The boat was Rock 'n Rolling all last night, not enough to prevent us sleeping however, but we woke a few times with doors banging or the boat shuddering on a high roller. Fortunately the wind died down as we entered the harbour but it was overcast and very humid.
As we were on one of the first buses to go on a tour at 8.30, we showered and had breakfast early. We were going on a 'Vila City Highlights tour', again we were warned that the mini buses were rustic with no air conditioning and the guides were from the local village.
However the roads are so appalling with ruts and bumps that it's amazing how the buses stay in one piece anyway. The guide we had was the village chief's cousin, she told us she had five children and 25 grandchildren, goodness knows how many great grandchildren she had! But she was very knowledgeable and emphasised how well all the nations got on together in Vila, the French and English had historically different quarters when they built.
The 9th hole?
The Americans were here during the war and their pale coloured kids are well accepted, the Chinese and Indians all play a part, and they all look out for each other as one big happy family.
By this time we had bumped our way through the outskirts of town and stopped at a little village called Pango Village.
The Chiefs meeting house now lay in ruins
After a bit of a wait the fearsome warriors came out and did a war dance (a bit like the Maoris) and a welcome dance.
Then we were taken to a covered area where we met the Chief of the village and through an interpreter he also welcomed us.
The Chief's meeting house had been munted by the cyclone three months ago, and all around are broken trees, roofless houses, and areas of total devastation, some of these poor people live in broken down shacks with no windows and tarpaulins for a roof.
Our guide was so grateful to Australia and NZ for the help they gave, they had troops on the ground clearing up and rebuilding within days of it happening.
We walked around 'Mama's Art and Craft Market' which was just above the beach and looked at all the craft items for sale, it is hard to find things that would be useful and because of import restrictions on natural goods such as nuts, shells, feathers, etc, which makes up half of what they offer.
However we did buy some little things and made a healthy donation to help them out.
On the way back we stopped at a war memorial which overlooked the city and our guide pointed out vaste areas that had been totally cleared by the cyclone, not a leaf left she said, and now three months later vegetation has overgrown the bare bushes and looks lush.
The town shopping area was very small and full of craft and souvenir shops, just like the village market, so we stayed on the bus and were dropped back at the ship.
As we got out of the bus there was a family in full swing!
We had lunch then I spent an hour or so writing up my blog.
The ship was due to leave at 4.30 and as we were on the other side of the ship we went up to deck 14 to watch it leave. The ships horn sounded and we didn't move, then a message over the loud speaker, 3 passengers were yet to board, could they please report to reception. We all have a ships pass which is scanned as you leave and as you return, so it was unlikely they were already on board. Five o'clock comes round and the gangway is still down, lots of people looking over the rails to see what was going on,
then a taxi draws up and an Asian guy with a suitcase runs alongside and gets checked on,
but there is still one more passenger missing! By this time the ukele TUGS band has started up by the pool,
and the atmosphere was such fun, we were all singing along, and I was wondering how long the captain gives someone who is so late back.
But then the whistling and yahooing starts and sure enough a woman (I know) gets out of the taxi and up the gangway she goes, so the hawsers were released and we were off.
We joined a table of eight for dinner and the lady I sat next to was a fair dinkum Aussie, she and her hubby had done many cruises. Her voice dominated and she was "Kath and Kim" to a tee. She kept showing me all her photos on her mini iPad, she knew more than the men about rugby league, she'd been everywhere, "see here look look at this photo", I was glad when the meal was over! And of course today I keep bumping into her and try to avoid eye contact!
It was 'Bianco' night tonight, held poolside on deck 12. The whole deck had been dressed in those blue lights, there was a sound stage erected, and most people had gone to a bit of trouble to dress up in white.
Not as much as David of course, he did lower the tone a bit by dressing up in his new painters overalls, but it was quite hilarious. The only thing wrong was that it didn't start until 8.30, but after an hour so everyone was up dancing, the band was the one we heard last night at the Connexions Bar,
and they are so good. When they took a break the music changed to disco,and the dancers from the show lead everyone in the moves for all the dancing.
We really enjoyed ourselves, but after a while the deafening music numbs your ears, and the old bones start to give way, so we left the youngsters to enjoy it. So romantic really dancing under the stars in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Tomorrow we arrive in Santo. Not sure how I feel about the Pacific Islands we have visited so far. Sure they have the wonderful sandy beaches, palm trees down to the waters edge, crystal clear water, etc, but the trips we have been on show us the other side.
And this is what we wanted really, we wanted to know how the people live and what the vegetation is like. What sort of infrastructure they have, etc. the two don't sort of tally, especially the trip today where in the village there are plenty of fit young people who could easily have fixed things up with very little. Maybe that's a story in itself.
However the trip around the countryside showed random vegetation, very lush, but no farming of any description to feed the villagers. Enough already, maybe we just didn't look in the right place, however Noumea was also a little like that.
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