Vivid

This weekend was a long weekend.  Brian had Monday off for the Queen's birthday, which we found out they don't actually have off in England!  We had a great time together, including the day in Sydney on Saturday.  It's lovely to have a major city so close by, while we are able to enjoy the lifestyle of the beach!

We started off in Chatswood, a suburb of Sydney, for Yum cha.  My friend Emmi introduced me to this on a girl's food weekend in Sydney and my boys were keen to have a go.  Yum cha is also known as dim sum in the US, but I've not seen a restaurant similar to this style.  You are immediately served tea whilst carts come around with different types of food.  You can pick and choose what you eat and each plate has 3 or 4 pieces of the food on it.  The first cart that came out had several types of wontons on it - prawn, veg, and chicken.  The highlight for my boys were the pork buns.  I agree, they are fantastic!  Nath and Will had huge eyes as the carts clattered around the restaurant and we left stuffed for a train ride to the Maritime Museum on Darling Harbour.

Boys "saluting" on top of the Vampire

The boys have been begging us to visit the National Maritime Museum for awhile.  Usually it's when we have somebody visiting and we are trying to hit the Sydney highlights, so we've been putting them off for some time.  Saturday seemed like the perfect day to visit and we happily bought our Big Ticket, which included tours of several ships outside, plus everything in the museum.  The boys were excited to visit a destroyer and a submarine, but Nathan was incredibly happy to explore the replica of the Endeavour, Captain Cook's ship. He is currently studying the first fleet in school and visited Sydney on a school excursion, but didn't get to see the ship.  He was able to supplement his knowledge and impress the tour guides with what he knew.  The replica of the HMB Endeavour will actually be sailing into Port Stephens later in the year, and the guide has encouraged Nathan to sign up to help with some of the demonstrations.

The boys and I steering

Nathan reading about the Endeavour

But the real reason we headed to Sydney was for Vivid.  This is a festival that runs for several weeks, lighting up much of the CBD.  Even the boats in the harbour light up for the evening.  It's really quite a spectacle.  We started out in front of the Opera House, sitting on the steps on the Quay with our dinner from one of the food trucks parked around.  We even bought the boys a bottle of water that lights up with the push of a button.  The show was gorgeous, we were so impressed with it.  We walked all the way around the Quay and down to the rocks, stopping at different buildings to watch for a bit, or exploring the art installations that were around.  Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, here you are-

Water tastes better when it glows

Cruise ship leaving the Harbour before Vivid starts

Space Invaders

My three boys and the light ball

The theme of Vivid 2014 was Lights and Music.  On Customs House they had an installation that you could "conduct."  There were different styles of music and the motions of your hands would control streaks or different shapes across the building.  A massive queue was there, so the boys just watched. Nath found it a bit loud, so we didn't stay too long.

Mainly brass instruments at this point

The boys were also able to become part of the art in several spots.  One of my favourites was the graffiti paintings of their faces.

Nathan

Wills

Lights on the Museum of Contemporary Art

Across the Quay and over the throng

Holi Cow, That Was Fun!

Last weekend we drove to Sydney to go to the Holi Festival.  Holi is a Hindu festival that has a basic concept of good triumphing over evil and the welcoming of spring.  You can read more about it here. So why would our Christian family decide to go to a Hindu festival?  It was actually at the request of our younger son.  This has been an ongoing request over the past 6 months, so I'll give a bit of an explanation.

Last year, one of the overarching topics for a term at school was Celebrations.  During that time, the class learned about many celebrations around the world.  Holi was one that stuck with Wills for one simple reason - the throwing of colours.  A video had been shown to his class of the actual event in Sydney.  Will decided he really wanted to go - I suspect it's because he knew it was one of the rare times he could chuck something at his brother and get away with it!

Now, why throwing colours?  It took me awhile to figure that part out.  I finally found where the colours came in, besides just being fun and representing the blossoming of flowers in spring - which seemed a bit obvious.  Krishna, who is always portrayed as blue, became tired of being the only god that was a different colour, especially after he fell in love with a fair-skinned goddess.  So, he playfully painted her face with colour.  Subsequently, they fell in love, so now it's also considered a playful thing to do with your loved ones!  Also, this is what those 5k colour runs are based.

