Greetings! Apologies for the long gap in entries but Vanuatu's internet speed is not conducive to blogging! I've had the most amazing 2 weeks and I can hardly believe I've been there and back again. I went with Azza, a friend from school in Bahrain. I have to apologise in advance for name-dropping people or places for the people who know Vanuatu.

I arrived in Vila a couple of days before Azza and I was met at the airport by Noel the owner of the guesthouse we were booked into, Emman Imalo Motel. He took me for a spin around town pointing out all the changes since I was last there. There are quite a lot of new buildings, including a big hotel and several casinos, and there was a lot more traffic. They have even made the main street one-way! I settled into my room then headed into town to change money at Goodies (still there!). I then went into Jill's Cafe and sure enough, Jill Whitford was sitting at one of the tables! I stayed and chatted to her for 2 hours, catching up on the past 10 years of gossip! Vila is a very small place... :) In the evening I met my 2 flatmates, Michel from Canada and Stefano from Italy. They kindly cooked me dinner.

The following day I spent scuba diving on one of the off-shore islands. I went with the same company that runs the Congoola boat and it dropped us off at our isalnd. It was strange being back on board - it's been over 15 years since we had a family trip on it! The dives were fantastic. They were both reef dives, the coral was beautiful and the water was warm. The highlight was seeing a 2m leopard shark! It was awesome. It lay on the bottom for a while then swam off with incredible speed. Thankfully it wasn't swimming at us! I also saw lots of lionfish, nudibranchs, a moray eel, giant clams and all the usual tropical fish like angel fish and parrot fish. We got lunch on the island between dives and I visited their turtle sanctuary. They collect endangered hawksbill hatchlings and keep them until they grow to 23cm, which increases their chances of survival from 3% to 16%.

Azza arrived the next day and her 10 days of "roughing it" began! :) It was a very new experience for her but we took things at island pace and we both had a fantastic time. We walked all around town, explored the markets (I had tuluk!), visited the museum and relaxed on the beach at Erakor Island. As it was the wet season we had a fair amount of rain and so had some lazy days but we still managed to drive around the island. We hired a 4x4 tank for the day and Azza drove brilliantly. The road is still mostly unpaved with huge pot holes making for a bumpy ride! It was still incredibly beautiful and we went swimming at the Blue Lagoon and Eton beach. Poor Azza had to put up with me nostalgically pointing out all the places I used to visit when I was a kid. Good times! :)

I was lucky enough to catch up with a few old friends which was a real highlight for me. I even got to see a friend from primary school sing at the Waterfront which was fantastic! I bumped into a few people I didn't even know were still in the country and, even stranger, Azza bumped into a friend of her's from uni in Canada who is working in Vila for 2 years! It is a very small world... I also went to visit my old school which has moved premises, I met the new headmistress and she offered me a job! Ohhh so tempted... :)