Friday, November 9, 2012

Cruise Day 9 & 10 - At Sea and Port Vila (Vanuatu)

Day 9
A day at sea meant we got to have a sleep in and a late breakfast.  A lazy day - trivia, lunch, watching dance classes, quilling class, reading, writing some postcards and just relaxing. 

We went to the Atrium and saw the Pacific Cirque show "Transformation" - amazing acrobatics!

 
 
We went to dinner in the formal dining room with Kerri and Dave. After dinner we went to see impressionist "Keith Scott" - not only does he do fantastic impressions (Looney Tunes characters, prime ministers, TV actors, etc), but he is an amazing singer and sounded just like the people he was doing impressions of (Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, etc)! 

Day 10
Another beautiful day - anchored in Port Vila (Vanuatu)!  After breakfast we went out to the port and bartered with some drivers to take us into town and then on a 2 hour tour of Vila.   After finding a driver (Johnny) and deciding where to tour (all different places to the last time we were in Vila in 2010), our first stop in town was to buy our duty free alcohol  We then wandered around looking at a few shops and some markets, before getting back into the mini bus  to start our tour.  Johnny took us for a drive though the largest village and explained about village life.  From there we drove to the Cascade falls.  We didn't walk up to the falls because it takes approx 40mins return trip and we didn't have suitable footwear on to walk on the slippery rocks.  We did have a look around the gardens and at the stream from the falls.

 
From the falls we went to Tanna Coffee - we could smell this place long before we saw it! LOL  The coffee beans are delivered to them, they roast it and  supply all of Vanuatu with coffee.
 
 
Our driver Johnny with the ONE machine that roasts ALL of the coffee!
 
 
We went to a beach where we could feed fish.  It was an amazing the reef was right on the edge of the beach!  We brought a bag of bread for AU$3 and went to the hut over the water to feed all the beautiful fish.
 
 
 
 
We drove around a few more beaches and through some rainforest areas before heading back into the city.
 
 
We went to 2 lookouts in the city centre - one at the war memorial and another one.
 
 
 
 
After our tour, Johnny dropped us back at the ship. We had some lunch then went back down to the wharf and did some souvenir shopping at the 80+ markets.  
 
 
We went to the Island farewell sailawy party on the Top deck, then sat in The Dome and enjoyed the sunset cruising.

We had dinner in the formal dining room with Kerrie and Dave, then went to see Jackie Love perform at the show lounge. 

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