Vanuatu
The New Hebrides islands, now known as Vanuatu are a fantastic tourist destination. Vanuatu is one of the most popular Pacific Islands holiday destinations for Australian tourists. Because Vanuatu is located so close to Australia it has become one of the Pacific Islands most visited destinations for Australians. Involvement by Australian business people in building new resorts in these islands has seen a number of new destinations opened up. Now you can take your pick of which island suits you best, move from one resort to another in order to see more of these magnificent islands or even take a cruise around these islands and visit most of them. Vanuatu is different from most of the other pacific islands. The people are more Melanesian that polynesian and there are parts of Vanuatu that remain pretty much as they were when captain Cook sailed through the region. Most of the resorts lie on the islands in the south of the group, while the more northern regions still live in an unchanged tribal manner.
Some of the tribal customs in the north are fascinating. On Pentecost island, there is still a ritual when young people go through adolescence where they jump from rickety towers made from bamboo and sticks and tied together with vines. Their only savior is a thin vine tied around their ankles that ends their fall just above ground level. It is from these beginnings that the western practice of bungy jumping originated. In the south, the islands are more developed and the town of Port Vila on Efate island is the capital. Direct flight from both Australia and New Zealand arrive and depart from here and local flights and ferry's service the outer islands.
Vanuatu is located on the pacific ring of fire, where tectonic plates in the Pacific region grind together. This means that the region is seismically active and there are a number of volcanoes in the region. Some of the eruptions in the past have been among the largest in the earths history. There are still a number of these volcanoes that are active. On tanna Island in the far south of the Vanuatu Islands group is the Yasur Volcano and it is continually erupting and the most approachable active volcano in the world.
The Islands of Vanuatu are also known as the Friendly isles and this is because of the affable nature of its inhabitants. Vanuatu will provide you with a sensational opportunity to have a south pacific holiday in a spectacular location and share it with the beautiful local people.
