Mele Cascades, Efate, Vanuatu - 2013

Sam and I found ourselves in Port Vila twice in 2013, the first time we were there on our own, the second time we visited we were accompanied by my sister Susan and her kids. On both occasions we visited the Mele Cascades, a beautiful series of cascades with crystal clear water flowing over them.

Me in my hardcore bush walking boots again.

Mele Cascades.

Our first visit was with a tour off the cruise boat, and while we had a great time we would of liked a little more time to kick back a bit and soak in the crystal clear plunge pools. On the tour we had a small musical interlude halfway to the falls where some local lads serenaded us, the falls are a bit of a walk upstream near the falls themselves you take to the stream and use ropes to help you negotiate the last few metres

Vanuatu's next top model competition was on.

One of the smaller cascades.

I think that means 'when are you going to get out?'

Not for awhile by the look of it.

The actual water fall quickly filled with the punters off the boat on the first visit so Sam and I retreated downstream a little to check out some of the other cascades. Our chaperone off the boat was our waitress from the pizza restaurant on board and she seemed to be keen to try out for the new reality show 'Vanuatu's next Top Model' as she posed on top of a rock in her black bikini, when she asked me to take her photo what could I do?

Check out the colour of the water at the wharf.

Heading back on board, it was bloody hot. That's the Sea Princess behind us.

Heading back to the Sea Princess in the afternoon we quickly got changed and then headed down to the market that lines the road to the wharf, Sam enjoyed wondering up and down the road checking out the stalls, but what I remember was the heat, it was bloody hot. Eventually the heat got too much and when headed back to the ship, taking up our usual position near the pool to catch Port vila recede into the distance.

Back in my traditional cruising position.

Sailing out of Vila Bay.

Another tough night coming up.

On our second visit we decided to hire a driver to take us out to the cascades as there was five of us and the ships tour was going to be a bit pricey. The advantage of our own driver meant that we could stay a lot longer and enjoy all the cascades, the other advantage was that he got us there before all the punters from the ship turned up so we had a little time under the water fall without the crowds, there was only a couple of people there when we got there.

One of the pools at the entrance to Mele Cascades.

Susan and Sam heading up to the falls.

We beat the crowds on our second visit.

Once the crowds started to turn up we slowly made our way down stream, the kids checking out all the pools . The tropical forest was looking really good today as the occasional downpour wet the leaves and left them glistening when the sun returned. After spending half a day at the cascades we met our driver and took the return hell ride back to the bus.

That'd be Sam and I chilling out in the 'old peoples pool'.

It's not called a rainforest for no reason.

The pattern was the same as our earlier trip, after a quick change of clothes it was back off the boat and down to check out the market, the weather on this visit being a bit cooler we lingered in the different stalls for a bit longer. I spent the afternoon trying to find an Hawaiian style shirt that I liked as I was on a bit of a mission to buy one in every tropical country that I visited. Eventually I gave up on getting a decent quality shirt in the markets and we headed back on board for the sail away.

The ultimate selfie.

Susan, heading back down to our driver.

The Dirt.
Our first visit to Port Vila was on the Sea Princess, our second visit was on the Rhapsody of the Seas. Both ships are nice, Princess seems to be better suited to adults, Royal Caribbean was probably better for children. Mele Cascades are about twenty minutes drive out of Port Vila, its easy to organise a driver at the port and it works out a bit cheaper if there's a few people going out. The cruise in and out of  Vila Bay is very scenic and shouldn't be missed, a lot of the punters head straight to the buffet and miss the sail away. I need to thank my guest photographers Susan, Jess, Seb and Tory for the last thirteen photos.

That'd be the Rhapsody of the Seas.

Checking out the market from the deck.