The last few days...

Wow, it has been a few days. Sorry about that, we have either struggled with internet or been 'on the go' and unable to sit down to write a blog.

Friday was an amazing day. It started like normal with 5.30am devotions. Then, after breakfast it was straight to the class room for two classes in a row. In the final class one of the teachers informed us that at morning tea they wanted us to lead a full school assembly with songs, games and prayer. This gave us a total of 6 minutes to plan for this full school assembly. It went well and we managed to get a great photo of the team with the entire school.

After assembly we went back to the primary school up the road to do some music with them and then play some games. It was once again full on as the primary school students smothered us and wouldn't let us go. The primary school did a little farewell for us which was really moving and then it was time to say goodbye.

In the afternoon we had a bit of free time as the entire school was preparing for our farewell dinner on Friday night. We went for a walk through the shops at Lenakel before heading back to Black Sands beach for a final swim. Then it was time to quickly change before heading to the farewell celebrations.

The farewell celebrations were simply amazing. I don't think I can capture with words what we experienced that night. Unfortunately Rodger got sick and was vomiting so he missed the farewell dinner but he recovered fairly well and hasn't missed anything since. Please keep him in your prayers because he is still not quite right. Anyway, the farewell dinner was just out of this world. Lots of singing. Lot's of very moving speeches. Lots of gifts (both for us and for our friends at the school from us). Lots of laughter. And LOTS of tears. After what was probably one of the greatest weeks of many of our lives we really couldn't believe that it was time to say goodbye. It is amazing how close you can draw to people in such a short time and we felt like we had made life long friends in only 6 short days.

After all the celebrations it was time to try and get to bed for some sleep before a very early flight in the morning.

Air Vanuatu had told us to be at the airport at 6.30am which was two hours before our flight. We thought this was ridiculous but Air Vanuatu kept telling us that we needed to be there at 6.30am. Anyway, we arrived at the airport at 7.15am for our 8.30am flight to find the airport completely empty with no one around. True testimony to Island Time! Anyway, but 7.30am some people had arrived and we began the check in progress. However, the check in progress soon had us wondering about what kind of plane we would be travelling on as they not only weighed our bags but they weighed each one of us as well. It soon became apparent why they had weighed us as a tiny plane arrived to take us to Port Vila. Our team pretty much took up the entire flight. There were only 3 passengers on the flight that were not part of our team (so 17 passengers on the plane) and only 2 empty seats (so the total plane capacity was 19 seats). We could see into the cockpit and the plane really sounded like it was struggling when it took off! The un-pressurised cabin meant a cruising altitude of 3200 feet and the co-pilot continually tapping the gauges as if they were not working did not fill us with much confidence. But we landed safe in Port Vila!

We were at the Hotel way before check in and were working out what we would do with our time before check in when they told us two of the rooms were ready. We thought this would mean the other rooms would be ready soon so stayed at the Hotel however the other rooms took a couple of hours before they were ready. This didn't bother Esther, Jeremy or Rodger as they soon found the beach cheers by the pool and were relaxing in the sun while the teenagers stayed in the lobby where there was free internet - go figure!

The hotel had a great special on lunch so we decided to stay at the Hotel for lunch and then after lunch it was off to Hideaway Island. Hideaway Island is a little Island just a 2 minute boat ride from the mainland and it is surrounded by a reef and the snorkelling did not disappoint. For ours the team swam around looking at the most amazing array of tropical fish. It was simply amazing. After snorkelling we joined in for a BBQ dinner on the beach before heading back to the Hotel for some much needed sleep and a shower for many of the boys who hadn't showered since their departure for Tanna.

Saturday began at a much later time to what we are used to in the last week - 7am and it was a swim for some of the team members while the other team members ate breakfast by the pool. The breakfast is included in the cost of where we are staying and it was amazing. A buffet with amazing food which included pancakes in the shape of fish.  

After breakfast we went to church but we were told the wrong time so were an hour early! We decided to go down to Port Vila and explore the shops for an hour before heading back to church. The church service was completely run by the Sunday school and it was amazing. It was quite long - 2 hours 15 minutes but it was just an amazing service.

After church we grabbed some lunch before heading back to Port Vila to explore the shops. Unfortunately, on a Sunday most of the shops shut at lunch time but the team managed to find a few open shops and started purchasing some gifts. Then it was to a cafe as Jeremy, Esther and Rodger were craving coffee. This turned out to be an amazing time of team bonding.

Then we had a nice dinner before having quite time to start our debrief after our time on Tanna.

Anyway, it is getting late and my eyes are starting to shut so I might leave it there. Thanks for all your prayers - we are really noticing them.

Thanks and God bless,

Jeremy