Day Seven - Sunday 12 July 2015

We arrived in port on time in spite of our late departure!  Another bumpy ride last night and an overcast morning, but I'm sure it will be sunny again today - there's a bit of blue sky up there.

Santo is located on Espiritu Santo, the largest island in the Vanuatu archipelago. It is the second largest town in Vanuatu after Port Vila, and already from the ship I can see sandy beaches and waving palm trees.  

There are over two thousand people on the ship and so organising us into our booked tours is well managed, and we all get there on time.  To say that our minivan was rustic is an exaggeration - and when you are tall it's not an easy exercise. However David had the back seat and was able to stretch his legs down the little passage way, and I sat next to him and sat side saddle!  No thoughts of seat belts here. 

Fortunately Santo is a different kettle of fish to the other islands, we had good roads, so the journey was interesting. Unfortunately sitting side saddle at the back of the van meant that I couldn't take good pictures, but I took a few. Coconuts, or Copra is their main industry and there are fields and fields of palms all well planted and farmed.  

There are also big areas which are now cattle farms. These areas were left by the Americans during WW2 when they were preparing for a battle with Japan in Guadelcanal. 

 The grazing isn't lush, but the cattle look healthy enough. It was Sunday so the villagers went to church and then walked along the highway to see their friends and neighbours. 

The journey took an hour before we turned down a very rutted road to Champagne Cove, but it was so worth it. What an idyllic spot, south seas at its best, golden sand forever, beautiful clear water, palm trees, etc.  

We were there for two hours and it passed in a flash. 

Yes I did have a swim, and the water was surprisingly cold at first, but that is probably in contrast to the heat and humidity of the day.  

There were outbreaks of coral under the water which you had to be careful of in case you cut your feet, but once passed those the ground fell away steeply and the sand was soft and smooth.

It was time to return to the van, and just as we finished changing the rain came down, so we sheltered inside the thatched roof area, which also served as a 'pop up' bar, and had a beer while we waited for the mini van to come.  Five minutes later the rain stops and the sun came out again - that's the tropics!

Our driver was called William (Anglicised for tourists I am sure),  but the locals called him grandad. He was the best driver, been doing it for years, lucky to be with me, he bragged. Frankly we were lucky to arrive in one piece, and so were the cars on the other side of the road!  He was totally reckless, crossing double lines uphill on a bend, overtaking towards on coming traffic.  

Unfortunately "group think" in the van cheered him on - or were they just cheering because we made it?  David was the only voice of reason, but other than forcing him to stop, we had to go with the flow.  David left him in no doubt about his poor driving skills when we got back to the boat, and will be complaining to the Purser - he could have killed us all, which would have a mighty impact on the ship as well.  

We looked at all the stalls in the market set up alongside the boat, it's always colourful and the people always helpful, but they all sell the same beachy stuff of dubious quality. 

A late lunch, a pleasant afternoon blogging in the lounge where wifi is strongest, and on our balcony for drinkies at 4.30pm to watch the boat move away.   We had a nice table for two at dinner and then off to the theatre to watch Richard Leay, the mighty powerful mind reader!  We are never quite sure what we are in for at these shows, but he was truly amazing - and I am a skeptic. Needless to say he picked on David for the first round of volunteers (?), and I am sure David would not have helped him in anyway, but he got it right. I won't bore you with details, but he was very clever, we were most impressed. 

And so we are on our way back to Sydney, three more days as cruislings.......