Gismo Queen and her King

A lot of people describe this cruise as a music festival on water. But it's better than that. It is so laid back, and absolutely everybody - including the artists - are so friendly that it really feels like a bunch of your mates getting together for a sing along. Whether you run into a musician at breakfast, in the lift, poolside or anywhere else, they are so approachable and down-to-earth, it just makes the whole experience so much more than a music festival or a cruise.

We actually got up early this morning - for the first time on this cruise! Down in the main dining room by 8am and we were seated with some cattle farmers from Casterton, so the conversation flowed on all things farming - and kelpies, given we all had one and Casterton hosts the annual kelpie festival. Back to the room to sort what we needed for our day in Vanuatu and then we walked off the gangway onto the port, where we were met for our tour of the day. We boarded a minibus and our guide named Arthur was just brilliant. He told us stories - good and bad - about Vila and Vanuatu and showed us the cyclone damage, the repairs, some of the new things and some of the effects on the community. Many of the resorts are not yet open since the cyclone and the lack of tourism is really affecting the country. Which is why they are so pleased to have cruise ships visit. Cruising tourists still spend money but don't need the infrastructure that is still being rebuilt.

On our tour, we went to a village that is run outside the municipal system and still governed by a chief. We went to his house and were welcomed with a traditional dance, a speech and then invited to walk through their local markets. We bought some things as we thought it important to support their business. The houses were fairly rudimentary and many still hadn't been rebuilt. The trees were all quite low as the tall ones were destroyed. We saw a banyan tree with a base width of at least 20 metres that had been completely upended by the cyclone.

Back on the bus and we did drive through a resort that had completely re-opened, but ironically, past another only 1km down the road that was still closed. We went through the poorer parts of town and the old British colonial parts, past the brand new Parliament House and the new solar power plant. Photo opportunities were made available at some of the higher points of town and then we also stopped in the CBD.

Interestingly, there has been very little rain in Vanuatu since the cyclone and the country is very much in drought. Many families cannot afford to feed their children (and cannot grow the produce needed) so they are putting their children up for adoption to give them a better chance at life. Topped with a corrupt government who are doing so many things wrong there is bound to be a revolution of some kind in the not-too-distant future.

We returned to the ship in time for a late lunch and then sat poolside in the sunshine (the warmest day we have had so far) while we sailed out of Port Vila. A group photo was taken and some more music played until we got out of the islands and the wind picked up again. We headed down to one of the cafes for afternoon tea (i have partly solved the terrible coffee quandary by having a double shot) and then we got changed for tonight's theatre performance of Sara Storer.

It seems you have to be earlier and earlier every night to get good seats these days. But we got our usual seats in plenty of time and wiled away the waiting time chatting to  our companions - and drinking cocktails! Then Sara started and we loved her show, as she is so down-to-earth and laid back. No glittery outfits for her - she was wearing the same as me in a dress, leggings and a cardigan! Her songs were very real, she tried out some new material on us, and you could actually hear her sing instead of the heavy bass from the backing band that some of the others have used. We really enjoyed her show.

After dinner, it was back to the casino but no huge winnings tonight - at least Greg was still playing on last night's winnings so tonight didn't cost us anything. Into the main dining room for dinner and we had our fun mother/daughter table companions back so we had plenty of laughs and entertainment tonight. We have met so many wonderful people thus far - it is just something else about this cruise that makes it so much more.

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