Vanuatu Holiday, Day 7

Because it was low tide, we took a ferry across to the mainland first thing, and then waded back across to the island.  Oscar piloted the ferry across:

He's now decided that this is the job for him: ferrying people back and forth to a tropical resort.

It was a very easy walk back to Hideaway; at low tide, the water was only ankle-deep, but at high tide it would be waist-deep:

After breakfast, I went off for a ride.  As this was the last time I'd get to ride on Vanuatu, I wanted to make the ride worthwhile, so I cycled over to Havannah Bay and back.  This section covered pretty much all the hilly parts of the round-the-island loop road; I climbed 740 metres in 30 km.  This included both of the really steep sections of road, which made a great core workout and left me gasping for air.

It was quite windy today, and with the heat I found I drank almost an entire water bottle in my 1:45 ride.  Of course, I also stopped to take photos along the way:

Looking up the first part of Klehm's Hill.  It soon gets very steep!

The road goes down to a single lane at this point; they haven't cleared the slip since Cyclone Pam.

The same spot, looking back down Klehm's Hill.

Descending into Havannah Bay

My turn-around point.  This dirt track heads down to the water from the main road.

As I returned to the island, the ferry driver asked about my ride.  Apparently I had gotten quite a reputation among the locals as that crazy guy riding a bike everywhere.  He was impressed that I'd ridden to Havannah Bay and back -- and one of the locals I passed asked "Why you ride?".  I've really enjoyed the riding here -- it's not easy, but it was incredibly satisfying making it up those steep hills, and it's great seeing the tropical landscape as I cycle past.

The first time I tried cycling up these steep hills, they seemed completely insane.  But now, they just seem like another hill.  Ruth says that I look stronger -- I'm sure if I stayed here longer I'd get incredibly strong.  It's amazing how quickly your body adapts to an 18% grade...

Back on Hideaway Island, the children were swimming while Ruth was sorting through her photographs.  She went off snorkelling while I played pool with Oscar, then after lunch Ruth and I both went off snorkelling together.  We saw an octopus, sitting on a piece of regenerating reef:

We then went back across on the ferry so the children could buy some things from the local craft stalls.  The children were all given bracelets or necklaces as a thank-you for the supplies we had given to the local school, and I bought a nice dress for Anneke.  I also bought myself some replacement sunglasses as I'd managed to break the $40 ones I brought from New Zealand -- authentic (?) Ray Ban glasses from Italy, and they only cost me $7!

After we returned, Oscar and I had a drink from the bar -- iced coffee for me, a banana milkshake for him.  Then I went for another snorkel, and saw quite a few fish I hadn't seen before, including some huge ones maybe 80cm long.  I managed to take lots of great photos:

After my snorkel, I played pool with Oscar again:

He won!

As it was getting dark, we went back to the unit to pack, before having our final dinner on the island.  I cleaned my bike completely, stripped it down and packed it into the box, which took a while but was much easier than when I got ready to leave Rotorua -- I'm getting a lot more confident at travelling with my bike.

It's an early start in the morning, as our flight leaves at 7:00 am.  Unfortunately, I was attacked by the mosquitos in our room, which kept me awake a lot during the night, but we made the flight okay in the morning.

Back in Auckland, the customs people found a plastic container with a spider in it -- it seems that Tighe had put a spider into a bottle to bring back home!

It's been a wonderful holiday.  There was so much to do, the week was over in a flash.  Still, it was a great chance to relax and recuperate, and to escape the freezing temperatures back home.  Hopefully we can have another mid-winter tropical escape next year...