We slept in a bit longer today, and got up at about 9am. We called both of the others rooms with no answer, so we decided we'd just head in by ourselves. We went up to the buffet and got some breakfast, then went to Connexions bar and got our tickets for the tender, got in and went across to Wala, Vanuatu. When we were on the tender we realised that we hadn’t got any money out, so we just went for a walk across the shore through all the markets and had a quick look, then walked back through the water to the tenders. We went back to the ship, withdrew some cash and went back across to Wala. When we got on shore we met up with the others, and told them our plans, which was to get a Tusker then go on one of the tours that we had seen before. We said we’d meet them at the tour if they wanted to come, but they didn’t show up, so we decided we might just have the day to ourselves, because we were sick of the drama with the group anyway. The tour was amazing! We started up a really steep slope, but it levelled out after a very short time. We stopped not far up, where some local men, dressed traditionally with only bamboo leaves covering their genitals, who did a quick hunting display, where they dragged one of the other men around and showed us a few hunting moves. Then they gave us some fresh coconut and papaya to try, which tasted so good and fresh! The next place we stopped at was a fire making demonstration, where they started by scraping a sharpened stick into a bamboo stick, which started making smoke, then poured the ashes onto a coconut leaf and blew on it to make the flames. It was pretty amazing. The next stop was a traditional cultural dance of about 20-30 women from about 3 years old up to 60’s at a guess. The dance was accompanied by about 6 men playing all different sized drums, made of hollowed out logs with a long thin slit on one side. When the actual show finished, we were allowed to go up and dance with them; we were holding hands in lines moving forward and back with lots of foot movement. That was fun. Then when they had finished playing music Darren was allowed to play their drums for a bit, which he loved! We also got a photo with them, and they took our sunglasses and wore them, but my camera had gone flat, and the underwater camera film had been used up. Then Darren and another man from our tour had a bit of a jam with the locals on the drums before we headed to the next stop. This one was a traditional dance by the women only. There were about 10 women in this one, most were probably about 30-60, but there was one who would have been about 8. Then the chief of the village sang us a song and we saw a sand drawing demonstration. Then we headed back down to the shore, talking to the tour guide, Ericka, about their lifestyle. Next we kept walking along the shore looking at the markets, and we were going to get a massage, but we saw a sign for a cave tour, so we went on that instead, with a girl named Leah. Four children, one 5, one 7 and 2 twelve year olds were our tour guides for this one, and they led us up through their village, past a pig sty with two mummy pigs and lots of little piglets, then up to the first cave. It wasn’t really a cave, but more of a cavern-a bit of an indent in the rock, where they had a grave, which had a carved wooden head on top of it. The girl told us that long ago when they buried the men from the wars and fighting, they chopped off his head and buried the body, leaving the head on top. This was an actual gravesite of these men, but obviously had a wooden head instead of the real one! The next cave they took us to had the weapons that they used to use for hunting and fighting, as well as an old walking stick, and some beautiful carved poles. Then they took us back down through the village and told us all about the village, and showed us their room. We tried one of the native fruits called Navel, which tasted nutty and looked like coconut. They let us try their drinking water, which was rainwater they caught from the roof. They all drank it out of a saucepan that they shared between everyone. Then they took us back down to the shore. The whole time Darren was having a joke with the little kids, showing them the exploder and everything. After that, we headed down to the swimming beach, and Leah stayed and hung out with us for the rest of the day. Darren and I had a bit of a swim while Leah sunbathed, and when we got out we were talking to one of the locals named Ruben, who was trying to sell us a snorkelling tour. After a bit of a chat with him, we headed back up the shore and got a massage each. After our massage we went to a hut nearby and tried some Kava, which is the local drink that is meant to be really relaxing. It was served in a half a coconut cup, and it tasted really bitter and not that great. The local there showed us the root that it is made from and told us we were supposed to skull it, not sip it. We skulled it down, which tasted much better than sipping it. It made my lips and mouth feel really numb! Then we walked up the other end of the shore front trying to find the turtles that the receptionist had told us were there somewhere. We asked some of the locals where they were, but they couldn’t understand us, so I drew a picture in the sand, and then they understood and pointed us in the right direction. We walked further up the shore and came to the turtles, which were in a bathtub. There were our turtles in the bathtub along with heaps of big blue starfish and some coral. The locals there saved the turtles when they were eggs, raised them and set them free into the ocean when they were big enough to look after themselves. We got to hold the turtles and got pictures with them, and we gave a donation for the locals who raised them. We walked right up to the end of all the markets on the shorefront and went for another tour of a different village with a local man. He showed us their village and how they lived, and gave us a try of their local bananas, coconut and another fruit, which looked similar to a pomegranate. Darren made a joke of trying to make Leah and the native man marry. After that it was getting close to the time we had to board the ship so we started making our way back, stopping so Leah and Darren could get another massage, and we also stopped for another Kava. Leah didn’t have any this time, because she didn’t like it much, but we saw Nava and she came and tried it with us. Then we headed back to the pier, and stopped to watch the music that the locals were playing there. There was an instrument that was a large box with a stick coming out one corner, which had a long piece of string attached to the end of the stick and the middle of the box. The player sat on the box and played the string by moving the stick in different directions, changing the tension. Darren asked if he could play with them, and they played One Love by Bob Marley. It was pretty funny to watch. Then we went up the pier and caught the last tender back to the ship. Once we were on board, we went up to our room for a bit, and had a quick snooze. Then we rang the others and met up for dinner at the Waterfront restaurant. Darren was a bit annoyed with the others, who were having some dramas, and wasn’t very good company at dinner, so he went back up to bed before we’d finished. After dinner I went down to Eddy’s cabin to swap photos with them, and the ship was rocking pretty wildly, which felt pretty cool, like being on a theme park ride! Then I went back up to the cabin, and tried to wake Darren up to go to a show that was on, but he was so heavily asleep I decided just to let him sleep and went to bed as well.