{"id":4707,"date":"2016-11-12T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2016-11-12T08:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=4707"},"modified":"2017-01-25T08:01:28","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T08:01:28","slug":"easy-living-ratua-private-island-vanuatu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=4707","title":{"rendered":"Easy Living – Ratua Private Island, Vanuatu"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_2205\"We were keen to get out of Luganville in order to catch up with our cruising buddies on \u2018Rehua\u2019 who we hadn\u2019t seen for a couple of months. They were anchored off Ratua island, just a few miles away, and what a stunning location it is for a rendezvous.<\/p>\n

We had another surprise in store as we got closer to the island, there in the anchorage were Kerry and Damian from \u201cSel Citron\u201d, our neighbours from the hardstand in NZ, so it was an extra special reunion with cruising friends.<\/p>\n

\"Nice
Nice to be anchored next to Rehua again!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"And
And Sel Citron…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ratua Private Island is fabulous \u2013 leased from the local communities by two former cruisers, they\u2019ve created an eco-friendly and tasteful resort with Balinese-inspired buildings, and the most impressive part is that it\u2019s a not-for-profit venture \u2013 all profits go to the local communities for educational, health and cultural projects. What a great idea!\"IMG_2215\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2253\"\"IMG_2251\"\"IMG_2249\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2230\"
Each bure has it’s own secluded waterfront<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"IMG_2257\"<\/p>\n

\"Romantic
Romantic dining on the waterfront<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"and
and of course there’s a fabulous over-water spa treatment bure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The resort provides two free moorings for visiting yachts or you can easily anchor in the sand in front of the resort \u2013 they\u2019re very welcoming to yachties although the food and beverages are pretty pricey for those on a cruising budget.<\/p>\n

\"Enjoying
Enjoying a few coldies with our cruising mates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Everyday we snorkeled in the crystal clear water and had encounters with the many resident turtles.<\/p>\n

\"an
an abundance of fish life and interesting snorkelling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"hello
hello mr turtle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We also walked around the island (it takes about an hour). There are hundreds of goats (and their kids), lots of horses, a grass air strip, and a vast swathes of coconut palms left over from its\u2019 plantation days. It was a little disconcerting walking through the plantation, hearing the loud \u2018thump\u2019 as coconuts fell to the ground \u2013 getting hit by one of those could ruin your day.\"IMG_2233\"<\/p>\n

\"the
the airstrip on Ratua Island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The horses roam free but you can ride them or swim with them<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"IMG_2262\"<\/p>\n

\"there
there are also majestic trees on the island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"And
And play equipment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"And
And lots and lots of goats…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"IMG_2345\"On one of our walks we found a newborn kid that seemed to have either been abandoned by its\u2019 mother or separated from her \u2013 we spent a long time searching without luck, so Audrie carried him to a nearby group of mums and babies, hoping they would look after him. He wasn\u2019t anywhere to be seen the next day so hopefully he was reunited with his mum.<\/p>\n

\"Audrie
Audrie on a rescue mission for this little baby<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few other boats arrived in the anchorage, so one afternoon we did a cruisers\u2019 tour of the local blue hole \u2013 a convoy of dinghies navigating our way up the narrow, shallow creek to find the fresh-water lagoon at the end of it. It was a lot of fun, and there\u2019s nothing like a fresh water swim on a hot day to reinvigorate you.<\/p>\n

\"On
On the way to the blue hole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"getting
getting narrower..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The cruisers convoy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"And
And there it was, the blue hole in the middle of the jungle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ratua was such a special place that it would have been easy to stay for weeks, but with the cyclone season fast approaching it was time for us to go our separate ways \u2013 Rehua are going north into Micronesia, Sel Citron are heading back to New Zealand, and we\u2019re heading home to Sydney via Huon and Chesterfield Reefs. We never know how long it will be before we see each other again, so the farewells are always hard \u2013 but as cruisers know it\u2019s never goodbye, just \u2018au revoir\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2267\"<\/p>\n

\"We're
We’re going to miss Audrie, Seathan, Tyrii & Aeneas on Rehua – let’s hope it’s not too long before we see you again<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sadly our time in Vanuatu has been too short and there\u2019s so much more of this beautiful country to explore. It will definitely be on the list to re-visit once we\u2019re back out cruising again.\"IMG_2254\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We were keen to get out of Luganville in order to catch up with our cruising buddies on \u2018Rehua\u2019 who we hadn\u2019t seen for a couple of months. They were anchored off Ratua island, just a few miles away, and what a stunning location it is for a rendezvous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-svtoucan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6B46t-1dV","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4707"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4713,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4707\/revisions\/4713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}