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Pacific Island Cruise – Day 6 – Port Vila

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Another day in paradise. Today we visited Port Vila. Sam booked into a Snorkelling and Kayaking tour. I had a lovely sleep in… late enough that I missed breakfast and was too early for lunch so armed with a cup of coffee and my laptop I settled in to a morning of people watching, writing and just generally veging out. Port Vila was covered in a heavy smoke. We are told that it is caused by an erupting volcano. My hair is an absolute fright. I don’t think the conditioning treatment they gave it last night did it any favours. Thankfully I’m on holidays and these people will be distant memories in a few days time… although they may not forget me so easily, some may indeed have nightmares for some time to come!

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I notice that a young man sitting next to me is sketching. Before he becomes too engrossed I introduce myself and ask permission to photograph him while he works. He is rather surprised but happy to oblige. His name is Zack. He is a uni student from Adelaide cruising with his mum and dad. The sketching is part of an assignment.

I am fast learning that even though I am far from Elle McPherson or Kate Moss that there are bodies of all shapes and sizes getting around in the world and when one comes on a holiday such as this one gets to see all of them in varying degrees of dress or undress. I admire the ladies who are much larger even than myself who proudly strut their stuff. Most people do not judge, in fact, it is so true that we are our own harshest critics. If we walk tall and proud we are far less obvious than if we cringe away as though we are ashamed of our bodies and don’t want to be seen… something I’m still coming to grips with after years of feeling like a beached whale, even when I was young and slim.

There are a lot of elderly aboard and I can understand why cruising is so attractive to them. We are waited on hand and foot, constantly being told that we must relax as we are on holiday and must let the wait staff take care of us. The variety in the food is impressive and only a couple of places are not included in the initial fare. There are some people complaining about the food but I get the feeling that they would complain regardless of quality.

I watched as a an older gentleman taught a young French couple how to do card tricks.  It is great to see people interacting, even when there is a communication barrier.

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When Sam returned from her snorkelling (which she was rather disappointed in after the spectacular experience of Lifou) we explored the markets. It was Sam’s turn today to enjoy the massage while I strolled through the stalls. So many stalls selling exactly the same wares. One wonders how they make money from them. During her massage Sam noticed that the daughter of the lady who was massaging her was wearing a pair of thongs which were paper thin. She delighted the girl by giving her her own thongs which still had plenty of wear in them. Such a generous soul is my girl. As I wandered I had a local man introduce himself to me as Tony who entertained me with a rendition of Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport for a small donation. This time we also remembered to take our passports ashore so that we could have them stamped for a fee of $2.

Back on board the ship I settled in again with my laptop. Others look at me as though they think I am crazy sitting here banging away at the keyboard but it is such a relaxing way to spend the day, sitting here writing. The cocktails help also!

There are so many sunburned bodies on board! Thank goodness we are not amongst them.

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This afternoon and into the evening we were fortunate enough to be entertained by two young men calling themselves ‘Double Trouble’. Both singing and playing acoustic guitars doing covers. I could have listened to them all cruise. It is always wonderful watching people do what they love doing… there is so much more passion in it than just a performance. I saw them after their show in The Pantry having dinner and yes, I did do the groupie thing and tell them how much I enjoyed their show. They informed me they are playing again tomorrow in one of the places below deck… yes I will be there!!!

It is White Night tonight. Sam has even made an effort to change into white for the short time we will be up. After donning her white attire she ventured into The Pantry for dinner and came back out muttering about a conspiracy… why are they serving roasted beetroots and spaghetti bolognese on white night?? Thankfully her white dress survived.

It was lovely sitting up on deck this evening. Sam took herself off to bed and left me to my own devices. I sat and watched the children’s party, all the little girls dressed up in their lovely dresses. There were two groups of people sitting beside me and would you believe it? They were all from Adelaide. We have also discovered that there are people here from Port Augusta! On the very first day just after we boarded we were lining up for our lunch and a woman said to Sam “You’re Parky’s missus, aren’t you?” Small, small world!

Another day amongst the Pacific Islands done and dusted.

