Vanuatu: A kayaking cure

Vanuatu: A kayaking cure
By admin


A serene kayak along an unspoilt river through the heart of Vanuatu’s rainforest – it sounded so good on paper.

Only now it’s 8am and I’ve got a raging hangover – the absolute last thing I want to do is go kayaking. It’s hard enough just getting out of bed, but somehow I manage it.

The weather reflects my mood, a little grey and damp – but the clouds seem to be holding back a full-on downpour. I wonder how long it will last.

I make it downstairs just in the nick of time – Pascal is there waiting. His quirky open air bamboo truck is packed with fellow kayakers. He drives us a little way out of Port Vila to a pretty clearing beside the glowing green waters of Rentabao River that will be our playground for the next couple of hours.

Detecting my hangover, Pascal takes pity on me and lets me jump in a double canoe with him. I vigorously swing my paddle from side to side, but I’m fairly sure that it’s his smooth strokes behind mine that actually propel us along the river.

I peer down through the water that is clear as glass. I can see straight down to the riverbed. Tiny fish flicker past, disappearing beneath the ripples that surge outwards from our canoe. A bright white heron flies across our path.

“This is what Efate is all about,” Pascal tells me. The main island hasn’t been blessed with the perfect white sand beaches of some of Vanuatu’s outer islands, he explains. But it more than makes up for it with its interior – rich with rivers, waterfalls, dense rainforest and wildlife.

To the left, a solitary house built in the traditional Ni-Vanuatu style overlooks the water.

“These houses are now a rare site on Efate,” Pascal says. The pretty thatch has now been largely abandoned in favour of concrete and tin.

A lady does her laundry in the water and gives us a wave as we glide past. We paddle a little further down the river and a group of children, naked apart from their huge smiles, stand timidly on the bank, waiting for us to paddle past so they can dunk themselves in the surprisingly warm water.

“The water is brackish,” Pascal answers when I query the river’s temperature. The additional salinity in the water comes from the ocean, which is visible ahead of us. Waves break in a white frothy line just beyond the river’s wide mouth.

We spin our kayaks around and head back in the other direction. Mangroves twist their way out of the water, meshing together to form an orchid-studded canopy that shields us from the elements.

But as the river broadens, we are left exposed. Bang on cue, the rain starts to spit from the sky.

It gets heavier, so we speed up our paddling, cutting through the water at an impressive pace as we rhythmically flee the chilly raindrops.

Back on solid ground, I rub myself down with a towel, chewing on freshly cut grapefruit and coconut. I notice my hangover is gone. Certainly beats an alka-seltzer.

The river kayak adventure with Vanuatu Ecotours costs 4,900 Vatu (around AU$55). For more details visit the website.

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

vanuatu

Latest News

  • Products

Embrace the journey: Traversing the world with the Shokz OpenRun

If you’ve been on the wrong side of a final call in the airport, or missed the stop on rail journey, it might be time to invest in a pair of Shokz OpenRun headphones. Originally marketed as headphones for fitness fanatics, runners or cyclists with a keen to steer clear of a prang with a car, […]

  • Tour Operators
  • Tourism

TTC: Deals are driving up demand for September trips

The latest market research from TTC Tour Brands shows interest in international leisure travel remains high for 2024, with 77 per cent of Australians over 18 still planning trips this year. Notably, 28 per cent of those travellers are eyeing September for their journeys. Europe continues to be the most popular destination, with 68 per […]

  • Aviation

Qantas ‘working urgently’ to fix app data leak

Qantas is looking into customer reports that passengers have this morning been able to access other passengers’ personal information on the airlines app. X user Lachlan posted that he was able log into different accounts every time he opened the app. My @Qantas app logs me in to a different person each time I open […]

  • Hotels

Revamped Wailoaloa Beach hotel opens as Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa

Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa is open and ready for bookings after the first phase of a multi-million-dollar transformation. Part of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ premium collection, the transformation has seen the completion of 106 guestrooms showcasing contemporary interiors reflective of the premium Crowne Plaza brand and is a first for the […]

  • Luxury
  • News

Kamalaya Koh Samui clinches clutch of wellness awards

Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa has so far clinched five prestigious awards in 2024, including being inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’ at the World Spa & Wellness Awards in London. Founders of the Koh Samui sanctuary and spa John and Karina Stewart expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the awards. “We are profoundly honoured […]