Little Wandering Wren …. chats!

Just returning to Vanuatu as many of you have asked what is it like after the cyclone...? We wander amidst what used to be a luxury resort. The damaged pandamus leaf roofs look woeful and forlorn. Someone has written   the words ' Pam cyclone' beside the door. It makes me smile. Such is the tremendous spirit of the Vanuatu people. They want you to make  no mistake  the miserable, sorrowful sight is not neglect... Oh no, these two words of explanation ' Pam cyclone'  yell proudly 'this is not our norm, nor our reality'... It's sad, but not somehow not depressing.  A massive clean-up operation is underway, the sound of chainsaws in action ring out across the islands,  and the tourists are slowly coming back. Next door at Brekkas Resort, it appears business as usual The inviting hammocks, gently rocking in the breeze. Waiting, waiting for the tourists to return. The sea is still ridiculously blue, ...

....may your year ahead be full of                            exotic journeys and rich adventures. This was the Happy Birthday message sent to me  by one of the major hotel chains in March  which I rather liked!  I had no idea that my rich adventures of travel in 2015 would include Vanuatu,  a tropical South Pacific Island,  which would be hit by a Tropical Cyclone  5 days after my birthday.   Cyclone Pam caused the worst natural disaster in Vanuatu's history. My husband and son needed a holiday, Vanuatu needed the tourists to return. Win - Win! You need to be in the mood for a tropical paradise  it’s hard work! Especially on an Island  still mopping up  from the after affects from one of the worst cyclones on record... ...

I know, I know you, thought I was in Europe,  or at least heading back to Australia...? I was, I did,  and now I'm on a tropical island in the South Pacific! You see after three months catching up with family and friends in Europe I got back to an Aussie winter, and a particularly cold one at that, to find that Mr Wren and my son, were in desperate need of a holiday and had booked a week in Vanuatu, including me! So here I am enjoying a relaxing holiday on Vanuatu,  an archipelago of 83 islands.  We're on Efate,  only 2-3 hours flying time  from Australia and New Zealand. Where the toughest decision you'll make all day is  whether it's the hammock or the sun loungers ?! Here the people are the friendliest, happiest  you'll meet anywhere in the world. The country is delightfully unspoilt, tropical cyclone Pam aside, with a delightful fusion of traditional Melanesian culture and  French and Britis...