Special Guest in Vanuatu

Returning from Darwin, Lisi (a friend I know from Lubinus times) embarked on the long journey around the world to Vanuatu.

During that time, Michel won silver and gold with his women's teams at the Arafura Games and then flew north to China for the Asian Championships.

In the meantime, Lisi arrived in Port Vila on Thursday evening (9.5) in top shape, after she was able to secure a whole row of seats for herself on 3 of her 4 flights. I have never experienced such luck in all my travel time. Sometimes you just have luck, and I was sooo happy to see her healthy and lively. We chatted into the night and looked forward to 11 days together.

Since I still had some work during the week, we made the most of the weekends.

On the first weekend, we paddled the entire lagoon (4 km) with Barbara and Sven's kayaks to a small dream island (Erakor Island). The paddling tour took about an hour and we enjoyed the day snorkeling and having a delicious drink on the beach of the Erakor Beach Resort. In the evening, we quickly headed back just before darkness fell, as the sun sets much earlier here than at home in the summer.

Then we planned the next few days in the evening: Lisi mentioned at the beginning that she had found 3 kite surfing schools and really wanted to visit them. Nothing easier than that, except that I had never heard of or seen these schools before, but Lisi was convinced that they must exist and we set out to find them.

On Sunday, we went out to the nearby Pango Beach, which is THE surf spot in Vanuatu. So if there is a surf school, it must be here. Nope...we didn't find anything like that along the beach, but we did see 2 kite surfers out on the water. 2 women whom I already knew from yoga were standing on the beach watching the action. We told them about our plan and they confirmed that these "surf schools" are actually 2 guys who have equipment at home and rent it out. That's it.

We contacted the numbers of the very professional-looking websites of the two guys and actually received a response from the kite instructor Robert. We set off and drove to Mele Beach, where Robert was planning to give a beginner kite lesson at that time and he said we could join.

As soon as we arrived, an older, relaxed, friendly smiling man greeted us, who we didn't initially think was the dynamic kite instructor Robert. But actually: it was him :)

In high spirits, we walked down to the beach and checked the wind conditions. Since it was too windy for beginners, Robert told the Englishman who had also arrived to sit on the beach with me and went to work with Lisi and his equipment. Lisi mentioned on the phone in advance which size kite she would need and was used to, and had a few doubts, but Robert wanted to give it a try and strapped the seat harness directly onto her and off they went. The kite was definitely too big, the seat harness uncomfortable, and a bar from the last decade that could only be operated with 2 hands, which was problematic in the water as one hand was always steering (as a kite novice, I hope I am describing it somewhat correctly). It was definitely an adventure and after a few attempts to launch, Lisi was able to glide a few laps over the water. It took so long until the seat harness unfortunately took her breath away, and she discussed with Robert that she would like to kite properly again, but only with suitable equipment. No problem. They agreed to try again during the week. Despite the short session, Lisi was already completely thrilled with those few laps and we spent the rest of the day snorkeling and drinking ice cream chocolate on Hideaway Island. You can really only see this variety of fish there, and it convinced Lisi immediately. We enjoyed the island until sunset and then hurried back in the evening.

The week started with some work for me and Lisi enjoyed herself at the beach, pool, or in town, where there is also a bit to discover. The local markets, good coffee, and a variety of Chinese shops offer quite a bit ;)

On Tuesday, Michel landed in Vanuatu again after 6 weeks. We squeezed together a bit in the apartment, but there was enough space for the three of us. On Wednesday, Robert contacted us again and this time things were going to get serious in Pango. Meanwhile, Michel and I had our long-awaited ultrasound appointment for Quappi. We were incredibly happy to hear that the little one looks healthy and lively, everything is there, and the heart has four chambers and is beating away diligently.

With this great news, we drove out to Pango, watched Lisi kite some more, and processed the new information.

The rest of the week was filled with chilling at the infinity pool, shopping at the market and in the great second-hand stores, and a bit more work. On the weekend, we set off on a round trip around the island. We rented a car and despite some rain and wind, we got great impressions of Vanuatu's flora and fauna. In the morning, we had traditional island food "Tuluk" and in the evening, we devoured the big, delicious fruits that grow wild all over this so green island.

We enjoyed our last day at our favorite resort Breakas around the corner, Lisi soaked up a little more sun, and we reflected on the days. It was a very special and wonderful time and despite our workdays, we saw and experienced a lot together. Another highlight for Lisi was a one-night stay in Sydney on the way back. That was definitely worth it and we were very happy when Lisi arrived back home bit by bit via Singapore, London, and finally Hamburg.

After Lisi's departure, we quickly realized how quickly time flies until I also fly back home, which is now in just 4 weeks. So we planned a little trip to Santo and some other small specials that will make our last time here as a little babymoon very special.

We will report soon on what all of this entails.