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Vanuatu Bijouterie VA N U AT U M A D E A N D D E S I G N E D J E W E L L E R Y S I N C E 1 9 8 1 Available at selected stores in Port Vila and online www.vanuatubijouterie.com
Contact: sales@vanuatubijouterie.com | Find us on Facebook: Vanuatu Bijouterie - Fine Jewellery
Come and have a taste of the opulence, glamour and excitement of Monte Carlo right here at Vanuatu’s premier casino. The Grand Hotel & Casino is in the heart of town, with crystal chandeliers, gold leaf ceilings and meticulous attention to detail throughout, you’ll feel like you’re there, and best of all it’s at a price you can afford! With Roulette tables starting with a minimum bet of only 100vt, as well as Blackjack, Baccarat and our newest game Texas Hold’em Bonus. Or just try your luck on any of our state of the art poker machines and have a chance of winning one of our many jackpots for as little as 1vt.
p +678 27344 hotel Lini Highway, Port Vila, Vanuatu e info@grandcasinovanuatu.com www.grandvanuatu.com
proudly
Fr a n c e s c a ’ s Italian Restaurant & Bar
Smart casual Italian dining & bar located at Havannah Harbour Open kitchen, cooking classes & degustation dinners Relaxation massages by the crystal waters mobile. +678 7719898 | email. francesca@shantihavannah.com.vu
Vanuatu Food Safari
Slip your curiosity in high gear and join me on a culinary day out on our beautiful island. You are invited on my own cook’s journey through the South Pacific, a unique food experience that’s inspiring, informative and fun! Cooking classes by appointment. For details, bookings and availability please contact at the following: W: www.vanuatufoodsafari.com T: +678 26 108 M: +678 775 1793 E: bookings@vanuatufoodsafari.com Conducted by Christiana Kaluscha - Food Editor of Pacific Island Living
The Havannah is an intimate, beachfront resort at Samoa Point, Vanuatu set amidst flame trees and tropical gardens. With only 15 villas and three-room categories, the resort is an oasis of peace and tranquility. Each villa is furnished in a tastefully modern style with air conditioning and ceiling fan, king sized bed, private day bed on your terrace, Bose iPod docking station and mini bar. The Waterfront villas enjoy their own plunge pool.
T: +678 551 8060 F: +678 551 8062 www.thehavannah.com
Activities on site include pool-side lazy afternoons, reservations@thehavannah.com beach picnics, snorkeling, kayaking, petanque and tennis. Scuba diving, island tours, scenic flights and car rental can all be organized from the Havannah. Complimentary Wi-Fi is available in the public areas and in all the villas for our guests. The Point Restaurant, offers gourmet cuisine using the freshest of local ingredients with fine wines from Australia, New Zealand and France, while The Samoa Point conference room is ideal for executive retreats and small seminars. The Havannah also has a wedding co-coordinator to make your special day perfect. Whether on your honeymoon, in need of a quiet and relaxed break away from it all, or looking for activities in a beautiful environment, The Havannah is your perfect boutique resort in Vanuatu. The Havannah does not cater to children under 16 year old .
FAMILY LIVING ON THE LAGOON OR HOLIDAY RENTAL?
FOR SALE $AUD570,000
Don’t miss this opportunity to buy in to one of Port Vila’s best residential areas. This four bedroom family home on the Tassiriki lagoon is in a quiet cul-de-sac close to town and schools. Open and airy with an in ground swimming pool, electric gates, alarm system and established gardens. ■ Upstairs there are three generous sized bedrooms (all with built in robes and balconies) and a family sized bathroom. ■ Downstairs you’ll find a large ■
Contact Sue Bedford
family room, kitchen and dining room and huge master bedroom with walk-in robe and large ensuite. ■ Gorgeous outdoor entertaining area and patio, kids cubby house. ■ Perfect for a growing family or astute investor. ■ Keen vendors.
www.vanuaturealestate.vu
+678 5550992
EXCLUSIVE PRIVATE DINING This is dining with a difference, enjoy your dinner with old and new acquaintances in a relaxed atmosphere at Sarangkita, or book your own individual dinner party under the pandanus palms on a private beachfront with a bespoke, table d’hôte* menu. Let Christiana create your personalised menu at her exclusive retreat on the beach at White Sands. Open Fridays and Saturdays for dinner and Sunday lunch. Bookings essential. Private groups by appointment for six to ten guests. Set Menu VT9.500 pp including a bottle of wine per couple, licensed or BYO For bookings please contact: Christiana T: +678 77 5179 or Toga T: +678 598 9375 Transport can be aranged,for menu details please visit: W: www.sarangkita.com E: dine@sarangkita.com Prepared and created by Christiana Kaluscha Food Editor of Pacific Island Living and Island Spirit magazines *table d’hôte translates literally as ‘host’s table’
Lelepa Island Day Tours
So many have called it Paradise… but we call it home. ■ 100% owner operated by the local Lelepa Islanders
■ We operate every day except Saturday.
■ Fishing Charters half day and full day available. Your day tour includes:
Return transfers, morning and afternoon refreshments, BBQ lunch, snorkelling at our beautiful coral garden, visit our historical cave, learn about native herbs used for medicines and visit the kids in our village.
