Email Elizabethvanuatu
Things that Tap Windows at Night on Efate Island, Vanuatu
Eratap bungalow back yard, Efate Island
Asking questions can sometimes lead to receiving answers one might prefer not to know. For example, I am attempting to set up a deep sea fishing expedition off Efate Island for Tuesday morning. Why deep sea? Because I can eat the fish that I catch. If I fish off the island in shallow waters I must catch and release or else give the fish away to the boat captain and, let’s face it, the better fish hang around in deeper waters out to sea. Fish like mahi-mahi or wahoo or yellowfin tuna.
Question: Am I allowed to eat everything I catch?
Answer: You can eat any fish except the type with the worms because the cook won’t allow that kind of fish in her kitchen.
Or, maybe a more simple thing might be to find out what it is that wakes me up several times during the night. It’s not the singing birds or the sound of waves crashing the shore, or even the rain that can fall so hard it sounds like I’m in the center of an underwater sewer in Atlantis. It’s the rapping on the window. Clearly a knock, a slight tap, in succession, maybe 4 or 5 times.
Beach lounging at Eratap, Efate Island
It could be a bird drinking out of the water bowl with lilies, I reckoned. Maybe its beak hits the side of the bowl, creating an echo. But no, upon recollection, it was definitely on the glass window, probably the doors on my bedroom deck. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Surely, I am not the only guest at Eratap to hear this sound, so I wandered to the front desk where the helpful staff always have the answers at hand.
This is also a good time to point out the dinner menu explanation in the resort book has a section titled lobster and bugs. I could see there is spiny lobster offered which, for some reason, they want to cover in mayonnaise, but I could not find the bugs. Not that I would eat a bug. Not on purpose. I suppose that when I sleep with my mouth open a bug could fly inside but they would say to themselves, whoa, all this crap is not teeth and leave.
Not really wanting to know the answer, I asked the question anyway about what could be rapping on my window in the middle of the night.
Oh. Must be the geckos.
Of course. Their little tails, slap, slap, slap, slap, saying: lemme in, lemme in, so I can quickly prance across your half-naked body with my sloppy fat wet toes.
I did not need to know that. So, I am NOT asking about the bugs.
Waking Up in Port Vila is Better Than the Journey to Vanuatu
A scent of wet soil is the first thing you notice getting off the plane in Port Vila, Vanuatu, at midnight. It’s an almost overpowering odor that encompasses lush vegetation, no doubt, and that island dirt. You can feel the moisture in the air, but the smell of moisture is more prevalent. I was so overjoyed to be here that I would have kissed the ground except I was too tired to get back up. The entire trip, from Honolulu to the resort in Port Vila is about 24 hours, and I’m not even sure what day it is at the moment.
We stopped in Brisbane, Australia, went through customs and back up through security again. People have odd expressions for things in Australia. A woman asked if I was in the queue instead of standing in line, exit signs are marked WAY OUT and a restaurant server asked if I would like cereal on top of my yogurt. She could not fathom that I would enjoy plain yogurt.
The one thing I am sure of is how supportive my team has been in my absence. Those guys are simply amazing. Of course, you know, all I have to do is go outside the country without cellphone coverage or WiFi for 24 hours, and everything happens at once. A home that has been difficult to show over the past 3 months suddenly sells for list price. That sort of stuff. Or multiple offers on another home.
I’ve watched everybody spring into action to help out, and I couldn’t feel more proud of how the team pulls together. Barbara Dow is going out to Natomas to meet with 3 sellers who don’t have much internet savvy to sign an offer. Josh Amolsch is meeting with another to explain how the multiple counter offers work. My valued right-hand TC has solved so many problems that they’re over by the time I hear about them. Placer Title has been phenomenal as well.
Even though I am often reluctant to let go because I always feel like my fingers and input need to be inserted into every transaction, it’s so reassuring to know that my sellers are in good hands in my absence. My team just does what needs to be done, without question. I feel like the most fortunate Sacramento REALTOR on the face of the planet this morning.
Even if I did try to heat up coffee grounds in hot water and could not figure out why they resided at the bottom of my cup, mocking me. Because it wasn’t instant coffee. I have to go now to track down breakfast. But please, enjoy the view from my Port Vila bungalow.