So Will came home and, with permission, did some research on the computer to find out when Holi would be happening in Sydney for 2014.  He discovered the dates and begged us to go to it.  We responded with a "We'll see," not intending to go to the city for just that.

Luck for Wills, it corresponded to the same weekend Major League Baseball was playing at the Sydney Cricket Ground.  We had friends that were coming down from Brisbane to watch - Hi, Rita! - and thought it would be nice to catch up with them.  The stars aligned and we headed down for an overnight trip!

Funny to see baseballs floating in Darling Harbour!

I'll finish up with some pictures of our trip.  There aren't any of us throwing the colours, as there was no way I was taking my camera into that mess!  We had a great time.  It's really fun to learn about other cultures, and we find it's also a great tool to explain how and why our beliefs are different to the boys!

Ready to throw.  And, yes, I know the irony of wearing a Christian
shirt to a Hindu festival.  IUMC representing in Sydney!

The aftermath.  And, yew, it did wash out of all our clothes!

This stupid shirt is never going away - it's as white as the driven snow again!

In line for curry!

Lounging in the park after lunch

Port Villa - The Cascades

Before I get into the Cascade Waterfalls, I wanted to talk about how you get around in Vanuatu.  The easiest way is to catch a bus, which is actually more of a passenger van or a people carrier.  They were everywhere and could be identified by a B at the beginning of the license plate.  All you had to do was glance toward the driver and they would stop to ask if you needed a ride.  It cost us about $12 to get pretty much anywhere on the island.  The drivers were always friendly and often had their children riding around with them.  They were proficient at weaving in and out of traffic and most trips took us no more than 15 minutes to get anywhere.  We were very shocked when traffic was at a standstill heading towards Hideaway Island and were wondering what was going on when the driver wove past people running.  We had just gone by the Olympic Torch and had no idea until we were flying around the contingency of people, so no picture - but a great experience!

Beginning our climb

Everyone who has visited Vanuatu told us to make sure we visited the Cascade Waterfalls, and we were so glad we did!  You start your journey out on a beautiful path through the bush, only catching glimpses of the waterfall.  Eventually you are actually climbing through the waterfall, stopping to swim in the pools and playing in the falls.  The water is crisp and cool, which is very welcome in the humidity of the tropics.  It is crystal clear as well - we had a ball playing around.

We made sure to leave fairly early to visit, under the assumption that it would get fairly crowded because a cruise ship was docking in the morning.  When they docked, it felt like the population of the town doubled!  We didn't see many people while we went up, but quite a few on our way down.

This was one of the boy's favourite experiences, and a reminder of how Brian and I spent much of our honeymoon.  I don't have a lot to say about it - it's pretty self-explanatory.  It's a case of a picture being worth a thousand words, so enjoy!

The path through the falls

In front of one of the larger falls

The boys climbing up and into one of the pools

Look, it's a literal slippery dip! (Aussie slang for a slide)

Mum and her boys!

Brian climbed down on the side of this waterfall.  The boys and
I followed later.

Nath swimming into the waterfall

Another picture, mum?

Port Vila - Part One

We began and ended our holiday in Port Vila.  We weren't so excited to have to fly to another island in the middle, but that's just how it worked.  Brian had already used up quite a few of his vacation days when we visited the US, so we worked around the public holidays of Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing Day to make the most of what he had left.  That boxed us into specific dates of travel.  Since planes don't fly to Tanna every day, we would've had to travel in the middle of our time there anyway.

The kids are old enough to have opinions on things they want to do, so Brian and I decided they could each choose something within reason - we were allowed veto power.  Nathan opted for horseback riding months ago, so that was one of the first things we did.  Nathan picked the 2 hour rain forest tour, so we saddled up and headed off on the adventure.

Poor Brian's view!

We were paired up and helped onto our horses, given a brief set of instructions, and off we went with our guides.  The kids weren't so sure about the first steep hill we went down, but quickly enjoyed the feeling.  The both ended up being tethered to our guides, as they weren't quite strong - or forceful - enough to keep their horses going the way the boys wanted them to head.  I gave the camera to Brian, since I figured it would be less painful bouncing around on him!

