Getting here required two flights, starting with an early 7:00am flight to Brisbane, followed by a two-hour flight across the Coral Sea. Thanks to a one-hour time difference, we landed in Port Vila shortly after 2:00pm. However, it took almost two hours to get from the plane to the resort, thanks to lengthy queues at immigration and the leisurely pace of road traffic travelling on island time.
We landed shortly after a Fiji Airways flight. As a result, a large queue greeted us as we entered the airport's compact immigration hall. It then took another 45 minutes to clear immigration and collect our luggage as immigration officials, operating on island time, reviewed everyone's passports. A Virgin Australia flight landed shortly after us. I felt for its passengers with two planeloads already standing in line.
Garry and I had forgotten how long it takes to travel relatively short distances in the Pacific Islands. Our driver warned us as we left the airport that our journey to Eratap would take at least 40 minutes. At first, I couldn't work out why it was going to take so long to travel barely 19 kilometres. The traffic through Port Vila crawled along at a snail's pace, and then once the town limits were cleared, our pace was slowed again by a relentless stream of potholes and rural animal life.
The drive's monotony was regularly broken as we watched group after group of flag-waving locals demonstrating support for their favourite FIFA World Cup team. Cars were decked out with flapping flags, locals marched by draped in flags, and children proudly wore their chosen heroes' national colours. This colourful display is all the more impressive considering the competition's opening match doesn't kick off for another week.
However, all was not lost. We arrived in time to enjoy a cold beer and watch a golden sunset from the comfort of our private beachside cabana. Nice!
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