Efate

Our last stop in Vanuatu was the island of Efate, more specifically the city of Port Vila. Efate was our least favorite destination in Vanuatu, mainly because it was much more crowded and developed compared to the other islands. Accommodation is expensive there (more than $100/night), as is food and transportation. After much deliberation about where to stay for our last 2 nights in Vanuatu, we ended up at the Traveller's Budget Motel, which I cannot recommend enough. The owners, Jack and Janelle, greeted us immediately when we arrived and helped us to plan our time on the island.

Just because Port Vila is the biggest city in Vanuatu doesn't mean that the baggage claim area is more sophisticated there!

The outside entrance to Traveller's Budget Motel

On our first afternoon in Port Vila we walked to town and found Jill's Cafe, an American-style diner where we indulged in huge burgers and split a delicious thick shake. We were craving western food after our time in Tanna eating lots and lots of root vegetables. We checked out the local market where we were surprised to see that we could still purchase fresh coconuts for only 20 cents. Of course we bought a few and also picked up a pineapple, because pineapples in Vanuatu are too-die-for! Port Vila is a major stop for many cruise ships, so there were cruise passengers out and about in town, another reason we were a bit turned off by Port Vila.

Port Vila's market

After a short walk around town we headed back to the motel and decide to check out the gym across the street. It had been a while since we had been able to get to a gym, so we paid $7 each to work out in a ridiculously hot gym with old school equipment on very full stomachs from our "American" style lunch. Fortunately we were able to relax in our motel pool after the session! While hanging out poolside we met some Irish doctors who are ex-pats in Brisbane. Ironically we were actually with them at the RiRi blue hole on the island of Santo about a week prior to this meeting! We enjoyed chatting with them late into the evening.

A good spot to relax!

In the morning I woke up feeling quite ill. I had felt a cold of some sort coming on over a few days but being pregnant I pretty much couldn't take anything to make me feel better. As a result of me not feeling well, we had a bit of a lazy morning and then caught the bus (which is a great way to get around Efate) to the Mele Cascades. The Cascades are waterfalls which we learned are expensive ($20 per person) to visit and also attract LOTS of cruisers. The waterfalls are nice and they are fun to play in but there were just so many people around that it wasn't all that enjoyable. We ended up finding some smaller pools to hang out in to avoid the crowds and we stayed there for a few hours.

The main waterfall at Mele Cascades

A quieter and more enjoyable place to hang out

From the Cascades we walked about 3km to a place Jack had recommended called the Beach Bar, where we split a pizza and a fruit smoothie for lunch. Prices for food here were pretty similar to Australia, so again, not cheap.

We encountered a wild pig on our walk to the Beach Bar!

We took a ferry over to Hideaway Island, where we were told there was good snorkeling. Of course they charged us to enter the island (about $13 per person!), but we did see lots of colorful fish and a pretty cool underwater post box from which you can actually mail letters. There were also nice beach chairs to relax on while we enjoyed some happy hour specials (non-alcoholic drinks are not quite as exciting, however!) and watched the sunset.

Hideaway Island

A good way to end the day

That night we chatted with the Irish doctors again (who also provided me with some medical advice and some pregnancy-safe medications!), telling stories of our travels within and outside of Australia. They were not too fond of Efate either and were disappointed that they had left themselves with too much time in Port Vila on the end of their trip. Erik and I were certainly happy that we only had two nights in Vila and if we were to go to Vanuatu again I think we would avoid Efate if possible.

Port Vila is pretty but crowded compared to other islands we visited

We woke up the next morning (Christmas morning!), FaceTimed our families, and then headed to the airport to catch a plane to our next destination, Fiji!

Our plane after landing in Fiji on Christmas morning!

Girls Weekend in Tropical North Queensland!

After returning from our awesome New Zealand trip, Jill, Erik's mom, arrived for the start of her Australian adventure. It was at that point, in late January, where all but two members of Erik's immediately family were with us in Melbourne. After a quick Great Ocean Road trip and some exploring around Melbourne, Jill, Carlie, and I hopped back on a plane and flew to Cairns, the city most known for its access to the Great Barrier Reef.

We arrive in Cairns early Thursday morning after a 6am flight from Melbourne. While checking into our hostel, Dreamtime Traveler's Rest, the staff helped us to plan out our days in the area. January is rainy season in Cairns, and the area was recovering from a recent tropical cyclone, so diving boats had not gone out a few days prior to our arrival and there was a good chance it might be a few days before they would go out again. The staff advised us to push diving to the end of our trip to hope for better conditions, so they kindly called our car rental company and switched the days of our car hire to allow us to dive on a different day...talk about great customer service! We spent the rest of Thursday checking out our surroundings and walking around Cairns, which has a path that goes right along the waterfront. This is not your typical waterfront though, as there are signs along the path warning walkers about the saltwater crocodiles that inhabit the water!

