and I had some peckish pikininis only too happy to help me finish off my plate.
After lunch, the games began again.
We watched the boys play soccer.
Then the girls. The girls were tuff tumas - skidding around in the dust as they tried to wrangle the ball off each other.
There was a running demonstration.
'On-a-maaaaarks---GO!'
'On-a-maaaaaaaaaarks-----GO!'
They were irrepressible!
Then there was volleyball and even more soccer, this time by the older players. Everyone on Aniwa plays sport. No matter if you are a girl or a boy, a yangfala or an olfala, every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning the whole community of around 500 get together and play.
When the demonstration was all done and dusted, for some reason WE were the ones that got the prizes.
Including a MASSIVE fish.
And a collection of very beautiful woven things for each of us.
We said goodbye to our new friends. Including these cute kids who kept chattering away to me in local language. I didn't have much of a clue as to what they were saying, but it had something to do with a lolly - which they kept popping out of their mouth to show me, and then passing it on to the next kid for a suck.
And this lady with the best shirt on the island "send more tourists - the last ones were delicious!!!" Except it is a french speaking community so most of the people, including the lady wearing the shirt, couldn't read it and had no idea how funny they were being.
I had a lovely day. I wish it had been a terrible day so that I could have titled this blog something clever like 'Anywhere but Aniwa!!'. But I didn't. And that is why the title is dull.
The end.
...
Aniwa is a teeny tiny speck of an island in the very south of the Vanuatu chain. It has made a bit of a name for itself recently - with even Julia Gillard spreading the good word about the little islet - after the community there did great things with a sports program funded by Australia.
So a delegation was sent down to give them all a bigfala pat on the back for all their good work. The Vanuatu Minister of Sport was part of the group as well as officials from both Vanuatu and Australia, including me.
We squeezed aboard our charter flight at about 7.30 this morning. Within an hour we had touched down on the grassy air strip in Aniwa and were greeted by the local transport operator.
Aniwa is a one-truck island. This is the truck. And we were all hopping in.
- we arrived in the village and were greeted by these inhospitable chaps.
A lovely lady made up for their shennanigans by presenting us all with an incredibly fragrant frangipani garland.
There was a welcome sing-sing by the local pikininis
An official hand-shake
And the cutting of the "cake" (they tricked us! it wasn't a cake at all but LAP LAP decorated to look like a cake!)
We saw the local women play 'island cricket' which uses bats whittled out of wood and a big rubbery ball made out of tree resin. The official uniform for the women is their island dresses. I was told this was because one of the techniques of the game is to use your skirt to scoop up the ball. However I suspect the dresses are worn so as not to offend the menfolk by wearing trousers. But we didn't see the men play - so maybe they wear the dresses too and it has nothing to do with being inoffensive.
After the match was over, we broke for lunch. Lobster was on the menu.
As was roast pig, an enormous baked fish, a roasted goat and of course, mountains of rice and lots of lap lap.
I was served a portion of each and hit a carb/protein overload about a quarter of the way through. There is no such thing as 'left-overs' in Vanuatu and I had some peckish pikininis only too happy to help me finish off my plate.
After lunch, the games began again.
We watched the boys play soccer.
Then the girls. The girls were tuff tumas - skidding around in the dust as they tried to wrangle the ball off each other.
There was a running demonstration.
'On-a-maaaaarks---GO!'
'On-a-maaaaarks---GO!'
'On-a-maaaaaaaaaarks-----GO!'
They were irrepressible!
Then there was volleyball and even more soccer, this time by the older players. Everyone on Aniwa plays sport. No matter if you are a girl or a boy, a yangfala or an olfala, every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning the whole community of around 500 get together and play.
When the demonstration was all done and dusted, for some reason WE were the ones that got the prizes.
Including a MASSIVE fish.
And a collection of very beautiful woven things for each of us.
We said goodbye to our new friends. Including these cute kids who kept chattering away to me in local language. I didn't have much of a clue as to what they were saying, but it had something to do with a lolly - which they kept popping out of their mouth to show me, and then passing it on to the next kid for a suck.
And this lady with the best shirt on the island "send more tourists - the last ones were delicious!!!" Except it is a french speaking community so most of the people, including the lady wearing the shirt, couldn't read it and had no idea how funny they were being.
The end.
...
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Tankyu Tumas 2010
Well, it’s over. Another year gone in a chink of a champagne glass, a pop of fireworks and a calendar dumped in the bin.
But before we get all excited about filling a new year with ambitious resolutions and grandiose plans, I’m going to take a moment to tingbaot 2010 and reflect smol on the yia that was.
And even with the sad bits and the bad bits, ultimately it was a year filled with lots of very very good bits.
For us, some of the very best bits of all were having so many of you fabulous people visit us here and getting to share some laughs and a drink or two in lovely Wanooatou!
Kelly it was so great to have you here. As always you gave me plenty of reasons to smile. I’m glad you got to experience some of the different and interesting things on offer here – I’m sure the pikininis at Central School still remember the day that lovely blonde lady came to read them stories!
Alex and Kirrin, tankyu tumas for deciding to spend some of your precious and very hard earned holidays here with me. I had a welfis* of a time with you both, even if I do hold you responsible now for my occasional need to crank up ‘I’m on a Boat!’ and dance around the house like a git. And Kirrin, you are right: we ARE cooler than Cate Blanchett. In fact, I think we should make up ‘Cooler than Cate’ t-shirts.
