This post is being published (and, if I’m being totally honest, written) the day after the Ruby Princess was in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Sometime yesterday evening, the ship lost everything- TV and Internet- and with nothing to watch after we returned to the cabin after the show last night, I gave myself a pass and fell asleep without writing about our day.
It was nice.
It took a little finagling this morning (which I’ll get into on today’s post), but things seem to be working again, so it’s time to get caught up.
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Where in the world are we?
Our weather has been stellar every single day since we had a morning rain in Hobart a lifetime ago, and so it continued today. We had fond memories in Vila of taking a water taxi to a private resort called Iririki Island when we were here two years ago, and that was definitely an option. But after our rather active day on Lifou yesterday, we weren’t exactly high energy. I slept until 9am, right through breakfast (and, sadly, didn’t even wake enough when G left for breakfast to remind him to get a photo of the breakfast menu). Around 9:30am he joined me in the Horizon Court Buffet where it was obvious he was feeling much like I was.
We walked around the upper decks a bit to see what we could of the area from the ship, sat in the wicker chairs on the back of Deck 16 and stared out at a gorgeous area just behind where the Ruby Princess was docked. It would require a short walk through the Port Vila Boatworks to be reached, but we decided to do just that.
Our view from Deck 16
Those water colors just called to us
There was an outlet to the ocean just a little further down
We packed lightly for a beach day (we’d be so close to the ship we didn’t feel we’d need to take everything with us), just one beach towel, water and a soda, layered on the sunscreen and walked off the ship. We weren’t even certain we’d be allowed to walk through what was basically the back side of the port but we were waved out past security and were soon making our way along a very pot-holed dusty dirt road past the Boatworks. I had taken both hiking sticks today, as I was still a little tender after yesterday’s walking, and it was a wise decision.
What we were doing reminded me of what we’ve done so many times in the Caribbean when we were spending our winters cruising there: just heading out and exploring a bit. In the Caribbean, we generally had great fun and met some very nice locals, far from the normal tourist areas. If we ever felt uncomfortable, we’d simply turn around. We had that same attitude today, but everyone we met (everyone!) greeted us with a hello in English. Most people in Vanuatu are fluent in English, French and a local Creole dialect.
We walked until we were well past the Boatworks and laid the towel down on the beach under a particularly shady tree. It was quiet and calm and simply beautiful. Not too far away, a father and his son were fishing in a way I’d never seen before. They had fishing line wrapped around an empty plastic water bottle, with a hook on the end. This was thrown into the water, and the water bottle was then half buried in the sand on the beach. When the bottle started to move toward the water, they knew they had a bite.
Our view for a couple of hours. Pure bliss!
Larger scale fishing obviously took place, based on these fishing nets hanging in a tree.
Looking toward the ship. We were so close that we saw several crew members
walking over for a quick swim.
Blooms from trees washing ashore. So pretty.
We stayed on the beach until about 2:30pm, then tried to walk further along the beach to the inlet that opened into the ocean. However, when we got close to the end, several large homes with walls prevented us from going further. We tried to walk inland (and saw a beautiful gated community), but could only walk out the same way we had entered. Oh well. It had been a very pleasant, very cheap (like free) way to spend the day.
There was a maze of canopies by the ship selling local trinkets and souvenirs (most not made locally, though), but we bypassed it entirely and returned directly to the ship. It was nice to not be quite so rushed in our clean up for the evening, and we enjoyed 45 minutes in the Elite Lounge before dinner. We have befriended solo traveler Virginia from Perth, a very spunky older lady who was sitting alone in the lounge the first night of this cruise. We asked if we could join her, and have done so every night so far. She is very adventurous; despite her advanced years, she hired a taxi for three hours yesterday and had the driver show her the island.
Despite our snack in the Elite Lounge, we were starving at dinner. I started with the garden mixed greens salad, which is truly the greenest salad I’ve ever eaten. Everything in it was green. For my entree I had the South Pacific barramundi with spinach and broccoli. I could eat that every night.
Day 5 dinner menu, page 1
Day 5 dinner menu, page 2
Day 5 dessert menu
Tonight’s entertainer in the Princess Theater was saxophonist-clarinetist-singer Chris Gable from Australia. His was a great show, particularly enjoyed by G whose father was a professional musician who played the saxophone and clarinet. Sometime while we were being entertained, connectivity on the ship seriously acted up. We returned to our cabin to find no TV and no Internet. I felt compelled to prepare this post anyway, but not compelled enough, apparently. It was an early bedtime, which was not a bad thing. Clocks move ahead an hour overnight and again another hour tomorrow night.
Port Vila Port Guide, page 1
Port Vila Port Guide, page 2
Port Vila Port Guide, page 3
Port Vila Port Guide, page 4
Day 5 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 5 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 5 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 5 Princess Patter, page 4