Vanuatu

Club Hippique - beautiful rainforest rides, catering for all level of riders. Paid $69 (AU) on PO shore tour. 3 hours total. Pick up at Port, 20 minute drive to location. Ride through rainforest and river swim, bareback, at end of the day. There's a bar with drinks basic snacks, all reasonably priced. Australian owners took over 16 months ago. Highly recommend.

The central market in the center of the city is fresh and cheap. You can buy very sweet fruits.

Awesome Island with friendly locals, pack light summery gear as you might only need a light long sleeve top when it gets a little cooler at night and def need some insect repellant.

The US dollar goes a long way here. There are some reasonable hotel accomodations here, but there also is a surprising number of furnish houses for rent on or near the many postcard quality beaches. The best way for them is to plan ahead. Do NOT go here if you think you'd like bright lights and big cities. DO go here if what you seek is poor cell phone reception, plenty of time to catch up on reading, and some very impressive dive locations.

Take advantage of the free ferry to Irririki Island from the centre of Vila and use the resorts pool and patio for free!!

The cheapest duty free is from right down the end of the main street heading away from the port.

Mele village is the prelude to the Mele Mele waterfall, which is one of the highlights of Efate island. Fair enough, after a hike you will arrive in what is an ok fall. Ok on the whole, but hardly unmissable. Though given the amount of options on Efate, if you are stuck here for more than a couple of days, coming here is bound to be a good distraction.

When you go to Vanuatu first you notice its stunning nature. In some point, when breathing that fresh air and admiring that beautiful turquoise sea, you hear this strong *kiss*noice and if you're a woman you might wonder: "Who dares to call me so obscenely?!" But don't get offended, the locals use this call instead of a whistle. They even stop the taxis with it! (I don't know how common this is elsewhere in the world, but it was new to me and I wish I could do it) People in Port Vila and Vanuatu general are very beautiful and when you get to know them you find them very relaxed, funny and happy people. They'll propably introduce you to the rootdrink 'kava' which tastes and looks like mud and makes your tongue go numb and if you're brave enough to drink few glasses, you should become quite relaxed or should I say fairly merry. You can find it in stores, but if you want to try it with the locals just follow stormlamps. You should also taste Vanuatu's special treat: coconut crab. It is absolutely divine, but quite expensive too. It is also selled fresh sometimes in the Marketplace, where you find all the basic and exotic veges, fruits and flowers. You'll propably notice that all the imported products are very often more expensive than in your own country. That's because there can be imported only a little, 'cause there's not much buyers and it's quite far at the ocean. Vanuatu is still quite primitive country. People in Port Vila like to have fun and part of the fun is very rich nightlife. You can change from bar to bar by taxi, bus(blue or black van) or public transport(back of a truck). Small trips costs usually 100 vatu (less than 1 euro). You get most of the place when you are open to new things and be a little adventurous.

PO Cruises out of Australia offer very cheap last minute deals - sometimes even including free flights to get you to the port from another Aussie city... check 3-6 days before a cruise. I did this for my honeymoon - it was ace. Totally bogan aussie - but an easy easy way to travel around the South Pacific

Grab a piece of laplap from the markets