We were up again at 07:00. The information we had downloaded said Yacht World would help us with the check in process, and they opened at 07:30. We got them on the radio a little before 08:00. They told us to sit tight and they would bring the quarantine officer to our boat around 09:30.

Port Vila bay has two small islands in the center of it. This is a scan from a postcard

The quarantine anchorage is located at the northern tip of Iririki Island, which is the island between shore and the outer island. Irikiki is low and lushly green, with neat rows of cute little hotel bungalows lining the shore. The mainland has a few low hills. The mainland is also super lushly green, with a smattering of buildings visible along the shore and up the hill.

At 09:45 we called Yacht World again and they told us the officer would be by shortly. The officer arrived about 10:30. He was a really nice guy. The paperwork was simple and after a quick look around, he was done. The boat driver told us he was going to drop off the quarantine officer, then he would come back and get us. Within a half hour, as promised, the Yacht World boat was back. Getting into the most protected part of the bay is tricky as most of it is shallow and the area with sufficient depth is quite narrow. The guide boat from Yacht World led us around the corner of Iririki Island into the mooring area between Iririki and the mainland. Here is a shot of Irikiki, the anchorage area.

They also helped us attach to a mooring, which was really nice. Interestingly enough, we were moored catty corner to a Nordhavn 46 named Supra. Conveniently enough, the mooring area is smack in the center of downtown Vila. To our east is a huge commercial wharf with containers scattered about. In this photo, you can see the east end of Irikiki island directly behind Supra, and the east end of Port Vila Bay in the distance.

Directly in front of us, along the waterfront are nice buildings that could be either businesses or residences. Above the waterfront, on the hill, are fancy looking homes. To our west there is a seawall that looks like it runs for miles. There are lots of commercial looking buildings and a park in the distance. It looks pretty nice from here.

We quickly got Kosmos situated and the dinghy down. The couple from Supra, Bob and Margaret, came by to say hello and we made plans to go out to dinner with them. We headed to shore to find our friend, Jaime. He was waiting for us at the dinghy dock at Yacht World/The Waterfront Bar and Restaurant. The first thing on the to-do list was to have our celebratory arrival meal, which we ate at the Waterfront. The Waterfront had burgers and sandwiches, and we both had a fish burger. They didn’t come with any sides and we were both still hungry after we were done eating.

Our next stop was customs, which is at the south edge of town on the main drag of Lini Highway. We caught a taxi. The taxi dropped us off at the edge of a wharf. We found the customs office and went in. We were handed a large stack of paperwork to fill out. While there was a lot of paperwork, it is the most organized package we have seen yet. All in all we were only there for a few minutes, then we headed back to downtown to go to immigration.

Vila is a small city that can be walked end to end in about a half hour. Most of the buildings are two story, with one 6 story hotel on the waterfront. The architectural style is eclectic. We had been expecting most of the buildings to be classic English and French colonial, and there were a few. There were several in the modern style popular in the 60’s, but most of the buildings are low, square, functional buildings with little style.

There is a big open air produce market similar to what we saw in Fiji in the center of town on Lini highway. Next to the market is where the park along the sea wall begins, tucked behind the businesses on Lini highway.

The streets buzzed with activity. All the men wore shorts to their knees with t-shirts or polo shirts. All the women wore skirts past their knees with t-shirts or enormously large moo-moos with short puffy sleeves and decorative flaps hanging from the waistline. Jaime calls them mother hubbard dresses.

We had a hard time finding the immigration office, which turned out to be up an unmarked staircase above some shops on Lini Highway. After going into a wrong building, a kind local man walked us to the correct staircase. Thank goodness he did, because we would have never guessed this staircase to be official government offices. The paperwork was simple and we were done quickly. The entry fee was $20 USD. We were told to come back tomorrow after 15:00 (3:00 pm) for the receipt.

Still hungry, we stopped for dessert at a French bakery. They had an enormous variety of decadent looking baked treats, as well as ice cream. We have found heaven.

The last stop was Yacht World Marina, to check in. We took Jaime back to Kosmos and rested until dinner time. Much to our delight, Voyager III had also pulled in today and Jeannette and Fraser, the crew, were able to join us for dinner. We went to a French restaurant on the water near the dinghy dock. They were out of a lot of the menu items, so after several attempts at other types of food, we wound up with steaks all around. The food was good. Vanuatu is known for its excellent quality beef. Dinner was fun.

We went to bed really late, mostly because the boat next to us was having a loud party that kept us up. We had seriously considered going out there and asking them to break the party up, but we didn’t.