End of Vanuatu Wednesday was an early start with a quick trip into hospital - maternity ward round, baby checks and a general wander around the wards. I was quite surprised how advanced contraception options are in Vanuatu, however if a woman wants to be sterilised, then she must also have her husbands permission. Male children are also still greatly favoured in Vanuatu and as a result most women have 4+ children. They also have a great problem with teenage pr...

So after spending most of friday recovering from Champagne beach, we headed into town in the evening to check out the Independence Day celebrations. Vanuatu gained independence in 1980 and they have massively celebrations every year. There was a big stage set up in the park in the centre of town, with various musicians and dancing, all surrounded by stalls selling food and drink. The nurse who organises our elective was playing in his band, which was good to see...

Caving and Canyoning Tuesday 26th July was Millennium Caves day. 15 of us piled into the back of a truck and headed to the caves which are located about 45mins away from Luganville. I lost a game of 5's en route and had to eat some roar sausage/spring roll which didn't sit very well on my stomach, especially when the "road" is more a dirt track. Mama Lioni, a hospital cook who's taken us under her wing, also accompanied us (and was the donator of said food ite...

History of the Coolidge! The SS Coolidge was built by the Dollar Steamship Company in 1931 and was approx 198m long and one of two large merchant ships the US had at the time. It's initial purpose was postal contracts between the US and the pacific. It also had rooms for 1000 passengers and no expense was spared on the decoration. She broke several speed records during her time, but later became involved in WWII evacuation efforts helping Americans in Hong ...

We arrived in Vanuatu and it was ridiculously hot. The queue for customs was humongous and they only opened one desk for non-nationals until all the locals had gone through. Check-in for our next flight was just a little desk with a hand painted sign saying 'santo' and the gate is simply a door with someone collecting boarding passes and the departure tax ticket (a whole £1.50). On the flight we were given some oragnge juice and when we looked around only us ...