The happiest country in the World - Part 2 - The Secret Garden and Mele Cascades

One day during our stay at Hideaway Island, we decided it was time to explore the general area in which we were staying. First up we decided to visit "Secret Garden" which was within walking distance of where we were dropped off by our ferry.

Along the way we spotted a kava factory - this is why I prefer walking to getting a taxi (or in the case of Vanuatu a "bus" - which is really a van) because you get to see so much more!

These guys greeted us at the gates of Secret Garden - there's a lot of them all over Port Vila. There was a "mini" zoo at the Secret Garden and we were allowed to hold some of the animals - first up was the Iguana.

Next was the snake - this guy was old and pretty sleepy and most importantly not poisonous!

They had a lot of interesting information at the gardens about the history and culture of Vanuatu - although some of the myths and legends were a little unusual.

Finally - whilst at the Secret Garden we decided we had to be typical cheesy tourists and do this....

After spending a few hours at Secret Garden we decided to move on to our next destination "Mele Cascades" or "Mele Waterfalls". Here's a few of the sights on the way to the main waterfall - I love the beautiful flowers.

When we reached the base of the Mele Cascades this was the view - not too bad at all.

There was a number of ropes to help you climb to the summit of the waterfall - originally I wasn't so keen on going up there. But Rich told me I had too and I'm glad I did - it actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend - its cold, wet and generally miserable here in Wellington - makes me wish I was back in Vanuatu!

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge: Bracelets and Bangles

This weeks Wednesday wardrobe challenge was all about bracelets and bangles - so lets start with the main event. When I'm at work I tend to prefer wrist cuffs to bracelets and bangles, mostly due to the fact its easy to type when you're wearing them. I spend a great deal of my work day behind a computer typing.

I also wore a lot of handmade jewellery this Wednesday - the skull cuff and black bracelet above are made by Vany, the wee fox brooch is from a recent swap and the chain and ribbon necklace is my own handiwork.

 I also wore my new winter boots this week - I was thinking I'd like another pair of boots in the winter and then these came up in my Avon brochure for a good price, so I snapped them up.

Here's the whole outfit - I've found I've been wearing a lot of brown lately which must be a winter thing!

Here's a wee bit of a close up of the fabric of the dress, its really quite pretty.

My hair is really starting to get out of control! I'm visiting the hair dresser not this coming weekend but the following. I kind of want to keep it longer, but I also want it to be a bit edgy and fun. Any suggestions?

Finally - Rich was being a bit silly when taking these photos and this was the result!

DEETS:

Boots - Avon
Tights & Cardi - Glassons
Pink & Purple Bracelet - Forever 21, Kuala Lumpur
Skull bead bracelet and black bracelet - Made by Vany
Necklace - Made by me
Fox Brooch - Craft Swap
Heart Ring - Gift from the lovely Curtise
Dress - New Horizons Trust Second Chance Fashion Sale

The happiest country on earth - part one - Hideaway Island

It is true -Vanuatu is the happiest country on earth, well at least I think so. Our trip to Vanuatu started so early we may as well not have gone to bed at all on Saturday night, but it was worth it to see this early morning view on the plane as we traveled from Wellington to Auckland to catch out flight to Port Vila.

In the distance you can see our first destination - Hideaway Island! It's just a short ferry ride away from Efate (the Island where port vila is) in fact - less than five minutes.

The beach at Hideaway Island is all coral - so you need to wear shoes to walk on it - but that was fine with us as it meant that it was a perfect snorkeling beach. We saw so many cool fish whilst snorkeling - including a whole "Nemo" family!

Because the beach is all coral, the resort had loads of these lovely white deck chairs to lounge about on. I really loved them, a great place to leave your towel and other gear whilst snorkeling but also great to sit on to read a book and watch the sunset.

This black maxi is my new favourite holiday dress - I picked it up in an op shop in Kilbirnie for a couple of dollars before we left.

 

Messages of love in the form of coral!

There were a fun activities included with the price of our room - including a daily glass bottom boat ride! Fun times.

 

Another view of Hideaway Island from our glass bottom boat - so pretty!

This is the view you have when you first arrive at Hideaway Island - I love it!

Finally a friend we made on the Island - if you couldn't tell from the photos, Hideaway Island in absolutely tiny. You can walk around the whole island in about ten minutes and we didn't think there were any animals on the island at all until this friendly guy turned up at our door on the third day. I'm sure he was being well fed from scraps from the restaurant.