Vanuatu Part 2: Tanna

Just two days after we arrived in Port Vila we took a plane to the island of Tanna where we spent two days. It's definitely a more remote "bush" island, so we were excited to experience it. Pictured here is the Port Vila airport.

Lots of waiting for our flight, which was delayed. We ended up chatting with an Australian/French family while we waited.

Davis threw an epic, top five tantrum once we were on the flight. It lasted just about the entire flight. Thrashing, scratching me, dripping in sweat. All because he wanted to play a game on my phone (I had already said no, so I couldn't go back on that even though I really really really wanted to.)

These four sister missionaries had just returned from serving in my parents' mission that week! They're from Tanna. They met us at the airport and had made us necklaces and these feathers you put in your hair.

We hopped in the back of someone's truck to get to our hotel. We just kind of had to forget all car safety rules while we were here. After we got to the hotel we hopped in the same truck and started our drive to Mount Yasur, the volcano. The kids and Cameron and my dad were in the back of the truck here. My mom and I were squished in the front with one of the branch presidents of the island driving. The drive was long. I think it was 2-2.5 hours. Cameron says only 1.5 hours. Regardless....very long when you're uncomfortable. :) It was really cool to see the island as we drove; we loved seeing all the villages, the people walk along the side of the road. Vastly different than our life at home.

My mom and I very squished in the front. But I loved taking it all in!

We stopped at one of the church buildings on our way.

The district president hopped in the back with us after we got to the church building. Turns out he owns the volcano. He let us all go for free and gave us a personalized tour. The last part of the ride was incredibly bumpy, like the Indiana Jones ride. Quite the experience when you're in the bed of a truck.

Just the most beautiful place.

We finally made it to the base of the volcano and made the short walk to the top.

We brought leashes for Davis and Violet. The district president/volcano owner thought it was very funny. 

The kids were blown away and most of them say it's the coolest thing they saw during our trip.

We got quite the show! You could see lava splashing up. And the explosions were quite loud!

This was the first of many times we didn't bring enough food on the road. We didn't get back to the hotel til 9:00PM and were starving. I don't think Cameron and I quite realized how long we'd be gone and that we wouldn't have any opportunity to get food. I traded spots with my dad and sat in the back with everyone on the drive back to the hotel. After the long drive back we ate dinner at the hotel. Everyone was starving and exhausted. It was a spectacular day though!

We stayed at White Grass Hotel and loved it! We had two little bungalows with gorgeous ocean views. Cameron and Andy and Max shared one bungalow and I was in the other with Davis and Violet.

Cameron, Andy, and Max woke up early and explored the tide pools in front of the hotel.

The hotel grounds were so pretty.

We all loved the hotel breakfast. The Tanna bread is delicious. We ate every meal at the hotel; there's not really anywhere else to eat.

My cute dad working on transfers.

We needed to trucks to get around and one of the mission trucks we were going to use ended up being broken, so my dad asked a random man on the street if we could rent their truck for the day. It was definitely a beater, but Cameron and I had fun exploring the island in it for the day.

Church was consistently my favorite part of the trip. We went to an amazing branch there. I don't remember what it was called. White Sands? White something. 

Andy helped pass the sacrament, which was brave and really cool. 

The sweet lady (Mary) served her mission in New York City! She was so fun to talk to and her kids were so sweet. She and her family are hoping to get to go on one of the temple trips this year to be sealed. I loved her sweet, strong voice. The Vanuatu people sing so vibrantly and loud. I loved it. Everyone was staring at us the whole time. We really stuck out ha ha. 

We brought Bislama CTR rings and passed them out to the kids there.

It's so cool--the people really hang out there for the day. Many have walked an hour or two to be at church.

I took the youngest three kids to primary and stayed with them in there. It was supposed to be a testimony meeting for the kids but it was silent for about five minutes because the kids were all too scared to get up with us being there. They asked us to get up and introduce ourselves and bear our testimonies. Davis was up for it, Violet and Max were not ha ha. :) They sang a few hymns out of the hymn book (they don't have primary song books). It was a really cool experience.

Violet made friends with Mary's daughter, Shantelle. They couldn't talk to each other but had so much fun playing.

We got to hang out with two of the elders for the day, Elder Tuiburotu and Elder Breinholt. Elder Tuiburotu was so sweet. He had this bag made for me to give me because he'd heard I was coming.

Lots of playing after church while we waited for my dad to do temple recommend interviews! The kids all thought Davis was very funny and crazy.

We headed around on a drive with the elders after church and ended up at this beautiful black sand beach.

Elder Tuiburotu is amazing: he's a convert from Fiji, the only member in his family. His family basically disowned him when he joined the church and weren't supportive of him serving a mission. What a faithful example.

Davis loves Elder Tuiburotu! The elders sat in the back of our truck with us with Davis. They were so cute with him.

We stopped at another church "building" on our drive. I should also note that we were completely starving all day because we left the food bag at home accidentally. I thought Cameron left it, but it was actually completely my fault ha ha. There is literally no where to get food.

Lots of silliness in the truck with the elders! We kept teasing that Davis was going to stay in the elders' house with them. Davis didn't like the jokes and finally started crying until we reassured him we were all just teasing. :) 

The prettiest sunset at our hotel. I think this is when we saw whales!

We woke up in the morning and did more tide pool exploring.

Lots of collecting!

We made a quick stop at the market Monday morning before we left for the airport. It was so cool to see everyone selling their produce and things they'd made. Everyone there was locals, except for some missionaries we saw. 

This lady made these bags we bought.

Hanging out at the airport waiting for our flight.

My dad played hang man with the boys on the flight home. I love that they were able to grow their relationship with him since it had been two years since they'd seen him. He's so busy there, but he was good at creating bonding moments with the kids.