Day two with Elin

We woke up at an early nine am and headed into the kitchen for breakfast. We were all kind of dragging and were looking forward to a good breakfast. We had bread and butter and jelly, along with some instant coffee and some milo. I think Sultan and I ate a loaf and half each of bread. We were having a hard time deciding what we were going to do with ourselves all day long. We decided we would head down to Port Resolution for the day.


A guy from Jungle went and waited by the road for a truck to come by. He found us a truck and having a little knowledge of how things work here asked how much? The guy said 500 each, each way. This means it was going to be 4000VT to go 30 minutes down the road. We ended up getting it down to 2250VT for the whole trip. They dropped us off near the beach and once again I became jealous of how other volunteers live. (There is a volunteer in this community)


The beach was absolutely amazing, so incredible. We hung out on the beach, swam in the water, walked down the way collecting shells and looking at cool things in the tide pools. After a few hours we decided to walk up to the Yacht Club and see if they had any cold drinks. They had cold tuskers and made us lunch. When we first asked about lunch it was egg and rice for 750VT. We were like come on who set this price you? She said it was her brother and then went and talked to him. She came back and told us 500 each but not to tell the four English speaking tourists next to us that were paying 750 for the same food.


We ended up riding back to Jungle with the Swiss couple. They were very nice and we had a good stori for a bit. By the time we made it back to jungle it was time to head up the volcano. Of course the truck that was supposed to take us was already at the top with another tourist. We waited, go go, and then finally decided just to walk to the road and try and catch another truck. When we got to the main road the Jungle truck came and picked us up.


Remember a couple of blogs back when I said I went to the volcano with Brizz and they would not let me in because I did not have a receipt. I explained that my brother smoked my receipt and the guy said well to bad so sad. And that even if I had my receipt it would only entitle me to half off of the 2250 entrance fee. Well: We pull up to the gate and the driver says Olgeta oli Pis Kops. (They are all Peace Corps.) The guy smiled and waved and we drove right in with out paying! Awe Tanna!


The volcano was only at a level two. This is the first time I had seen a level two and was kind of disappointed. Every other trip up I have been scared to death that I was going to die. But a level two I was never even worried. Well One did give me a little shake. I hauled up all my camera gear and got some decent shots. Of course even the best shot does not do justice to the volcano.


When we came back down to Jungle we went straight to dinner. It was the same gcouple form the previous night, us, and a new guy named guy. He was from England. We were going to invite them all to come hang out in our room and storian but he was on the phone and the Swiss couple disappeared. I assume running away from the crazy Americans. We shared a bottle of wine, listened to some tunes, laughed a lot, and then passed out! We had to be up early if we wanted to catch a free truck to Port in the morning. It was free because the owner had a tourist council meeting in Port so he was going there anyways.


We ate some crackers and drank some coffee with Guy while we waited for the truck. While we waited the bill for the weekend came. It was going to be 11,000 each for Sultana and I. This is for two nights. We went and talked to the owner and explained that this was not cool. We both live on Tanna, not as business men but as volunteers. We always send Peace Corps to stay there, including about 11 different people in the last month. And that mainly we just want to let him know that we look out for them and hope that they will look out good for us. The price then came down to 7,000 each and then 6,000 and then finally 5,000 each. I felt okay with this price.


It is not that we do not mind paying, but do not try and rip us off like some tourist. We know how it works around here. We both decided that from now on we are sending people to stay in Port Resolution. There are beautiful beaches, it is only and extra 500 to hire a truck to the volcano, and it does not seem like they will try and take advantage of us. Although on one of these trips I hope to stay in the tree house which looks really cool.


Guy came with us to Port and hung out all day. He was a pretty funny guy, that Guy. He had us laughing hard as we all shared stories about traveling. He was talking about his fiancé and how wonderful she is. We all agreed that a woman that says yeah you go ahead and go on holiday for 6 months while I plan our wedding is a pretty good catch. We think that this is her ace in the whole when ever she wants anything in the future. You know, remember that time I planned our entire wedding while you gallivanted around the South Pacific? Well….


After a while the truck came and picked us up. This time they found two more tourists and agreed to take them back to the airport as well. The back of the truck was already filled and we still had two more tourists to pick up along with their luggage and all of ours. We manage to fit it all in, although I was worried that we may fall out of the truck. We stopped at Tuhu and Sultan jumped down. We then drove another 10 minutes and dropped me off.


There is a bush market where my half road is so they all jumped out and looked around. One of the ladies had to go Pis-Pis (pee) so she asked if there was a toilet there. This gave Elin, Randy, and I more time to storian. They asked this is your village, No. See that road there. No? Well that little trial? Take that 45 minutes north and that is where my house was. It was hard saying goodbye to them. I had such a wonderful time. I kept telling them it was sensory overload with them there. Just too much fun!


Well I still have not packed for my trip and honestly I probably won’t until morning. Swim trunks, a blanket, and my camera. What else do I need! I am a little nervous about this trip. I have a lot of decisions to make here soon. Nobody on the two islands even knows that I am coming to do this site development work. It should be very interesting and a good learning experience for me as well. I told my brothers that I am going to Aniwa and now they have all put orders in for oranges. Apparently Aniwa has the best oranges in the South Pacific, better then AU and NZ. I think I can manage to bring a few home. I also heard that it is taem blong naora blong solwota long Futuna, (Lobster season in Futuna.) So I am hoping to eat lobster every day!!! We will see.


Ta.