Being a tourist in Vanuatu is a privilege and experiencing their unique land is awe-inspiring, a pleasure and an honour. Although my experience was absolutely wonderful and I will return and continue my love affair with this amazing country, there were some aspects from my recent trip that have left me totally bewildered and embarrassed. The worse part of my trip was not what was already there – but rather, what was imported: Australian and New Zealand tourists! They would have to be the rudest, most condescending and loudest peasants I had the displeasure of listening too.

The hotel where I was staying had a visiting football team of young people (and I won’t mention they were from Newcastle), who aside from having too much alcohol and having a wonderful time, smashed up hotel rooms, embarrassed staff and disrupted other guests (where or where were their minders?). On a bus trip one couple loudly and consistently congratulated the driver for being able to negotiate the steep winding roads – oh please – these people drive on these roads every day! Imagine if they congratulated you every 5minutes for being able to drive across the Nullarbor; I’m sure you’d like to tell them to put a sock in it! At a restaurant, a group of ‘mature people’ were loudly complaining about the state of their hotel rooms, the roads, the food – you name it and all this in front of the local people. If you want a 5 star hotel with food prepared by internationally acclaimed chefs and the streets are paved with shining concrete – go to the Gold Coast! So a word to those ignorant people who think that because they have paid to visit a place gives them the right to xenophobic – just remember you are a visitor in their country and remeber a little thing called respect.

Visiting another country is like signing up to be an explorer and a student; you set out to discover a new land. Look around you – consider if there are hills or mountains rise dramatically to meet the sky or do they undulate into the distance; are rivers hedged by willowy trees, yellow, swaying grasses or rock, cradled gullies, then, do they speed off into the distance or do they meander their way slowly past you?; are the beaches expansive with fine white sand and crashing waves, do you see the fine mist spraying upwards?; or is the beach slightly curved nestled between lichen covered rocks or tropic jungles with swaying palms, does the beach have pebbles or sand?; is the land itself covered by ancient forests, fields of swaying grains, or villages of grey, monastic medieval stone, modern boxes or traditional communities? There is always something to hold you in awe, should you chose to open your eyes. So what do we learn; as the explorer student we learn what there is that drew us to this place in the first instance; is it the intrigue of history, legend or myth?; is it the traditions, customs and heritage?; is it the lifestyle, the curiosity or the need to touch base with family origins? Every visitor to another country travels their own journey of discovery, you take from it what you chose to see and learn – if you chose to do neither then you will always, always leave empty handed. Vanuatu is a great place in which to explore and learn.

I have found that the Ni-Vanuatu are extremely gracious. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting a gorgeous lady by the name of Jenny who took me to see a modern traditional village (as opposed to a cultural show village) and invited me home for dinner to meet her three gorgeous children and her husband. Thank you, Jenny. I left Vanuatu knowing I was very privileged to have discovered and learnt from a land rich in culture and tradition. Viva Vanuatu.