Visit from Phil King 

We were delighted to welcome Rev Phil King, Global Missions Co-ordinator for Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand (PCANZ) to Vanuatu, and he was equally delighted to be in the lovely warm environment of Vanuatu, having come from chilly Wellington. He is here to foster the wonderful relationship that PCANZ has with PCV, and his visit includes attending the General Assembly, meeting with the church leaders here, and checking on how Martyn and I are doing. Unfortunately Neville and Gloria are away in NZ visiting family at the moment or he would be checking on and supporting them too.

The men from Leith Valley, Dunedin are still here, and also Steve Taylor, and we hosted a BBQ at our flat on Saturday evening including Tony, Mary and the children. Tony manned the fire for cooking the sausages and chicken wings, and we had to borrow plates and cutlery from Mary as we only have a few.

Some of the men went to watch the first Bledisloe Cup game at the Brewery afterwards.

On Sunday we took the opportunity to take them all on a round the island tour. Unfortunately our PCANZ Moderator Richard Dawson was unwell and decided not to join us, but Freddy from West Papua came - it was his first time going around Efate even though he has been living in Vila since February. The weather was beautiful and everyone had a great day.

First stop was The Reef turtle sanctuary. L-R: Martyn, Simon, John, Phil, one of The Reef staff, Steve, Freddy, The Reef owner.

They have acquired 2 flying fox (fruit bats) since our first visit.

 We showed them Eton Beach, where we took a walk on the reef. Here is Phil enjoying a piece of Vanuatu which he hasn't seen before (it has always been covered by the tide on his previous visits).

John, Simon, Steve (and Freddy who is out of shot) enjoyed exploring the rock pools, which are reminiscent of the Pink and White Terraces.

 I (Annette) also enjoyed another wander on the reef. Each time I see something new.

This time it was tiny forests of seaweed that looked like deciduous trees!

We called in at Onesua College, had lunch at Takara, and went to see the WWII Museum. Martyn and I had not been there previously. It was only a very small building with a display of items collected from the surrounding area where there was a huge US presence during WWII. Those items included ammunition: after picking up a large bullet and a small mortar which in it's day could kill 100 people, Martyn realised they are probably still live, and he put them back very carefully! There were also photos and documents, part of a plane, but the most interesting part was the stories Eric the curator told us. Worth the 500 vatu to visit.
Last stop was Havannah Harbour where we planned to go snorkeling, but when we got there, instead of the mill pond we had experienced on previous visits, it was really choppy and windy. Also the staff at Gideon's Landing told there were stinger jellyfish in the water, so no one was keen to go in! It was still a great day though.