Spear Creek… Where did that Solitude go? Part 4

Spear Creek... Where did that Solitude go? Part 4

27th December 2013

Evening

The day had been very warm and I was sitting in the shade of ‘my’ tree enjoying a cold drink and watching the birds playing under the sprinkler when I heard the unmistakable sound of a vehicle towing a van. Next thing I knew I had company in my little haven. Two pop up camper trailers being towed by sparkling dual cab 4x4s, in each of them were Mum and Dad and two children. They conveniently parked on the opposite side of the complex so that I had a front row seat for the entertainment.

Vehicle 1: Mum and Dad and 2 young girls approximately 12 and 9 disembark. Mum and Dad are sharing a chuckle over something and the children are chattering happily.

Vehicle 2: Mum and Dad and 1 girl approximately 12 and a boy about 10 alight. Mum and Dad are squabbling over whether the van is parked well enough or not. Daughter and son are eager to explore…but not together!

Vehicle 1: Mum tells the girls to go and have a look around and see what they can find (oh and by the way “See the kangaroo poo on the ground.” The girls laugh and off they go. Mum and Dad set about setting up their van. Obviously they have a routine and it all comes together nicely.

Vehicle 2: Kids are off with their friends exploring while Mum grumbles about how it must be great to be a kid and not have to do the work “Don’t walk in the kangaroo poo! I don’t want to have to clean that up out of the van!” They have 2 kayaks on the top of their van and have a rather animated discussion about whether it makes more sense to leave them there and wind the pop top up or remove the straps and lift them off before doing so. Eventually Dave from Vehicle 1 is called on for his opinion. Dave points out that considering they are stacked on top of each other on one side of the roof it may be best to remove them so as not to put undue strain on one side of the roof once it is raised. Mum and Dad set about undoing the two straps that hold them to the roof and yell for the kids to come and help lift them down. That done they prepare to set up camp.

Vehicle 1: Site is organised with chairs and table set up. The kids are back and Mum suggests they might like to play under the sprinkler to cool off. The kids are off and loving it.

Vehicle 2: She’s winding the roof up too fast apparently, however when she suggests to him that he might like to do it he very quickly points out that she is doing fine, just needs to slow down just a little to ensure the cable doesn’t kink. How does she know how far to wind? He assures her that she will know when it is fully extended. At last the top is up. Now to extend the beds. Gives the kids a water pistol each to play with.

Vehicle 1: Mum suggests that Dad might like to offer a hand to Vehicle 2. Didn’t catch Dad’s reply but no assistance was offered.

Vehicle 2. A discussion on where the fishing gear needed to be put and here while you are at it take these life jackets too. Next thing a tv antenna is passed out. “Hey Dave, did I tell you I brought a telly?” Dave: “You’re kidding right?” “No, I bought a 32 inch screen so we can watch the cricket. I’ll have to get you to help me set it up and tune it in.” Dave and Mum just shake their heads. At this stage I am not sure exactly what else to expect to come out the door of the van. Kids come sneaking over and squirt both sets of Mums and Dads. Vehicle 1 parents laugh and threaten retaliation. Vehicle 2 Mum shrieks that she detests being wet when she is hot, if they can’t play sensibly with them she’ll take them off them! Makes me wonder what parent would think any child is going to be “sensible” with a water pistol? More to the point what is “sensible” with a water pistol?

Eventually they settle down in the shade of the trees on the opposite side of the complex to where they set up camp. Time for drinks and some relaxation.

Another vehicle arrives. After some deliberation they decide to camp in a different area so off they go.

Another vehicle arrives. A rather large extender van with Mum and Dad and 3 small children. They decide that the spot right next to me looks great. They set up and turn the air con on to cool the van down. Dad takes the kids over to the sprinkler which the caretaker had just turned off and turned it back on again so the kids could play.

Another vehicle arrives. A van towing a motor bike in a trailer. Mum Dad and 2 teenage kids. Nowhere near as entertaining as the previous arrivals.

The caretaker comes out and turns the sprinkler off again. Toddler starts to shriek because the water has stopped. Mum waits until the caretaker has gone and unhooks the sprinkler and turns the tap on for the little one to play under. Apparently they don’t have to worry about water conservation in Esperance.

I head off to the showers lamenting that my solitude has been shattered again and this time it is not by Mother Nature.

How lucky for us all that when the partying ended the fellow in the extender van forgot to turn his outside light off thus lighting up the entire camping area. The night is incredibly hot and the air con whirrs next to me all night.

Where oh where has my solitude gone???

To be continued….