Custom village

There are a number of custom villages for tourists near Port vila and the performances are excellent. 

The Cascades

 

Bus and pig

The red vehicle is a bus (you can tell because it's number plate begins with a "B") and the pig is probably alive and off to a custom ceremony. "Pigs are like money and still play an important role in Ni-Vanuatu culture. They’re used in traditional ceremonies, in trade negotiations, and marriages. They are presented to the wife’s family after the birth of the first boy. They are used as a gesture of peace with the tusk from a pig’s head being used as a symbol of remembrance. Pig tusks are also made into armbands and bracelets, which can also be found in jewellery stores in town. A beautiful example of a pig’s tusk is at the Museum and Cultural Centre. The tusk was presented to Queen Elizabeth who in turn donated it back to the Museum for the people of Vanuatu. Ceremonial pig killing is part of custom and should be avoided if the occasion arises and you think it may not be a pleasant experience. It certainly isn’t for the pig as the dispatch is very rarely immediate. Tusks are represented symbolically in Vanuatu’s flag, currency, Air Vanuatu’s logo and on Tusker beer labels." Courtesy of - P is for Pigs - Vanuatu A to Z 

Back to the garden

 

Vanautu Cultural Centre

Mask from the the Vanuatu Cultural Centre's collection.
According to Otago Museum in New Zealand - "In Vanuatu, society was based on a ‘grade system’ that involved advancement through the ranks. This was a lifelong process with spiritual power being attributed according to grade. Generally, only men were included in this grade system that involved the making of and performing with masks."

Successful day marlin fishing

 

Bligh in Port Vila harbour

 

Bamboo

Retired from Club Hippique, with owners expecting third foal soon 

Australia 'must welcome Island workers' - Yahoo! Australia & NZ News

Australia Day

Click here to visit Melbourne and here to visit St Kilda in Australia 

Champion fisher on Second Lagoon

 

Jacob's Creek in Port Vila

 

Daewoo - FSO

 

Meeting at the sea wall

 

Camping at Undine Bay Plantation

 

Flower market

 
 

Winston Churchill Avenue

 
 

Road to Undine Bay

Downtown Vila

 

Supermarket carpark

Champagne beach development

From the Vanuatu Daily Post 13 January 2006 By Esther Tinning

January 13 2006

A delegation comprising the Minster of lands Maxime Carlot Korman and the Minister for Finance, Willie Jimmy will be touring Santo this weekend to put finishing touches to the establishment of the Warwick 5 star hotel at champagne beach.

Picture courtesy of Vanuatu tourism

Picures of Vanuatu beaches

Vanuatu has many coral, white sand and black sand beaches

British beach

A Vanuatu village family has rejected offers by developers to buy the only white sand beach close to capital Port Vila, deciding that the idyllic beach and a unique coral ‘blue hole’ swimming spot should be available to everyone. More here

Returning home

 

Coral beach on Erakor Island in Port Vila.

Erakor Island Resort is one of Port Vila's and Vanuatu's many interesting resorts

Hideaway Island in the rain

Coral here too

Is there coral in the Coral Sea? - of course; click here for details?

Images courtesy of Mike Ball

At Club Hippique

 

Leaving the island of Maewo (in the Vanuatu group). See more pictures of Vanuatu - outside the capital of Port Vila by clicking here

Where's Vanuatu - the country Port Vila is capital of?