Easter at the volcano and finally vacation

While Michel spent the Easter days in Vietnam at 35 degrees and did without melting Easter eggs, I climbed a small extinct volcano just around the corner from Efate on Easter Monday. This is how it happened:

Michel and I had been considering a visit to the small islands of Pelé and Nguna in the far north of Efate for some time. There are beautiful beaches, great surf and snorkeling spots, and a 500m high extinct and green-covered volcano.

Unfortunately, we didn't make it together because when Sven and Barbara (a friendly German couple) asked me if I wanted to come over the Easter weekend, I was glad to get out and didn't say no. Unfortunately, the weather spoiled our plans on Saturday with a lot of rain and thunderstorms, but on Sunday morning we could start. With their two little girls (Lupina 1 and Karlotta 4), we set off. We drove by car to the other side of the island in 40 minutes, where a French family of friends was waiting. All together (10 people), we shared a small boat and sailed to the island of Nguna in 25 minutes. We had booked a guesthouse there, which was also fully booked with our gang. We were warmly welcomed with broad smiles, as is usual in Vanuatu, and were immediately served LapLap, rice and curry for lunch. Strengthened, we spent Easter Sunday at the beach after Karlotta excitedly found some eggs. The French children were already 12 and 15, too old for the Easter bunny. The older girl also had 2 friends with her plus their surfboards, with which the 3 of them spent their time and were hardly seen.

As it was still a bit stormy and cloudy, we enjoyed the sea in the afternoon, which was like a bathtub and we hardly wanted to get out. In the evening, we all had a delicious dinner together, I played a French card game with the French people while the kids were put to bed, and finally we had some guitar music from the father of the family.

The next day, the girls woke us up early and at 8 o'clock we sat down for breakfast in the beautiful sunshine. The plan for today was the volcano. Since Barbara and Sven's girls are too young, they agreed that Barbara would walk to the volcano with Laure (French mommy), Carol (a teacher colleague of Laure) and me. The whole thing was supposed to take 3-4 hours. We wanted to see that.

We set off with 2 locals from the guesthouse and a local guide. By now, 10 o'clock, we had experienced the wonderful midday heat, which extended the tour a bit. Barbara and I were at the back as a breastfeeding woman and a pregnant woman and we took a little more time. We made it to the top and were extremely proud and happy because the view was beautiful. You could see all the islands around Efate and into the overgrown crater. After the descent and a reinforcement break with fruits and juice at the guide's family, we finally returned to the guesthouse after 5 hours, where Sven was eagerly awaiting Barbara :)

Sven jumped into the water again with his surfboard, but there wasn't much time left because we wanted to take the boat back to Efate while it was still light. We just made it and, exhausted but happy, we fell into bed late in the evening. The next day was a long day at work because my flight to Darwin was already booked for Wednesday.

Finally vacation!

For 5 days, vacation was on the agenda for Anni and some work but also a lot of free time for Michel in Darwin, Australia.

First of all, we were thrilled to see each other again after 3 weeks apart, and Michel felt the flips of the little creature for the first time that evening. Pretty cool :)

With dry 36 degrees, it was a lot hotter than in Vanuatu and we were glad to have a nice, cool hotel with a pool and gym to escape the midday heat. We enjoyed the days with sleeping in, strolling, resting, walking, resting, training session for Michel and the girls (Anni resting), and in the evenings, we created delicious meals in the hotel room.

One highlight was the opening of the Arafura Games, which was the reason for the whole trip anyway. Over 50 nations competed against each other in 17 sports over 10 days, which was really well organized. The show was great with various dances, especially from the Pacific regions, and in the end, there was a small concert.

The next evening, we enjoyed the sunset at the famous Mindil Beach, where there is always a night market on Fridays with many different delicacies from all over the world.

On Sunday morning, we visited the Parap Village Market, known for its traditional handicrafts and various local brands. It was nice there too, and I managed to convince Michel to stroll through the whole market. In the end, I got a new yoga towel and a yoga top with a design from Darwin. First class :)

On the last day, we had the pleasure of seeing a few crocodiles. We decided to go to a park because it is also possible to see them in the wild, but we were not sure if we really wanted to. So we went shopping with Debbie, Miller, and Tini first, and then to the park. We arrived just in time for the feeding and it was really exciting to see these huge creatures. At first, you thought they were dead and then suddenly they became aware of something and snapped in a matter of seconds! Michel gathered all his courage and also fed part of the chicken heads :/. Everything is still intact :)

In addition to crocodiles, there were a few other animals in the park and we especially enjoyed the emus and meerkats. Great animals. Unfortunately, there were also a tiger, lions, and monkeys, which we were not so pleased to see. Everything was a bit cramped and small, and especially in Darwin, where there is so much land, we expected something different. Well... we saw the largest saltwater crocodiles in the world and it was worth it.

We raced home and were once again exhausted from the heat and the "many" activities.

We enjoyed the last evening in the hotel with a podcast and delicious kebab because my flight back to Port Vila was already at 1:40 am.

So quickly you are back in the work routine. The days are still filled with patients and Michel's teams in Darwin achieved significant successes. The boys made it to the top 16 and the girls brought home gold and silver to Vanuatu. That's something to be proud of, and we are looking forward to the final trip to the Asian Championships in China next week.