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….may your year ahead be full of
….may your year ahead be full of
exotic journeys and rich adventures.
This was the Happy Birthday message sent to me
by one of the major hotel chains in March which I rather liked!
I had no idea that my rich adventures of travel in 2015
would include Vanuatu,
a tropical South Pacific Island,
which would be hit by a Tropical Cyclone
5 days after my birthday.
Cyclone Pam caused the worst natural disaster in Vanuatu’s history.
My husband and son needed a holiday,
Vanuatu needed the tourists to return.
Win-Win!
You need to be in the mood for a tropical paradise
it’s hard work!
Especially on an Island
still mopping up
from the after-effects of one of the worst cyclones on record…
You see when I arrived in Vanuatu straight from my city living,
and errmmmm I’ve had a few cities in the past three months
Melbourne – Singapore – Paris – Brussels – London
OK I can tell you’re not at all sympathetic!
but it’s a problem,
I’m wired all wrong.
I’m wired for immediacy,
to be on high alert,
I get off the plane still clutching my anti-scamming purse close by
just in case someone tries to pinch my credit cards…
It takes a while to wind down so that you don’t get annoyed
when you have no hot water or the Internet doesn’t work…
Or not to leap out of bed with a loud ‘Tut and an ‘Oh what now’,
in response to the cheery knock on the door at 9.15 am
as a beaming lady in the plentiful hibiscus frock
stands at the door, mop in hand calling out sweetly
“housekeeping”
You have to slow down,
you have to re-program yourself
You have to find your sense of humour and your inner zen.
You need to get into a new time zone
They call it Vanuatu time.
And once you find it, you’ll love it
and it will be so very hard to leave…
For more from Vanuatu please see these previous posts
