Vanuatu Holiday, Day 1

We arrived at around 2:30 in the afternoon, and Ruth had to pay $30 for a permit to bring in the block of cheese she had brought for us to eat -- that's one expensive block of cheese!

We're definitely on Island Time here -- it took nearly an hour to get picked up at the airport and taken the 10-minute drive to Hideaway Island, where we'll be staying for the next week. It's a nice little resort, just off the coast of Mele Bay.

Hideaway island, just off the coast of Mele Bay.

Our ferry ride out to the island.

Looking back towards Mele bay from our room on Hideaway island. 

With an eye on the time, I immediately set to work assembling my bike while the rest of the family went snorkelling. I finally started riding just after 5 pm, and knowing it was going to get dark around 6 I didn't have much time left, so I made the most of it.

The main road that goes around the island was built by the United Nations, and has an excellent surface (unlike the secondary roads, which are all either dirt or have massive potholes). The only problem with the road is that the local farmers (who didn't want to lose their flat lands) refused to let it go through their farms, and so instead the road goes around them -- straight up and down the steepest cliffs I've ridden.

About 2.5 km into my ride I reached the first hill -- an 18% grade!! That first hill, known locally as Klehm's hill after a local farmer who used to live there, was the longest and most painful, but by no means the only steep climb I encountered. I rode 10km north to a convenient turnoff before heading back again -- I climbed a total of 400 metres in that first 10 km, and another 100 metres on the way home again. It's anything but flat around here...though from what I understand this is the hilliest part of the entire island.

If you look carefully, you can see the road climbing up the hill.  It's steep!

The view from the top, looking down on Mele bay and Hideaway island.

My turnaround point, 10km north of Mele bay.  Notice the lovely potholes in the secondary road, which soon turned to dirt.

I got to ride back down the insanely steep hill in the dark, which was "interesting". There were people walking home with machetes, obviously from working in the bush all day.

There aren't really farms around here like we think of them. I saw some chickens, but that's about it. Lots of banana and coconut plants, but it's all pretty wild-looking, with people living in huts in the middle of what we'd think of as a jungle.

The cicadas on the way home were deafening, and a bunch of kids wanted to high-five me as I rode past in the near-dark. There was a little bit of traffic, but not much really, and the cars travel slowly. Apart from the hills, this is a cyclist's paradise.

I learned that you greet people with "Hello" during the day, but "Good Night" once it gets dark. It felt weird saying "Good Night" to strangers on the road, like I was putting the children to bed, but that seems to be the custom around here.

The view of Hideaway island when I got back from my ride. 

Everyone is very friendly and relaxed, and the children seem to be having a ball. I can't wait to relax, go snorkelling with the family -- and do another ride -- tomorrow.