Over the years I’ve been to Vanuatu numerous times, but I’d never actually been to its largest island Espiritu Santo and its capital Luganville so today we were keen to get off the ship and check things out. When arriving in Vanuatu via Fiji or New Caladonia, Vanuatu can seem a bit rough and ready, but arriving via New Guinea and the Solomon Islands had us feeling that Vanuatu was very civilised indeed. We docked at the main wharf today and while at the moment it's a building site, when it’s finished I reckon a lot more cruise ships will make Luganville a regular stop. Interestingly this is another South Pacific country that the Chinese government is pouring money into, in this case rebuilding the wharf among other things.
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We were happy to be able to disembark at a wharf rather than the dreaded tender so the noise and dust of the extensive rebuild didn’t worry us too much. Occupational health and safety is obviously a little different over here though and it was slightly disconcerting to see some of our elder compatriots making their way through the chaos and dust of the construction site, sometimes using their zimmer frames, I reckon the CFMEU would have something to say about that back home. Once off the ship we jumped on to a tour that was heading up to the northern beaches before heading to The Blue Hole.
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| The beach looked pretty but the dead coral was hard on our feet. |
The first thing we noticed about getting around Espiritu Santo was that the roads were a step up from what we had been experiencing so far on this trip, it was nice to be able to sit in the back of the small mini van without feeling like the rear wheels were going to pop through the floor at any minute. Like I mentioned early on, the second obvious thing that we noticed in Vanuatu was that it was a bit more developed than PNG and the Solomon Islands which makes it a little easier to get around. To be honest today though our swim at Oyster Bay was fairly underwhelming, we’d bought the snorkelling gear but all the coral was pretty well rooted, the swimming was ok but you had too brave the dead coral to get into the water. Now with a bit more time I may of been able to find some decent snorkelling here but with less than an hour on the beach allowed on this tour we were just happy enough to chill out in the warm water taking in the perfect tropical view.
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There were a couple of these sorry looking brain corals but in the limited time we had I didn't find any other living corals.
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The water was nice though:)
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Leaving the beach we headed for something called The Blue Hole, now I suspected The Blue Hole was a spring but to be honest I wasn’t 100% sure. Arriving at said 'Blue Hole' though it was soon apparent that I was right, it was not just a spring though, this was a massive watery grotto in the surrounding limestone rock. The Blue Hole was a pretty special place, the cobalt blue water surrounded by old native forest, my limited vocabulary is struggling to describe the beauty of this place so you’ll have to check out the photos. There are a couple of things to consider at the Blue Hole though, the first one is that the limestone on the entry and exit is a bit hard on the feet so maybe reef shoes may be the go. The second thing to consider is that being a fresh water spring the water is a bit colder than you would normally get in the tropics, so if you want to stay in for awhile then maybe bring a lilo or something to float on and get you out of the cold water for awhile. After half an hour or so the water was getting a bit too cold for me so it was time to jump out for awhile, the Blue Hole is well set up with a little cafe so we thawed out for awhile in the sun while having a drink.
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The beautiful Blue Hole.
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The Feral swimmer.
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The Blue Hole is surrounded by native bush.
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After the Blue Hole we returned to the ship in Luganville to drop off the snorkelling gear, have a shower and grab something to eat, yeah there was no chance of scurvy or malnutrition setting in on this ocean voyage. This afternoon we headed out again this time to what promised to be another swimming spot called the Hibiscus Lagoon, like the Blue Hole the Hibiscus Lagoon was another large fresh water spring. The Hibiscus Lagoon was home to a school of what looked like Jungle Perch, these tame fish will come and nibble on your dead skin if you sit still enough in the water. Like the Blue Hole the water was fairly cool in the Hibiscus Lagoon so we didn’t stay in for too long, Sam lasted around two minutes while I stuck it out for probably twenty minutes. The entry and exit were a little easier on the feet at the Hibiscus Lagoon and the water was deep, in the few spots that you could touch the bottom the ground was sharp and not really friendly to bare feet. I spent some time checking out the big lagoon before getting to a no swimming past here sign, I think that certain villages each own a section of the lagoon so you aren’t allowed to swim in the section that isn’t in the village that you paid to enter. I suspect that the Hibiscus Lagoon is open to the sea somewhere downstream as when I moved away from the spring there was a definite currant pulling my along, unfortunately the no trespass signs stopped my going any further down stream.
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Hibiscus Lagoon
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There a quite a few fish in the Hibiscus Lagoon, they look like what we call Jungle Perch.
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Floating down the lagoon I came to this sign.....looks like I won't be swimming any further.....
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So I decided to muck around with my waterproof camera going for what is known in blogger terms as the arty wanker shot.
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Climbing out of the water our guide then took us for a bit of a tour around the villages gardens, explaining the medicinal properties of all the native flora. While we were wandering around the extensive garden the cloud really started to roll in, by the time we had finished our garden walk and jumped back on the bus to return to Luganville it was pissing down, not that it seemed to worry our driver too much as he just ploughed on with even more speed. Arriving back at the ship safely, the rain now gone as quick as it arrived, we braved the construction site on the wharf for the last time before returning to the air conditioned sanctuary that is a cruise ship.
The Dirt.
Well I called this post Luganville but really we spent the day checking out the coastline to the the north of town so I can’t really talk about Luganville with any authority. The coastline that we did visit was your typical South Pacific postcard variety, white palm fringed beaches, azure water…you get the idea. The one beach that we did visit though was a little under whelming, the picture perfect beach looked good from a distance but the crushed coral was a bitch to walk on so entry and exits from the water weren’t the most elegant affairs, not that a fat, old dim dim can really be that elegant anyway! (I think I’m going to keep using a few pidgin words on my blog, the language seems to agree with me:). The Blue Hole is probably a must see if you’re in town for any length of time, the easiest way to get there would probably be to hire a car and driver in town as its a good 30 minutes from Luganville, the same goes for the Hibiscus Lagoon as well as its another a little further out of town. Both these attractions have a modest entry fee but are still worth checking out. A word of warning though, the fresh water that gushes up from the depths makes both these places an invigorating experience, you won't be spending languid hours luxuriating in tepid tropical water that’s for sure.
Relevant Posts.
Mele Cascades, Port Vila, 2013
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| Sailing away from Luganville on a grey evening, the wharf was in the middle of a big rebuild. |
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