Phone: +678 23144 or +678 77-42714 | Email: lelepatours@vanuatu.com.vu | Web: www.lelepaislandtours.com
ratua island 170-117,5 demi-page_presse 14/04/2014 12:10 Page2
PRIVATE
ISL AND
Restaurant Open Daily from 11.00am Please Phone 554 5007 for information Book a Hot Stone Massage & receive a Free Facial*
Residential Commercial Business Property Management Immigration Bldg, Lini Highway, Port Vila PO Box 3267, Port Vila, Vanuatu Phone: (678) 28080 / 5588309 info@professionals.vu professionalsvanuatu.com
Opp Vansec Bldg 2nd Floor next to Lotus Day Spa & Cafe P.O.Box 3267
Tel: 23153
Email: vilafitforlife@gmail.com
Web: www.vilafitforlife.com
TAKE A RIDE IN PARADISE
Best price tru!
RENT A CAR AND DISCOVER THE HIDDEN PORT VILA LOCATION DE VOITURES
DISCOVER PARADISE YOUR WAY
EN ROUTE POUR VOTRE PARADIS
T +678 26 517 F +678 26 516
europcar@vanuatu.com.vu www.europcar.vu
PO Box 2075, Port Vila, Vanuatu T: (678) 26515 or 26512 worldcars@vanuatu.com.vu vanuaturentalcars.com
VANUATU SELF STORAGE
Close To Airport | Phone: 7114040 Email: selfstore@vanuatu.com.vu
We’re Vanuatu since 1971. Westpac has a long history of financial expertise in Vanuatu. And as part of the community we continue to provide banking services and financial development to thousands of people. Talk to us today at any of our branches. Call (678) 22084 Email westpacvanuatu@westpac.com.au Visit www.westpac.vu
We’re a bank you can bank on. © 2012 Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141 (11/12) 314835
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BUY YOUR OWN PRIVATE PARADISE FROM AUSTRALIA
On your return to Australia you can now buy premium beachfront property in Vanuatu from a licensed Australian real estate agent. Talk to the experts. Call Justin Ingram on (+61) 431 471 352 or Brendon Seeto on (+61) 415 777 727 or visit our website at: www.oneagency.com.au
Y ur bank crosses borders. ANZ is in 28 markets across Asia Pacific. In Vanuatu, ANZ provides convenient access to your money 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the islands' largest ATM network accepting all major credit cards.
ANZ has a Foreign Exchange centre in Port Vila and Luganville open from Monday to Friday offering competitive exchange rates. Call us on +678 26355 or visit our branches in Port Vila and Luganville.
anz.com/vanuatu Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) ABN 11 005 357 522.
Let our experienced and friendly professionals help you achieve your objectives in today’s environment
VICKI JOE PRINCIPAL
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Joyle 4WD Rental
See Espiritu Santo in comfort
Ph. 37259 or 7743417
ACTIVITIES
Fashion, fillies and French fizz It’s the race that stops a nation – our small South Pacific dot of a nation, that is, and it’s a great three-day party not to be missed.
PICTURES: Craig Osment
The egalitarian mix of promenaders and punters ensures that a fantastic time is had by all at the annual Kiwanis Race Day.
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Race day in Vanuatu is more like a tropical version of the Australian outback’s Birdsville than Melbourne’s
volunteers transforms scrubby jungle into racing heaven. In recent years, they have built a white wooden fence
own Flemington, but the party atmosphere beats both iconic events hands down. And like heat-seeking party missiles, Australians flock to Port Vila for a piece of the action every
around the 1200m course. Sure, the marquees might be more like tarps and the jockeys are often barefoot, but the French bubbles flow freely and the atmosphere is electric.
July. The race even lures Australian stewards and race callers – all for a good cause, of course. As the only horse race in Vanuatu, the annual Kiwanis Charity Cup
The party starts on the Thursday before the Saturday race, with a swanky charity ball at a five-star resort, continuing on Friday with a calcutta dinner. As a Port Vila race
attracts 10,000 hardy souls to a makeshift course on the outskirts of town, right between the airport and the abattoir. How convenient for the nags which run last!
week survivor, I highly recommend attending both these events. It’s a great way to meet the locals, while raising money for worthy projects. By the way, in recent years, the
On paper, it sounds like a hellish place, but the track is gorgeous and awash with colour on race day. Every year, an extraordinary group of
abattoir has given the race a home but the losing nags are not sent to the slaughterhouse next door! By Wendy Hargreaves ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITIES
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TORRES
MALEKULA
Dolphins surfing the bow wave.
Discover the undiscovered Vanuatu’s deep north is as casual and unstructured as it gets, but this happiest of hidden gems won’t remain hidden forever.
