Thanks, Cheryl (Chaz) and Andy, for all the wonderful excursion suggestions you sent us for these ports, but especially for the information about Iririki Island Resort. Because of your recommendation, we had a perfect day today in Port Vila, Vanuatu!
We had a good (and long) night’s sleep and were up early for breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet. The weather looked excellent; the day was already hot and sunny and fairly humid, but that was fine, because we were planning to spend our day in and on the water. We gathered up the usual beach day supplies and walked off the ship (no tenders today-yay!)...and faced a maze of locals selling souvenirs under canopies. We walked back and forth, back and forth, and weren’t sure we’d ever find the cheese at the end. And as soon as we did, we faced a gauntlet of taxi drivers offering tours of all sorts, but we had our eyes on the prize.
We walked directly to the water taxis, which are the same kind of wooden boats that took us on the snorkel tour yesterday on Mystery Island, and the same boats that will be used for fishing tomorrow. The seats are wooden 2x6s laid crosswise. For $5 AUD ($4 USD) per person, we rode the water taxi across the harbor to Iririki Island, about ten minutes away. Along the way, we saw several shipwrecks, large and small, leftover from the most recent cyclone. Poor Vanuatu; it has to deal with both devastating cyclones and earthquakes.
We were greeted at Iririki Resort and directed to the Reception Desk, where we purchased daypasses for 1500 Vata (about $14 USD) per person (I used a credit card since we have no local currency and they wanted $20 AUD). In return, we got full use of the resort and non-motorized water toys, and a 2000 Vata voucher for food and drinks at the resort. What a deal! It was a lot like the day passes we bought during our second season in French Polynesia, but at a fraction of the price.
The resort was beautiful, with accommodations of all kinds and sizes, including overwater bungalows. It was also fairly large, with two main pool areas. We first walked over the to Smugglars Cove snorkeling area so I could get my fish fix. This was very nice, with a ladder entrance into the water. The coral here was quite good, especially considering the cyclone activity in the area, and the fish were fantastic. In addition to clown fish, striped spurgeonfish and Moorish idols are my favorites. And parrot fish; they are massive in Vanuatu.
Iririki Resort
Not quite Bora Bora, but...Following my snorkeling, we chose to go to the adults only Serenity infinity Pool, and settled in two cushioned loungers overlooking the gorgeous blue green water and a three-masted schooner at anchor right in front of us. We had shade, a breeze, a warm water pool and relatively high speed WiFi. This place was heaven, and we initially had sun, though we kept an eye on some dark clouds building over the town of Vila, which we could see across the water and which looked a lot like Suva or Lautoka, Fiji (rather run down. I’m glad we went directly to the island). The clouds stayed nicely over the mountains beyond Vila until mid afternoon.
Vila looked far less appealing than where we spent the dayMeanwhile, we ordered a light lunch and G had a couple of beers and we just cycled between the pool and the loungers until about 3pm, when it did finally start to rain. We gathered up our things and decided to walk through the warm rain on the sidewalk that encircled the entire resort back to the Reception Desk. Water taxis were waiting at the dock there, and we rode directly back to the port, retraced our steps through the maze of markets and arrived back on the ship just before 4pm.
Our rainy walk
Headwaiter Sean asked if he could surprise me at dinner tonight, and Alona served me a delicious scallop and shrimp appetizer in a light tomato sauce, a salad, and then a huge plate of roasted veggies. I enjoyed it all so much that I told him to skip bringing me the next night’s menu...just bring me what he thinks I’ll like. He said that’s his favorite thing to do. Not only is it like I have a personal chef; I have a personal meal planner too.
We finished in time to go to the 6:45pm Adele tribute act by Emma Kirk. We had seen her on our first cruise (I think), and, though she has a great voice, Adele is not a favorite of ours. I warned G that I didn’t think he’d want to see the show, but he wanted to try it, and we sat in the just in casiest of the just in case seats, right next to the exit. Well, something must have happened, because the show didn’t start until 7pm and the natives were getting restless. I don’t know what caused the delay, but after waiting for 45 minutes for the show to begin, we lasted until the first “Hello from the other side” and G was heading for the door (about 45 seconds).
I knew it!
And that was it for the evening. We walked across the Lido Deck for G to pick up his nightly ice cream fix, and it must have rained a lot after we returned to the ship. The deck was flooded, and I doubt that tonight’s Love Boat Disco Deck Party will be able to be held out there. We will have to miss it anyway. Tomorrow is yet another beach day (please may we have some sun), and I’ve just finished re-packing our bags for another day in paradise.