The Beautification of Port Vila (Part1)

Over the recent weeks there has been work on building footpaths along the roads of Vila town, it seems like the Municipal is finally trying to do something about the safety of people walking along the roads and the fact that there are so many cars on our roads now. This new Mayor should be commended on pumping some life into the municipality. The only problem I see is that some of the footpaths are built over telecom land lines…I hope the town planners are aware of this and doing something about it, I will be calling them up tomorrow and asking about this. Will keep you posted

La Piste Bleue

Last Saturday, 25th August, I participated in an annual bush trekking event called “La Piste Bleue”, it was organized by our local (foreign owned) power company, Unelco. The walk takes you through the bush treks of efate island, where Port Vila is locatetd.  I thought I was fit for the walk so ended  up  not  doing  any training what so ever for it (wasn’t my best idea yet), to make matters worse I ended up on the piss the previous night but was truly up and ready for the walk come 0230hrs for pickup. We just made the registrations and got given our participants’ shirts and team tags (3 in a group), once we all got dropped off at the starting point and the formalities said and done it was time for the fun to begin. Here is me feeling confident about myself, the walk started off with a nice and relaxing pace for the first half hour or so but then my mates started to lift the tempo of the walk. I managed to keep up with the group for the first 3 check points and also taking in the sights along the way, after that cramps started playing up with my right leg…should have done some training, hell, some folks even ran the whole length of the bush track. My body starting aching all over and my head started getting heavy, funnily enough I really did enjoy the pain and was determined on finishing the walking no matter what, we had another 5 check points to go before we finished the walk. Along the way we met some good Samaritans who gave me some medicine for the cramps plus on every check point there were medics available the massages etc…that was a big help. At some spots along the way, the view was breath taking looking into the back into Port Vila town or the deep valleys or dense rainforest. Somehow the air up on those mountains just felt a lot cleaner and very refreshing than the air down in the coast, it made the pain even sweeter and the experience a blessing. We wavered through the thick mud, mini creeks,countless hills, narrow walkways, rope aided climbs and one river crossing to reach our destination in a little over 8 hours. It was an awesome feeling to finish the walk and share the journey with my mates, I am already looking forward to next year and yes, I will be better equipped for La Piste Bleue.

GO VANUATU!!!!

The South Pacific Games, Samoa 2007 is upon us…here is a BIG shout out to the Vanuatu team who are leaving Port Vila on the Spirit of Vanuatu for Apia tomorrow <<<< do us proud and enjoy the games!!!!!!!!!!

the rise of the gated community

recently I have noticed the increasing number of gated communities around Port Vila, I do not think the real estate agents should be promoting this kind of utopia inside Vanuatu. We are a new and slowly developing country and not in need for this kind of quick fix to sell land. We should be promoting unity and trying to identify as a country rather than promoting safe havens for individuals with money who are ONLY trying to look after their own well being. I wonder if the government is aware of this issue and trying to do something about it rather than taking “bribes” in the name of foreign aid……look what the ruby stone guy, Amandra Gosh has done……..shit all!!!!!!

where do I start??

We took a trip round efate yesterday, it was lovely to get out of the house for a change. the scenery around the island was awesome but not being able drive smoothly without having to dodge the countless potholes kinda killed the experience. The condition of the road seems to get worse every time we go for trips round the island…I wonder where all that aid money is going to. We get assistance from China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, UK, USA…and other countries but still our situation is dire. True we’re only in our 27th year of independence but things have got to start changing if we want to get out of this “begging” state. We have become too needy and rely on hand outs but still we are determined on running the country to the ground. I mean look at the number of NGOs that we have in this country plus the number of volunteers coming over here every year. Are we not capable of teaching and managing our own affairs? Are we not able to use our own initiatives that we have to ask for a second opinion on personnel that aren’t even ni-Vanuatu or have a Vanuatu passport. I know they mean well but lets face the facts, they will not be here for the long run, once their term is up they are off back to the comfort of their country while we pick up the pieces…so why not start with US locals!!! ……I’ve wound myself up for one day will keep you posted……..

an outlet for my sanity

just another blog to say my two cents!!!