All of our horses had distinct personalities.  Bri and Will's horses just wanted to eat, given any bit of slack on the reins.  Nath's horse was stubborn and had to be fussed at fairly often.  Mine liked to stay on the path and gave me a bit of excitement when he decided to start to rear up on me.  I yanked on the reins hard for him to stop and just clung on for dear life.  Brian swears I'm exaggerating, but it felt scary!

The bush was lovely and the views from the top were stunning - but we don't have any pictures of that because Brian's horse got very fidgety when we stopped.  The boys were exhausted about halfway through the tour and we had to tell them to stop whinging - all of our bums were sore!  They didn't realise that you used different muscles riding.  All in all, they had a good time and are pestering us to go again here!

Nath's sweet face

Looking fantastic in our riding helmets

Will picked riding U-power boats around the harbour.  The boys kept calling them U-boats and not understanding why Bri and I were laughing.  Basically they were two-seater pontoon boats.  The real appeal here is that the boys could drive them as long as we sat behind them.  Off we went behind our guide, with the throttle open and the boys giggling as we wake hopped.  We took a bit of a break in the middle of our hour tour for a swim.  The water was absolutely crystal clear and were surprised to hear that it was 30 feet deep, since we could easily see the bottom.  The boys adored this part of the holiday. Alas, I'm not risking my camera on that ride, so no pictures!

We also saw a fire dancing show at our resort.  When they came out and weren't in traditional dress, I was a bit disappointed.  However, that feeling was quickly lost watching the show.  Here are a few of my favourite pictures.

And now the kids think it would be cool to breathe fire...

Hideaway Island

We also spent time wandering the town and hanging out at the beach.  Our favourite was Hideaway island.  It was about fifteen minutes from Port Vila by taxi bus and then another five minutes by ferry.  Not only was it beautiful, but the snorkeling was amazing!  We saw angel fish, parrot fish (my favourite), puffers, other beautifully coloured fish, and blue sea stars.  The boys were champs with their swimming skills, although we did get Will a life vest so we didn't have to worry too much about him.  At one point we thought we were swimming up to a huge black coral to be surprised when it was a massive school of fish - just like the school in Finding Nemo that form the Opera House.  Speaking of Nemo, we found several of him as well!

Hideaway Island is also home to the world's only underwater post office.  There is a postbox you can dive down and mail postcards in, which we did.  I have no idea when they'll arrive to the people we sent them to, but fun for the kids to do anyway.  Twice a day the postman goes out in scuba gear to man the post office.  The kids thought he was really fun!

The guy with the massive hair?  That's the postman.

My three guys snorkeling

Nath was done

Wills "borrowed" my sunnies for the return ferry!

Back to the mainland - hope to be back to Hideaway Island someday!

Tanna - Cultural Village and Departing

We wanted to make the most of our short time in Tanna, so we decided to visit a village and receive a cultural tour on the day we were leaving.  We didn't fly out until 3pm and the tour was in the morning, so we had plenty of time.

We hopped into the resort's 4X4 and headed off towards the jungle once again.  Our driver stopped at the main part of Tanna on the way to the village, where we took some time to look around the market.  I wanted to buy one of the woven bags as a souvenir, and general use.  Each island has their specific tradition of weaving and I actually liked Tanna's the best.  You can see a traditional bag in the picture of the market below.

Those are some cucumbers!

The main port in Tanna, directly across from the market

After a few minutes of looking - buying food isn't really a choice, as you don't know what contaminants might be lurking - we hopped back into the car and headed into the jungle.  These roads weren't too bad, certainly better than the ones heading towards the volcano.  I took a picture, it's still a bit blurry from all the bouncing, but at least it gives an idea of where we were!

The typical roads in Tanna

We had no expectations of what this tour would be like.  The only thing we knew was that this was an authentic village, they weren't putting on a show for the tourists.  How do we know that?  Well, partially we trusted what we had been told but, more importantly, we had walked by a village close to our resort and seen lots of villages on our trips around the island.  Grass huts were the norm, as were gardens, cattle tied to the fence, and chickens roaming freely.

Statue of the chief

Our tour guide was a lovely young lady that had been picked by the chief to go to school and become fluent in English, French, and Bislama (the local language).  She is now teaching some of the children school.  Not as easy a process as one might think.  Firstly, the families of these children had to negotiate with the chief for two weeks before school was even considered.  Secondly, the children have to be fluent in the village's culture before they are able to attend school.  I would love to know more about how the children are actually picked - is there some sign of intelligence that's important to the tribe that is picked up on, or is it the more respected families that are able to learn?

