DAY 8 December 8th. Lifou, Loyalty Island

Lifou was a very French settlement and not the nicest of the islands. 

We tendered over again and went on a mini bus tour up to the main settlement. 

Chris climbed the walls of the church. 

We went on a very amusing tour of the Chief's traditional hut. A group of tourist women kept chiming in with comments such as "men and women slept in here together?",  "they were naked?" and best of all "they survived cyclones without modern buildings?"  

As we got back to the tender dock, Raina's hat blew into the ocean. Sarah and Chris decided they wanted to jump in after it and a happy hour was spent as they dived in off the wharf, ran back and did it again. Of course many people walking past thought this was "disgusting/ terrible/ dangerous/unwise….."  But Sarah and Chris had fun.  

It was then a sleep, 5pm Concierge Club and dinner at the Chef's Table. Another great night. Magnificent food and wine and great theatre. 

DAY 7 December 7th. Vila, Vanuatu

Raina, Sarah and Chris left the ship early and secured the services of a taxi for the day. "Hey Australia, $15 each for a ride to town……….$10 each for …….. $7 return each for a …….   $400 for the day….$300 for the day….$200 for the day….".  We agreed on $150.  

 We went for a drive around town and to the local markets. Colour, sounds, smells, the unusual and the bizarre. What else could you want?

Chris was particularly taken with the large piles of faggot for a reasonable price. 

The flower stalls were amazing. 

It was then back to the dock to collect Andy and Juan Diego. 

We went out to 'The Blue Hole' and then out to lunch. 'The Blue Hole' was another huge fresh water spring. There were local kids swinging on the tree ropes - they could have all been employed by Cirque de Soleil. Sarah and Chris had a ball and showed a range of skills. It was a great drive across the main island through agricultural areas.   

After 5pm at the Concierge Club, we went to Samba Grille  (with the gang) for dinner. And ate way too much meat…again.   

Day 6 December 6th Champagne Bay, Vanuatu

Champagne Bay was the prettiest of all the beaches. Sunshine really helped. As we hopped off the tender boat, ohhhhing and ahhing at the sparkling green and aqua coloured water, we were greeted by locals' emptying their crab pots on the beach. 

And we were happy with lobster the day before! Crab is so much better. 

After poking around the markets (that sold all the exact same stuff as the previous two days) we hopped on a mini bus for a trip to 'The Blue Lagoon' an inland freshwater spring. Peter, Linda and Roxanne joined us. The walk in and out was fairly brutal for Raina and her knees but so worth it! It was amazing. Deep, clear and wonderful.  

As we rushed back up to the market to buy a fat crab for $20, we again timed it perfectly and got there as they dropped the price. We got them down to $15 for two big ones. 

So back onto the ship, but this time we called room service from the bottom of the elevators, at the tender door, rather than wait to get back to the room. Once again, Andy was a happy fellow, this time as we all sat on the deck munching on crab. 

We all then had to have a big sleep as it was very special dinner this night. Now, Andy has a fairly strict rule about not eating with the staff, after all he was on a posh holiday, but made an exception for this night as Captain Sindre had requested the pleasure of our company for dinner. 

We met at the Champagne bar for a quick 'Bolly' before being ceremoniously marched into the main table in the main dining room.  The food, the grog, the company - everything about the night was amazing.