Vanuatu

Vanuatu

After days and days in the open tent in the bush, we get ourselves back in shape and prepare for five days of relaxation in the Vanuatu islands, three hours' flying in the Pacific from Brisbane. There are no longer the lockers at the airport where you could leave your suitcases locked with a key; Bin Laden has banned them. We're forced to take all our luggage, including the two mattresses, onto the Virgin Pacific flight. At this moment Donato and I are on our fifth day in Vanuatu in an internet cafe, the day of departure, heading back to Australia, to Brisbane. We've discovered that there's a market here in Port Vila (the capital) where they sell fruit and fish 24 hours a day; in fact three-quarters of the local people come from the other small islands of the archipelago and sleep on the ground on the concrete behind their sales counter.

Just half an hour ago Donato and I decided to give our two mattresses to two of them; those mattresses are certainly more useful here than to us, also because for the remaining days of our trip in Australia we'll be sleeping in small hotels. But let's talk about these fabulous Vanuatu islands from the tourist's eye: besides the helicopter ride over the volcano on Tana island, here you can do excursions and tours for a whole week. We did a four-hour tour in the jungle on quad bikes, four-wheel motorcycles, then went up a river by canoe in crystal-clear water, and visited blue waterfalls with formidable vegetation. The people here are very friendly and everyone greets you in the street. On the neighbouring island, the inhabitants of Vanuatu throw themselves from a height with their feet tied to two lianas, the original bungee jumping, except that they don't use elastic cords.

The sea is crystal clear and full of corals. Yesterday Donato and I went scuba diving, entering the water from the beach, and what we saw is incredible: fish of a thousand colours in water at 28 degrees, barracuda and turtles etc. Here at Hideaway Island there's the only underwater post office in the world, complete with a letterbox at a depth of three metres. I too went down to post one for my friend Vicini of Casalmaggiore. These postcards have the stamp printed on and the ink doesn't come off even underwater. In conclusion, the Vanuatu islands are much more beautiful and hospitable than the other islands I've visited, like Fiji, Micronesia, New Caledonia etc. Here the electricity is generated by wind turbines and they respect nature. But let's get back to the quad tour, a fun I'd never experienced; we're on two quad cars and five quad bikes.

At first Donato and I drive a car, but then an Australian lady a bit clumsy on the quad bike swapped her place with Donato, and I discover that she speaks Italian, a daughter of emigrants, resident in Bamaga in northern Queensland. The guide takes us up to the hill of the island from where you get a beautiful view over the Pacific Ocean. At a certain point I ask Donato to swap and for the last 10 km I ride the quad bike and he stays with the Italian woman. The little hotel where we sleep is a group of little houses in the midst of greenery; we sleep in a small room with a fan; without it you can't sleep from the heat. We have breakfast Italian-style, on a stove in the small kitchen we have available, so we can warm milk and coffee which, with a few biscuits bought at the supermarket, fill us up.

Today we visit the mega hotel complex in the bay opposite Port Vila, which you reach by speedboat; here we swim in a beautiful pool positioned in a place high up on a cliff over the sea on one side of the pool, with a splendid view of the bay. Coming from Italy and staying in a hotel like this, all at once, is like going to paradise. These islands are snubbed by European tourism; who knows why only Australians come here. The waterfalls in the jungle that we visit paying an entrance fee are worth the trip to this archipelago, streams where we even bathe, of a beauty that not even the videos give an idea of. I really think I'll go back to Vanuatu one day, especially because they recently abolished the compulsory visa; now they give you a free stamp at the airport on arrival.

They've finally understood that tourists bring more money that way than with that government tax that deters many people like me. There are many embassies; there's even Mrs Teresa, who acts as Italian consul. About twenty Italians are residents here and have various businesses. A nice episode to tell happens to me on the day of departure at the airport: the white lady at check-in is very happy to see two Italians, a rare thing in these parts, so she tells us, excitedly, that she has all of Andrea Bocelli's record collection; at which I tell her, speaking in English, that I live at Cinquale in Tuscany, as the crow flies only 3 km from his home. If only I hadn't said it. She goes on, please give him my regards, tell him I have all his records, please, etc etc. OK, I'll keep the promise; at the first opportunity I'll deliver her message verbally.

But now I'll leave you; the 3 pm flight for Brisbane leaves soon. Bye bye