A coming and going in Vanuatu

-Oh wow-

There's been so much happening in the past few weeks and so much to come in the next few months.

The first wave of visitors passed by quickly and the next one is already on its way. But the past weeks have been really cool:

When the Sunshines travel group disbanded, we had 10 wonderful days left with Antje and Sebastian. They made the most of their time, spent a lot of time with their little grandson Pepe, explored the area by foot and local bus, organized an invitation for us to visit Efira Island, which can only be visited with a local, Sebastian learned how to dive in the pool, and the two of them spent 3 exciting days on Tanna with Jael. Sooo much fit into this short time and we enjoyed every second we had together. We especially enjoyed the nice evenings with all the stories about their experiences, the little trips to our friends, the tour of Efira, and the morning babysitting service. When the time for Sebastian and Antje was up on January 18th (way too soon), only Jael was left, who stayed with us for another 10 days. Jael also made the most of her time and visited Tanna as well as the beautiful beaches of Santo Island. Otherwise, we enjoyed everyday life together and were grateful for her support with Pepe and her wonderful company. The evenings were filled with delicious food, great conversations, and new game ideas. The day before her departure, Jael went on her first dive in the open sea. I took the opportunity and prepared myself for my first tour after pregnancy. So we could go together with Aaron and Charlotte, and it was incredibly cool to realize that all the skills we acquired last year were still there :) After that, we went to a Australia Day pool party with friends, and in the evening we had a farewell cocktail at our favorite child-free resort. (Unfortunately, Michel and Pepe had to stay home). After a chill "departure day" the next day, Jael unfortunately realized that her flight was in the morning and not in the evening. 😂 Well, it can happen and thank God she was still able to easily catch her long flight home due to her planned 3 nights in Sydney.

When Jael was gone, the last week of January flew by with just the two of us. We had a few things to take care of, got Pepe vaccinated (because we both wanted to be there), and then got a tip from the doctors for our pretty short and energy-draining nights. Since the end of December, Pepe wanted more and more breast milk at night, so we would wake up every hour and he would hang and drink for a long time. After almost a month of trying different things to make it better, we were ready for the tougher path that Dr. Carine presented. It supposedly worked well with her 3 children, and theoretically babies don't need milk at night anymore after about 3 months. Since we only had 3 nights left (you should invest 3 nights), we went for it. I slept in a different room and Michel took over baby duty. Night after night it got better and he would be calmed down easily by Michel. Now I've been alone for 2 days and the tough journey paid off. Pepe still wakes up 2-3 times, but can be calmed down and only drinks once around half past 1. So we hope it stays that way. (Something else will surely come up), but we are very confident 😊.

Michel is now in Cambodia for the first 2-star tournament. After that, he will continue to Thailand. On February 19th, they will arrive in Sydney for another 2 weeks of the Australian tour. We will visit him for 5 days to make the 4 weeks in a row a bit shorter. This time Michel is traveling with 2 women's teams to all the tournaments, as two teams still need points for qualification. We are excited to hear the first results on Friday from Siem Reap.

When I return from Sydney, I will already be welcoming the next wave of visitors on February 27th. Malin and Anna are coming to Vanuatu with their babies Lönna and Mikkel for 3 weeks. On March 10th, my sister Merli will also visit. In between, Michel will also drop by. So it will be full again and the anticipation of showing this beautiful place to even more friends is growing.