Kiwis, Kangaroos and Kanoes: Vanuatu is Where?!?

Early Monday morning we headed for the airport to catch our flight to Port Vila, Vanuatu. The Auckland harbor and the moon were too lovely not to take a quick photo!

Elder and Sister Duke, the office couple as well as the nurse for the Vanuatu mission (Sister Duke) met us at the airport along with Sister Brewer, the Mission President's wife. The Dukes took us to a nice little hotel near the downtown. This is the view from our room.

The next several days were spent looking at medical facilities, talking to administrators, checking up on missionaries, sharing ideas with President and Sister Brewer and generally enjoying the beauties of the island with Elder and Sister Duke, who so graciously drove us everywhere!

This "BooBoo" (grandma) was sitting on the lawn at the medical center with her darling little grandchildren (children are called pikinninies...seriously!) The hospital delivers more than 300 babies each month!

The language is Bislama, which is a pidgin English combined with some French. There were over 40k soldiers on the island during WW II and we suspect that much of the slang and word usage came from the soldiers trying to converse with the Ni-Vans, as they are called in Vanuatu.

Elder Brown and I enjoyed the fresh fish at the Waterfront Grill with the Dukes, Larsons (PEF) and the Bennions (FM). Amazing and dedicated people!

Many of the reed-woven walls on the structures in the area had these beautiful patterns and bright colors. Possibly a community center for the village or maybe the village chief's home?

This long narrow building is a bush chapel. These are found in some of the outlying areas.

This bush chapel has coral gravel for the floor and homemade cinder-blocks holding

up the planks for benches.

Since the weather is always warm, these chapels are perfect!

This chapel has real pews and flowers are growing everywhere so they adorn the buildings! When it is time for Sunday School, the chairs are moved outside under the trees.

In Port Vila, the capital, meetinghouses resemble the chapels that can be found anywhere in the world!

William, on the right is a returned missionary who served in Vanuatu. He is standing next to the Branch President, President Erick. William decided to return to Vanuatu and use his building experience to build missionary houses out in the bush. These cinder-block structures provide a safe and more comfortable situation for the missionaries. So many good and generous people in the world!

Although it is the middle of winter, the flowers and bushes were all ablaze!

We saw so many flowers and plants that we had never seen anywhere else!

Elder and Sister Duke took us out to one of the city chapels to see Elder Eccles( by Sister Duke).

After cutting his thumb with a bush knife, Elder Brown wanted to check on his progress...one of many miracles...he has healed beautifully! His sweet companion is Elder Woods!

Elders giving each other haircuts on their P-day. All of the "kitchens" are outside the house and washing clothes consists of a bucket full of water, or a nearby stream.

This large kitchen is intended to be the community kitchen for about five residences.

This is the community shower room. A bucket, a hose and a bit of privacy.

Here is Elder Brown in front of a monster Banyan tree. They were plentiful and so huge!

Remember those little "spider plants" we grow indoors? Well here is an 18 foot one!

President and Sister Brewer were so very kind. We enjoyed dinner and a lovely evening together. They work hard and make innumerable sacrifices for these missionaries. They are real pioneers, as two years ago they opened this mission! While we visited, we discovered that President Brewer had gone fishing with Elder Brown's older brother Richard and that they know two of our friends from Moses Lake, the Wallers and the Jorgensens!! Such a small world!

Sister Brewer sent me this picture off of the back deck of the mission home! Beautiful!

This is a view over the bay to the harbor and bustling town of Port Vila. The little island in the bay is called Hideaway Island. The resorts are being built and Vanuatu will soon be competition for the other vacation destinations in the Pacific Islands!

No photoshopping necessary. On the left is Hideaway Island and bungalows

overlooking the turquoise water!

Vanuatu is famous for its wooden carvings. These totem -like wood carvings are seen everywhere!

Had a few extra minutes, so we went to the Vanuatu Museum. Much historical information and natural flora and fauna were represented....interesting birds, and BIG bugs! Outrigger canoes and masks for dancing and ceremonies were shown along with weapons and carvings.

This fellow is getting ready to create a "Sanddroing"(sand drawing). He is an artist and in the sand he creates beautiful pictures and symbols with a single continuous movement of his finger. Was interesting to watch and hear him explain the technique. He also favored us with some music from a variety of homemade instruments!