*(Bislama for whale)
Marylene and Dominique - Quel voyage ! Merci de traverser les mers et de la souffrance par les épreuves du décalage horaire pour venir et rester avec nous et pour découvrir finalement le Wanouatoo. Dominique, nous savons combien vous manquez le laplap, mais pas de soucis, nous promettons de en faire pour toi quand nous visitons St Amand encore en juin !
Yayoi and Yutaka – who could believe after 10 YEARS we would finally catch up TWICE in one year! We had so much fun with you here. Bella misses the foot rubs and we miss the power of your kami-hami-HAA! We are going to make sure it isn’t another 10 years before we see you again.
Mum – you are pretty much an honorary local now with three trips under your belt. Although you have definitely set the bar high with your latest coconut bra creation – they’ll all be expecting bigger and better things next time..... thanks for making this Christmas a memorable one and we are looking forward to seeing you back here again soon.
Barb – It was great to have you here – and not only because Salmon Rusty has never looked so good! Thanks for being more intrepid than the rest of us and venturing into the pit of rum-ball mixture and thanks for the laughs!
Dad – thanks for coming back again for a visit and for giving me the chance to prove – in true Rain Man style – that ‘I’m and excellent driver’. Although next time I’m going to crash through more mud puddles coz let’s face it, we looked a bit like wusses. Now that you’ve got plenty of time on your hands, we hope to see you again before the year is out.
So tankyu tumas 2010 and tankyu tumas to everyone who shared bits of it with us and helped us along the way.
But before we get all excited about filling a new year with ambitious resolutions and grandiose plans, I’m going to take a moment to tingbaot 2010 and reflect smol on the yia that was.
And even with the sad bits and the bad bits, ultimately it was a year filled with lots of very very good bits.
For us, some of the very best bits of all were having so many of you fabulous people visit us here and getting to share some laughs and a drink or two in lovely Wanooatou!
Kelly it was so great to have you here. As always you gave me plenty of reasons to smile. I’m glad you got to experience some of the different and interesting things on offer here – I’m sure the pikininis at Central School still remember the day that lovely blonde lady came to read them stories!
 |
| Kelly and Kala at Mele Beach Bar |
 |
| delicious drinks on Hideaway Island |
Alex and Kirrin, tankyu tumas for deciding to spend some of your precious and very hard earned holidays here with me. I had a welfis* of a time with you both, even if I do hold you responsible now for my occasional need to crank up ‘I’m on a Boat!’ and dance around the house like a git. And Kirrin, you are right: we ARE cooler than Cate Blanchett. In fact, I think we should make up ‘Cooler than Cate’ t-shirts.
*(Bislama for whale)
 |
| Kala, Kirrin and Alex scaling the Mele Cascades |
 |
| Ernest is a lucky man! |
Marylene and Dominique - Quel voyage ! Merci de traverser les mers et de la souffrance par les épreuves du décalage horaire pour venir et rester avec nous et pour découvrir finalement le Wanouatoo. Dominique, nous savons combien vous manquez le laplap, mais pas de soucis, nous promettons de en faire pour toi quand nous visitons St Amand encore en juin !
 |
| Dominique with his beloved laplap |
 |
| Marylene hanging out with some pikininis on Tanna |
 |
| looking a bit nervous to be so close to Mighty Mt Yasur |
 |
| Romain with his Mum and Dad and John, all looking very dapper at the local church |
Yayoi and Yutaka – who could believe after 10 YEARS we would finally catch up TWICE in one year! We had so much fun with you here. Bella misses the foot rubs and we miss the power of your kami-hami-HAA! We are going to make sure it isn’t another 10 years before we see you again.
 |
| Yayoi and Kala at uni in Brisbane |
 |
| And today on a boat to Iririki Island |
 |
| having hamburgers on Hideaway Island |
 |
| Yutaka (who we suspect may have secret ninja skills) walking on water at the Eton Blue Hole |
 |
| Yayoi at the Havannah |
Mum – you are pretty much an honorary local now with three trips under your belt. Although you have definitely set the bar high with your latest coconut bra creation – they’ll all be expecting bigger and better things next time..... thanks for making this Christmas a memorable one and we are looking forward to seeing you back here again soon.
 |
| Jan and Kala with Lissi and Memo |
 |
| the Christmas Coconut Bra |
Barb – It was great to have you here – and not only because Salmon Rusty has never looked so good! Thanks for being more intrepid than the rest of us and venturing into the pit of rum-ball mixture and thanks for the laughs!
 |
| two more lovely ladies delivered to Ernest's shack |
 |
| sorry yutufala - had to show it! |
Dad – thanks for coming back again for a visit and for giving me the chance to prove – in true Rain Man style – that ‘I’m and excellent driver’. Although next time I’m going to crash through more mud puddles coz let’s face it, we looked a bit like wusses. Now that you’ve got plenty of time on your hands, we hope to see you again before the year is out.
 |
| Kala and Glenn on blacksand beach |
So tankyu tumas 2010 and tankyu tumas to everyone who shared bits of it with us and helped us along the way.
HAPI NIU YIA 2011
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