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As the winter chill sets in, I cast my mind back to Vanuatu and instantly feel warmer. Only a 2.5 hour flight from Brisbane (or 3.5 hours from Sydney) it’s close enough for our Baby and Pre-Schooler to still be happy, when we arrive at the airport to strumming guitars greeting us to ‘the happiest place on earth’.

We are staying at gorgeous Iririki Island Resort nestled in Port Vila Harbour. It’s a 2 minute boat ride from Port Vila and feels a world away. The range of accommodation at Iririki Resort is brilliant, from deluxe rooms to family fares. Our mornings start with a buffet breakfast at Michener’s Restaurant then morning swims and sandcastle building at Catseye Beach. Lunch is usually very casual at the Sunset Cafe, where the children make a splash at the lagoon pool and then after an afternoon rest we get ready for dinner.

Every evening at Iririki Resort, there is a theme night at the restaurant, which is good fun for the whole family. My favourite evening was definitely the Melanesian Feast night, with traditional dancers who were so convincing in spearing Mummy, that Baby let out a squeal that signalled she might never see me again! Luckily, it was all a show and Mummy returned to the bungalow.

The next day we did some exploring with Evergreen Tours and visited the Mele Cascades. We walked through a lush rainforest to discover magnificent cascading waterfalls over towering limestone. We were encouraged to swim in the rock pools and shower under the waterfalls. It was so exotic – that at any moment, I expected those dancers with spears to appear from behind the rainforest foliage (but they didn’t show).

So we gathered our things and headed off for the second part of our tour, to the Tanna Coffee Factory down the road. There was the funkiest little cafe in the coffee factory which roasted coffee beans grown on Tanna Island. With maps of Vanuatu showing the location of Tanna Island where the beans are grown, in relation to Port Vila where the beans are roasted, it was an interesting lesson in agriculture and geography for our worldly Preschooler and Baby, who sipped the froth from their Babycinos as they avidly listened to our Guide explain the process.

After a couple of days relaxing at simply irresistible Iririki we decided to go on another adventure. This time we visited the Blue Lagoon and Turtle Sanctuary. The Blue Lagoon was spectacular and Dad did his best Tarzan impression, swinging from a rope into the blue lagoon below, to shrills of laughter from the girls. At the Turtle Sanctuary we saw baby turtles and discovered that adult turtles have an appetite for paw paw!

Even after our adventure had come to an end and we were holding our boarding passes at the airport, the sound of a distant guitar strumming, made me smile and feel blessed, that we had enjoyed a week together as a family at the happiest place on earth.