On Friday morning, we picked up our rental car and headed north towards Cape Tribulation. The scenery on the drive was gorgeous, as everything was incredibly green, especially since we had just left a very dry Melbourne. The beaches around Cape Trib were stunning. Unfortunately, it was stinger season, meaning that we could not get in the water due to box jellyfish in the water. In addition, every beach in the area had the same warning sign above regarding crocs. We did see a few people in the water at various times, but they were just wading in the water to cool off, not actually swimming.

View looking north...

...and facing south.

The water looks so inviting...

until you remember the sign you saw before reaching the beach.

We saw a bit of wildlife during our trip, including a snake that startled the heck out of us, lots of tropical birds, a jellyfish (not the box jellyfish, as we learned they are so small that you cannot see them), and a bunch of cool sand crabs. We had hoped to see a cassowary, and there we road signs everywhere telling us to slow down so we did not hit them, but we never spotted one.

The staff at our hostel advised us to get as far north as we wanted to go early in the day to beat all of the guided tours, then stop at other places on our way back to Cairns. We stopped at a few overlooks that provided sweet coastal views.

Our next stop was at Mossman Gorge, an aboriginal site within the Daintree Rainforest where we did some hiking and then cooled off in the fresh water (no crocs in there, of course!). Following that stop, we headed to Port Douglas to check out "Four Mile Beach". Part of the beach is netted to allow for safe swimming, but it was such a small area that I can imagine it gets super crowded during peak swimming times.

Our last stop of the day was at Palm Cove, a quaint beach town with gorgeous views from the jetty.

On Saturday we took the car out again, this time to head to the Atherton Tablelands to see some waterfalls. The roads around Cairns are full of twists and turns and lots of hills, so it was challenging driving, however, we were often rewarded with beautiful views.

We made a quick stop at Barron Falls, where the water was raging since it had been so rainy in the previous days.

Next up was a visit to Granite Gorge to feed some rock wallabies. This ended up being one of the highlights of our trip and it is one of the coolest things I've experienced since we moved to Australia. I'm even a little hesitant to write about it because I don't want everyone finding out about this gem of a place! We drove down a dirt road to what looked like a remote campsite where we met this lovely older woman who gave us bags of "wallaby food" in exchange for $5. We then freely roamed around the area, just the 3 of us, where we were soon inundated with many rock wallabies wanting snacks!

Baby on board!

This one was holding Carlie's hand while feeding. Do you see the newborn baby? No fur yet! Once we figured out who the moms were, we tried to feed them the most! :)

"I'll take that, thanks!"

We spent over an hour with the fun marsupials before heading onto our next stop. Along the way, Jill wanted to get her picture taken next to the giant termite mounds!

Driving south, we made a few stops along the way, one at Lake Eacham, a volcanic crater lake where TONS of people were swimming. It was Australia Day weekend (like the 4th of July in the States), so people were out in full force. Jill went for a swim while Carlie and I did some people watching. Our last major destination for the day was Millaa Millaa Falls, where we enjoyed the view of the falls and then went for a quick swim!

Sunday was the most anticipated day, our dive day! Jill headed out with a different company for diving since she was not certified (though she has since received her certification while in Fiji!), and Carlie and I went with Tusa Dive. We planned to dive 3 times during the course of the day and we were put in a group of 6 total divers with one guide, Larissa. The ride out to the reef was rough. Carlie and I both took motion sickness tablets but both ended up getting sick on the boat. There were lots of people getting sick and we were told that it happens all of the time, but it was still a bit humiliating! Once we got in the water though, we were fine. Unfortunately, due to the rough conditions, the visibility was not awesome. We did get to see some amazing colored sea slugs, a variety of cool fish, and some awesomely structured coral. We also saw a sea turtle on the surface, and almost ran into a squid while we were surfacing on one dive. I have GoPro video from each dive, but they didn't turn out very well, likely due to the lighting conditions.

We had a good experience diving the Great Barrier Reef, but like many people had mentioned to me before our trip, it may be a bit overrated. Granted, we did not have great conditions, so I would definitely like to give it another go, perhaps at a different location. I asked Larissa her favorite place to dive in Australia and she said that the wreck in Townsville (a few hours south of Queensland) is amazing, so perhaps that might be my next dive adventure, since Erik and I have a friend that lives near Townsville.

The Great Barrier Reef from above!

On Monday morning we headed to the airport separately, asI was heading back to Melbourne to start my new job, and Carlie and Jill were headed to Sydney for a few days. The Hanson ladies had an awesome long weekend exploring Cairns and the surrounding area. Not sure when and where our next girls weekend will be, but I am already looking forward to it! :)