Caro Downunder - Part 3, Arrival in Vanuatu & 24hr Markets in Port Vila

October 05, 2018

Caro Downunder - Part 3, Arrival in Vanuatu & 24hr Markets in Port Vila

After our day trip to Waiheke Island, a couple of days spent in NZ, and dancing in the rain to welcome in the New Year, it was time to depart the Land of the Long White Cloud (aka New Zealand) for some guaranteed sunshine on another island...

After a bit of a shitty 2017, Caro and I decided that we had earned ourselves some much needed R&R and a Girl's Getaway to start 2018 with a bang!

We decided on Vanuatu, booked flights & the hotel within half an hour - which in my opinion is the best way to dive into new adventures (I simply do not have the patience to do all that research...)

And we were pretty chuffed with our room (which was so huge it actually had a second bed in it)...

...but more importantly: the view from our balcony.

After a very early morning departure from NZ, we took a moment to take it all in.

Before catching one of the fleet of regularly circulating mini vans (Van-uatu's answer to taxis & public transport - see what I did there... ;), and navigating our way to what would become our favourite place on the island...

The 24hr Fruit & Veg Market in Port Vila.

Now you may be forgiven to thinking that they call it a 24hr market to make it sound a bit more impressive - heck, I didn't really take it seriously!

But in actual fact - because the stall holders have travel across the island, they don't bother to return every night, and do in fact sleep there.

So should we have gotten some midnight fruit cravings, it was comforting to know that theoretically we could've had them satisfied...

However, we chose to stock up during the day. You could say we went a bit bananas for it... :)

When in actual fact (to Caro's utter delight!) it was pineapple season...

Not that you could particularly tell, because at this market, there is an abundance of everything, including Taro and watermelon...

The ugliest - yet impossibly sweet - mangoes to be sucked from their spotty skin (and just 30 cents a pop! ;) ...

The lushest greens...

...and every other tropical fruit and veg you didn't even know existed!

In case you were wondering what that alien green thing is in the stainless steel vessel - I believe that is bread fruit, correct me if I'm wrong.

I couldn't help imagining what it would be like if our supermarket aisles looked like this - apart from the water bottles: not a single plastic container or bag in sight, well wouldn't that be a game changer for our planet!

I think that is what has almost impressed me the most about any of the Pacific Islands I have had the privilege of visiting, despite the fact that some people may describe this as "basic" (you won't find Uber eats here...), to me there is a perfection in the simplicity of this way of life.

All the fruit and veg is grown on the island - naturally spray free and organic. Their proteins: meat, poultry and eggs - again free range and organically fed. Nobody has to pay a premium for this - it's just the way it is. And I believe, the way it should be.

I reckon Peanut Man here was pondering something similar... :)

Or perhaps he was dreaming about escaping the confines of his stall to jump into the aquamarine sea just behind the market hall - where we were headed, after my all time favourite part about the markets...