Day: June 15, 2018

Long day, long swims in Vanuatu. Survivor!

/ brisbanefrannie / 3 Comments

Another gorgeous start to the day with yoga on the beach in front of our Bures, looking out to the water. If only it could always be like this.

Breakfast is good as the little hot spot for wifi so the group are happy to sit at the little tables for 2 or 4 checking emails, messaging family or like me writing a blog.

Today we are swimming along the coast to one of the beaches used on the Survivor TV series.

The first challenge for us was entering the water. Not easy over rocky coral especially if you had fins on instead of reef shoes. We made quite a spectacle of ourselves as we congo lined our way into the deeper water.

We finally made it and were rewarded with sighting of an underwater collection of giant clams.

We set off feeling refreshed after our slower day yesterday. I was on tow rope duty pulling a little inflatable safety device.

We swam with the tide – stopping regularly to regroup and swap stories of sea life we spotted on the reefs below us.

We became turtle hunters following Mathew because he is so good at spotting things.

We swam and we swam. A few got leg cramps but before we knew it we were at our Survivor beach. About 3.2km. And about 1.5 hrs

Getting out of the water was another challenge not wanting to risk a fall on the coral so most took it slowly.

Lunch was under a big grove of shady trees then a nap on the little rocks or in the amongst the leaf litter. Bliss. Rest time before another afternoon swim.

Yves brought out a few flags to get us in the mood for the first football game for Australia tonight !

Our guides offered us a few afternoon options. Another 3 km swim with fewer stops , a half hour swim or a leisurely boat trip.

I took the challenge and decided to do the 3 km swim along with Kathy, Jenny, Ralph and Colleen guided by Lizzie.

We creamed up put our reef shoes on and swam away from the coral. Did an acrobatic change to our fins and off we went.

It was a good comfortable pace and we had a few stops to regroup and finished about 10 mins earlier than the earlier swim 🏊‍♂️ the morning. Exhausted yes, exhilarated yes, but well worth it. So today that make 6.2 km !

The rest of the group had a bit of fun on the island before setting off. They painted their faces and posed for photos!

Soosi, Wendy & John.

The second group pulled in on their boats just after us.

Meanwhile Matthew caught an octopus.

Feeling quite pleased with our days efforts we all changed into our ‘eveningwear’ in the grass beside the buses. No mod cons. Swim trekking is a great leveller.

We took off for the beach bar. We were all ready for beer and assorted cocktails, wine and something yum to eat. Fish curry was popular as was pizza.

Yves, Monique, Wendy and I took a quick ferry ride across the harbour to Hideaway resort. We had looked at it as an option for accommodation. But the bunk beds put us off. Even though the island is lovely. Not for us!

Then the highlight of the night – the fire show. It was on the beach with the water as a backdrop. Some very athletic looking men and women hurled fire sticks into the air catching them and doing various tricks. Good music added to the show.

It finished around 8 and everyone was absolutely exhausted. So time to return to our comfy Bures at Breakas. What a day.

/ brisbanefrannie / 1 Comment

A sleep in.

A slow start.

Yoga!

Day 4 of a SwimTrekking holiday is always hard. Tiredness is setting in. So Yves gave us a slow start.

Carmel gave a group of 7 of us a lovely stretching yoga.

Then a more leisurely breakfast and a quiet read in the hammock.

A visit to the town of Port Vila where we split into little groups of market wanderers and coffee drinkers. Hard decision. But the people at the markets were so friendly and not at all pushy when trying to sell their products.

There were the usual things. Colourful happy pants, sarongs, shirts, kids clothes and woven bags, hats and fans. And flowers , the most beautiful colours. And bunches of peanuts. All sold – or not with a smile.

Steve, Wendy & Soosi we’re taken with the iguana jewellery- but they were real slightly sedated iguanas.

As 12.30 arrived we heard tooting if horns and banding of drums as a parade started through town.

The World Cup is starting tonight and football is huge here so people are showing their support. There are local Vanuatu flags, French flags and Australian flags. Loyalties are split for the Australian v France game.

Our next stop is at Yves’ uncles house he is an artist. Emmanuel Watt. He lives in a house that is both gallery and home. He’s a charming man – a French speaker ( no English) so Monique, Yves sister did the translations.

His main art is sculpture. He takes wood he finds and turns into a representative piece. So clever. His works have been exhibited in New York, Paris, London, Brisbane just to name a few.

He showed his pride of Yves achievements by have a laminated article and photo of Yves completion of the English Channel. There is so much pride in this beautiful Watt family.

This sculpture depicts the volcano

Our last stop on this ‘down day’ was the Blue lagoon. It’s a fun lagoon- very pretty with a couple of ropes high in the trees for only the most game/brave/silly to try.

Guess who was first up the tree. John! He may be 70 but he is fit and brave. He did a few big jumps before being joined by Bec. Yes they both took on the challenge on the jumping castle the day before. Shean might have had a go but he was carrying an injured shoulder.

Frances D was amazing. She brought it home for the girls with height and distance. Bec was another champion with her ‘walk on water’ style.

Dinner was a small disaster. Reefers restaurant in the waterfront did not live up to its reviews. Food ok but expensive and a problem with the bill and lack of efpost which had ‘just shut down’. Apparently there is a back story to the owners. Anyway warning. Don’t go there.

But we smiled through it on the bus. Used humour to recover. Had a debriefing with Ralph.

So off to bed!