Last Day

We felt we were ready for a low-key day before the impending early start to catch the flight home. Terios returned, our last breakfast at Mangoes consumed and Cooper's coconut cracked open, we had a souvenir day. It ended up being a day when another cruise ship was in the harbour and normally you would think, let's stay in, however we ventured to the Vila Handicraft Markets. A little more up-market than the main markets, more space between stalls, although being a Sunday it was quiet with a few of the stalls closed. We drank in more than Tusker at the bar (Sue's thirst quenched with Lemon Tusker) reflecting on the skills required to be a confident bus driver in Vanuatu. Fear seems to be a quality lacking in some drivers. We also pondered what the value would be of coming here on a cruise ship - maybe it's a way to tick off a bucket list but we are glad we spent 10 good days there.

Early morning view from our apartment

The following morning we had a 7.00am departure, which required a 5.00am transfer pick-up courtesy of Melanesian Tours. We had some wooden items and a woven grass bag to get through customs on arrival in Sydney. Our declared items would have included a machete purchased from the Nambatu Supermarket if Cooper had his way but decided it wasn't worth the risk of trying to get it back into Australia. The official website seemed to indicate we would be OK but respondees on the Whirlpool  forum for the main part said Buckley had more chance. In the end we didn't buy one.

With Border Control and Customs negotiated successfully, we headed to the Qantas Club Lounge to await our final flight home.