Island tour with obstacles

After relaxing days on Moso Island, we booked accommodation on the "main island" Efate for another three nights before the next flight to Fiji.

We want to make some progress towards South America, so we don't want to spend more time here. Of course, Vanuatu with its 83 islands has much more to offer, but additional flights, ferries, or tours to Santo or Tanna would not only take time but also strain our budget even more. It's already quite tight after six weeks in Australia.

Of course, we still want to see as much as possible of Efate Island. There are, of course, tours that you can book. But we don't like that, so we look for our own vehicle. Besides cars, quads, and buggies, you can also rent scooters - and that's what we decide to do (among other reasons, for price).

In the morning, Mathias picks up the scooter, loads Seraina and the packed day backpack at the hostel, and off we go counterclockwise on the only larger road around the island. Outside of Port Vila, there isn't much left - a few smaller villages and a lot of green. From rainforest to palm sharks on the coastline - it's mega beautiful here. We drive to Eden on the River, a small complex with a few waterfalls. And then we continue to the Blue Lagoon - very popular on Instagram - where we naturally join in the fun of swimming.

But now the first worries with the scooter start. We have driven about 30 kilometers and the fuel gauge already says "half empty" (here it really means half empty, not half full). However, the circumnavigation of the island is 136 kilometers, and after asking around, nobody knows of a gas station or any other fuel distributor out here. So we turn back - because we don't want to risk getting stuck somewhere. Back in Port Vila, we briefly visit the rental place and they say that a full tank will easily last 150 kilometers and that the fuel gauge is just somehow weird. Okay, good - so we'll try again tomorrow with this island tour, today it's already getting dark.

Second attempt the next day - but first, we need breakfast. We drive from the hostel to the promenade to our favorite place, Namabawan Café ("Number One Café" - the language here in Vanuatu is a funny adaptation of English. For example, water is also called "wota"...) After breakfast, we want to drive off - and suddenly we have a flat rear tire. So we drive - not even a kilometer - back to the rental place and have the tire checked. They don't find a leak and pump it up - let's see if that helps. We set off again, in the same direction as yesterday, and pass the stops from yesterday until we reach Eton Beach. A beautiful coastal area with rather rough sea and many waves. And we continue - keeping a close eye on the fuel gauge - through the smaller villages on the east side to the northern coast. On the way, we find a small, rather unspectacular cave, but we still take a quick peek inside and briefly hear the story behind it. Shortly before Port Havannah, we stop again. From here we can see Moso Island, where we spent some beautiful days before, and we start another snorkeling exploration. But even here, no dugongs - I don't think they exist at all...

We end the trip with a snack at the Wahoo Bar and with a view from a small lookout directly above Mele Bay, with the small Hideaway Island and all the way to Port Vila. We don't visit the Mele Cascades because we don't want to pay the Chinese owners 2,000 Vatu per person just to look at the waterfalls and cool off briefly. The other places we visited also had a small entrance fee - but much less and the owners were locals.

We arrived back at the hostel in the late afternoon, feeling proud and a little relieved. Efate Island tour - check!

We spent the last morning wandering around a bit. We visited the very nice vegetable and fruit market (again), took some photos, and then headed to the airport. But that wasn't necessary because our flight - as we later found out - would be delayed for about three hours. Well, it happens...