Kokosnut Playgroup

Amidst all the wild news from around the world, we now have something wonderful to report about the past three weeks in Vanuatu with the Kokosnut Playgroup.

Four weeks ago, Anna and Malin embarked on the long journey to Vanuatu with their children Mikkel (6 months) and Lönna (10 months). Both are currently on parental leave and wanted to shorten the long winter in Kiel. Upon my recommendation, the four of them made a stop in Sydney for 2 nights on the way there to recover from the first travel hardships. On February 26th, the plane landed in Port Vila and an exciting time began. At that time, Pepe and I were still alone and picked up the group, while Michel coached another tournament in Sydney.

The accommodation, which was booked through AirBnB, was only a 3-minute walk from our small village and appeared very beautiful, clean, and spacious. We feared that it could get very hot, but hoped for the best.

The first week went by quickly. The girls took it slow, recovered from the jet lag, acclimatized themselves and the babies to the heat, and we went on little tours to the beach, the resort, or the city. With a perceived temperature of 43 degrees, there wasn't much else possible. February and March turned out to be the hottest months here. In the evenings, we cooked together (if possible) and chatted about everything. Everything still seemed manageable ;). Time flew by quickly. Michel blessed us with his presence for 5 days between his tournaments, then traveled to New Zealand again, and suddenly Merli arrived on March 9th and joined the playgroup. Our 5-seater car got a little crowded, but we made it work. At almost the same time as Merli's arrival, the girls' AirBnB accommodation turned out to be uninhabitable. The small container was damp and way too hot. During the heavy cyclone rainfall, it leaked in all corners, and during the daytime, it became so hot inside that they could hardly stay there. Consequently, it started to mold, but thankfully they were able to move out quickly. Fortunately for us, a house in our village had become available, which we booked for the second half of their vacation. So we lived very close to each other, which was super convenient.

Over the remaining days, the seven of us explored the island, walked to the waterfall, went snorkeling, and spent most of our time in the sea or at the pool. It was simply a fantastic vacation with a lot of sunbathing.

For the last 3 days, Michel joined the travel group again. After successfully leading the girls to a gold medal in New Zealand (Congratulations!!!) and securing qualification for the final Continental Cup, the World Tour tournament in Coolangatta was canceled. From that point on, Corona reached Australia and somehow also Vanuatu. Michel and the team had to return earlier, which was also quite nice for us because we could enjoy the last few days in a large group.

We made sure that the girls' return journey would also work with flights and logistics. In the end, the four of them were still in quarantine in Brisbane for 2 days and are now heading home this evening.

Despite all the travel hustle and bustle, heat, damp accommodation, jet lag, Lönna's little fever episode, and coronavirus madness, we had an incredibly beautiful and intense time. Seeing the babies together and having some quality time was so wonderful and a huge stroke of luck for our friendship.

Thank you for visiting us.