In the ghetto (Efate Island, Vanuatu)

Last night at dinner we could hear, what we thought were blackbirds, but they were nowhere to be seen. I've been hearing them since we arrived at The Havannah, that clicking sound they make when they land as they scurry off into the bushes. And then it dawned on me, dear reader; the clicking, chirping sound was not blackbirds but geckos. Oh yes, they sound like this. Imagine the noise from a distance without the echo. You can hear them all through the night (yesterday's title) which brings us to today's title, that classic song by Elvis. You can hear it here. I'm sorry dear reader? You don't see the connection? No, well, that's Jayne's famous sense of humour, she links the Elvis classic to the parody song Tim the Gecko. Enjoy. Or not.

Tim the Gecko

There were no thunderstorms last night, nor Sebastian the crab, trying to break free through the door. The only sounds were the waves on the shore and distant chatter of the geckos. They seem to have a lot to discuss. Maybe they're trying to predict the mid-terms in the once great, now grate, US of A.

Sunrise brought the sound of a boat motor as someone arrived at work, clouds and the eventual rain. The rain didn't last and was gone by breakfast. The weather pattern here is incredibly localised. We have watched quite severe storms ripping across other islands while we basked in sunlight. It is however an hour by hour proposition. Just prior to one rain cell terrorising us, I noticed what I assumed to be a large patch of coral to our south-west. It is just beyond where we snorkelled to yesterday and is on this afternoon's agenda should the rain clear.

Will it rain? Oh, yes.

Breakfast is the only menu that does not vary. The good news is they make excellent coffee - when the very tempermental machine decides to cooperate. A basket of pastries arrives with the fruit juice. It contains sourdough and regular bread toast as well as a pain-au-chocolat and croissant. The French may well have had an influence here but not enough for me to try their 'French' pastries a second time.

Looking into the villa from the deck.

The menu is quite varied, there is local fruit salad, bircher muesli and granola for starters. Then we move to the 'egg' section of the menu. Every Pacific island I have visited is fixated on eggs. And I, dear reader, do not like them. There is an exhaustive list of omelettes, pancakes, corn fritters and the like. Then, listed among the sides, bacon and roasted tomato. This morning I ordered some bacon and tomato thinking it would appear as a main with Jayne's corn fritters. But no. My sad, lonely single piece of bacon, kept company by half an oversized cherry tomato, arrived with my fruit salad. Interesting. Not sure I'll attempt that again, or maybe I'll be more specific. I ordered a second coffee while Jayne labored through her corn fritters.

The weather continued to be capricious, cloud with patches of rain, generally accompanied by gusts of wind. It was enough to keep us out of the ocean and in the plunge pool.

The deck and plunge pool where we spend a lot of time.

Wednesday night brings the fire dancers and the smell of kerosene. The clearer sky also brought a reasonable sunset. The fire dancers are the cultural entertainment at the 'Management Cocktail Hour' which came with neither cocktails nor management. However, there were some delightful canapes and assorted wines. The guests were all dutifully lined up on the sand below the restaurant. Fear not, comfort was considered and we were all in chairs or on day beds.

Sunset from the deck.

Sunset from the beach before the fire twirling.

The show was fascinating. I'm not sure how one becomes a fire twirler or even aspires to be one. We were both certain that Dan would have excelled at this job. Loud music, theatrical movement and the danger of fire; it was all Dan at 16 or 17, any age really. Anyway, spectacular it was and the show was thoroughly enjoyed - especially since we felt safe from the ubiquitous audience invitation to join in on other island cultural performances (usually designed to make visitors look very ungainly). We were pretty sure the activity indemnity we signed at the start of our stay did not cover suffering third degree burns. Jayne spoke with the people next to her and they had been snorkelling off the point earlier in the day and saw a turtle. That's on the list for tomorrow, after our beach picnic on Moso Island.

You can watch the fire dancers on youtube. 

When the fire went out it was time for dinner. Amuse bouche of ... I can't remember. We both had the same entrée of scallop and calamari. Jayne had the beef with a hollandaise sauce and I had spicy snapper for main. All dishes were excellent. Dessert was a choice of the cheese platter of soufflé. We both opted for the soufflé and it was good but there needed to be a 25 minute lead time. While this wasn't an issue, a little more thought into the week's menu might have made things easier to manage. They could have served the soufflé last evening when guests arrived at a variety of times and swapped the easily pre-made nougat glacé to tonight. That way when all the guests descended en masse after the fire twirling, at least dessert was made and some pressure relieved. Anyway, we were not in a rush so the brief wait for dessert was not an imposition on what was otherwise a lovely evening.

After dinner it was back to the plunge pool. What a life.

Until next time.