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marlin threw the hook and made its escape back into the blue.
the shrieking began. What quickly followed were the endearing barked
My husband, deflated but not defeated, staggered out of his
orders of: “Bring in those lines, slow the engine, turn into the wind” which exploded from my husband
harness, knees and back groaning, but refused to sit down before putting out the lines for the next catch.
in one breath. With hearts pounding, we geared
The marlin was to elude us again that day but, as is often the case
up for a battle, watching the huge fish explode from the water just metres away and steering furiously so it didn’t
in Vanuatu, three quick wahoo were our compensation for the lost battle with the king.
manage to get in front of us. Having not always imagined myself
Being nearby, we decided to set a course for Efaté’s newest resort, The
the hard-core fishing type, I had to admit the sheer scale and power behind a marlin of this size is really
Havannah. Within minutes, I was up in reception booking the last room for the night and, by the time my husband
something to see. For an exhausting hour and a half
anchored the boat, I was floating in the faré’s private pool with a glass of
we battled, the possessed angler and the equally determined king of the sea. The marlin danced above
sauvignon blanc in my hand. We soaked in the pool, enjoying one of those Vanuatu sunsets we all
and under the water, a battle of wills I could see edging in favour of the fish.
love to rave about and reliving our one-that-got-away adventure.
I was not altogether upset when the
the ‘terminal’. Then to the end of the island. Then the end of the runway.
path. Most places someone has been before, written about before,
Then we’re back in time to see our plane return.
photographed before or lived in before. The remote Torres Islands are the exceptions.
Nicola Barnes ACTIVITIES
It’s not often you get to holiday somewhere yet to have a well-trodden
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I was about to have one of those life-changing experiences, one where
Torres then.” I love this airline. I love this country.
everything gets put into perspective and you realise what matters in life. Flying north over the island of
It is so relaxed, so reasonable. No one needs to go to Gaua, then why go? The Torres group is in Vanuatu’s
Espiritu Santo is a breathtaking experience but before long we are
northernmost province, home to just 1,000 people scattered over
over water, with civilisation, as we know it, behind us. Our first scheduled stop, at the
seven islands. Information on the Torres is hard to find. Lonely Planet, for example, devotes less than a
Banks island of Vanua Lava, sees the Twin Otter land safely and surely
paragraph to it in the combined Vanuatu and New Caledonia guide,
on the grass runway. On arrival, the pilot, simply turns around and asks if anyone is going
and there is nothing at the tourism office in Port Vila either. My guide, Mayumi Green from
to Motolava. “No? Okay, well you may as well
Santo’s Wrecks to Rainforests, is almost as in the dark as I am.
get off here and I’ll come back for you soon.” So we get off and walk to
“I’ve tried to book accommodation but I think the phones aren’t working.
110 I S L A N D S
Where nature meets tradition Arriving in Malekula by chance rather than design, this traveller fell under the irresistible spell of the remote South West Bay.
It’s not a big place. “Anyone for Gaua?” the pilot asks. “No? Okay, we’ll go straight to the
My wife and I have travelled to some of the farthest and most remote
paragraph dedicated to it in the guidebook, it was intriguing enough
corners of the world. In my role as a photographer for Getty Images,
to capture our imagination. As luck would have it, a cultural festival was
I’ve been spoilt with culture, ancient traditions and mesmerising scenery. In Vanuatu we wanted to do
taking place in the coming days in South West Bay so we had all the more reason to go.
something a little different – we wanted to see the lesser-known side
On arrival, we were met by George Thompson, owner of the only guest
of the country and so decided to head north towards Epi, the island famous for the tame dugong which
bungalow in the entire region and an absolute expert on everything there is to see and do in the area. The passion
swims in Laman Bay. We planned to continue northwards; we just didn’t
with which George spoke about his region and his culture was a clear
know where to. The decision was made for us when, after a few lazy days in Laman Bay,
indication that we’d come across just the kind of person we needed. We arrived late in the afternoon; the
Absolute beachfront bungalows can be rented on Hui, Loh and Linua islands for AU$30 a day, which
we found the only ship heading north went to the island of Malekula. A
festival would begin the next day. After chatting with George, we decided
includes three meals. With around six people per square kilometre, there’s plenty of room to relax.
quick look through the Lonely Planet guide led us to decide that the most interesting place in Malekula was
to take a walk around the village of Wintua and head down to the sea (Wintua perches on a cliff).
South West Bay. Although there was only one
It didn’t take long before the sheer beauty of South West Bay
ISLANDS
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114 I S L A N D S
PICTURES: Michael Kanashkevich
your wounds after a blue marlin (opposite) gives you the slip.
PICTURE: Craig Osment
The Havannah, Vanuatu’s newest luxury resort on the shores of stunning Havannah Harbour, is the perfect spot to lick
It started with a great blue marlin strike: at the sight of it leaping,
PICTURES: Tiffany Carroll
Fishing the Havannah An accommodation catch compensates for the one that got away.
The perfect place to slow down, feel the rhythm and exchange stories of each other’s cultures. Opposite: The rather spooky Mount of Skulls at Lorto.
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D I G I TA L P H O T O G R A P H Y
Leith Campbell Vanuatu’s most experienced photographer Telephone. +678 23260 email. topshots@vanuatu.com.vu www.topshotsvanuatu.com
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E R E D S I G I N N F I L A T A E I S L H E
I O R T A T O O G R R E L S O N U G S T E E R R M
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