We were welcomed with a necklace made from reeds and a flower - similar to a daffodil - and then allowed to enter the village.  We were given a small fruit to taste and some lap lap to try.  This is a traditional food on Vanuatu that has some sort of tuber, coconut milk or cream, and is wrapped up in the island cabbage.  All of this is wrapped up in banana leaves, placed in the ground, and cooked through.  It looked a bit like the layers in lasagna.  The boys were polite about trying, but weren't too thrilled with the taste.  We thought it was fine, just a bit bland.  Some are cooked with chicken or pork and more seasoned - I would've been interested in trying that.

Serving the Lap Lap

It is fairly hard to imagine being a woman in this type of culture.  There are parts of the village that only men can be in, but in all fairness, the same holds true for the women.  Only men are allowed to drink Kava - a drink made from the root of the Kava plant, which has sedative properties.  The women respect the men during these daily ceremonies, thinking they are becoming strong.  Women from other villages are arranged to marry the men by the chiefs of the villages.  Upon marriage, the woman is no longer allowed to visit her family or even speak her language.  I can't even fathom marrying someone I didn't know and then not being able to communicate with the others in the village.  They must learn the new language very quickly.  I also suspect that they are just too busy to get very bored or lonely.  They make what they eat, their medicine, and clothing from what is around them.  Everyone looked very fit!

Our boys took everything in and luckily didn't say anything that could be construed as offensive, albeit unintentional.  You never know what a six year old might say upon see in mostly naked men as a normal form of dress.  Both boys were concerned about the whispering and giggling going on by the other children.  We assured that the kids weren't making fun of them, but that they were something of interest.  Have to admit, I've never been quite that much of a novelty before!  Will spent the whole trip having his blonde hair rubbed by strangers, which he found very strange.

Our tour guide leading us into the village.

Making fire.  Also, their hair is short, which means they are eligible for marriage

A Kustom welcome dance.  The women sang as well, but didn't dance.
This is also where many ceremonies and celebrations are held.

This is why I think travel is so important.  We learn so much about the world around us and are given the ability to respect others.  I can't fathom living this way, but they do and seem very happy about it.  The world is a very big place, yet so very small.  We watched as the village children played a version of tag - or tips, if you're an Aussie.  I feel very blessed to live where I am/have living/lived.  But would these people trade how they live?  I'm honestly not sure?  For example, not everyone on the island is very happy to be gaining electricity.  It is seen as an invasion to them, whereas I can't imagine life without.

I'll get away from my serious thoughts now.

We headed back to the resort, packed our bags, had lunch, and were driven to the airport.  We go to check-in and learn that our flight has been cancelled and they are not sure when we'll be able to leave for Efate.  About the time we were getting ready to call our travel agent - with a fair amount of reluctance since it was Christmas Eve -  the owner of our resort pulled up in her truck.  They had noticed that our plane hadn't arrived, so she called up Air Vanuatu to find out what was happening.  When it became clear that we weren't leaving, she headed out to pick us up so we could return to our room for the evening.  She assured us not to worry - Air Vanuatu would be paying for our room and food and she was on top of finding out what flight we would have.

We decided to spend some time at the pool, then clean up for dinner.  We let the boys have a swim in the resort pools most day, it really helped with their swimming confidence, which was lovely to watch. When we sat down to dinner, we were informed that our flight was leaving at 8am on Christmas Day, so we needed to leave the resort at 6:30am.  They assured us we would be able to have some breakfast in the morning, even though the dinning room didn't open until 7am.  We assumed toast and jam would be the answer.  Wrong!  The owner's husband came in early to cook us anything we wanted.  We ate some lovely pancakes served with a fresh fruit platter and some very yummy Tanna coffee and were on our way to the airport, where we were greeted by...

Santa chucking lollies to the pikininnis

Not to mention our plane!  We said hi to the friends we had made the previous day at the airport and got ready to board our plane.  I was able to pull our my camera for this trip, so enjoy!

Our boarding pass.  We found this hilarious

Look - the cockpit!

So long, Tanna!  Thanks for all of the lovely memories!