{"id":344,"date":"2014-12-09T05:30:06","date_gmt":"2014-12-09T05:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/"},"modified":"2022-04-21T00:49:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T00:49:36","slug":"billy-law-vanuatu-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After a torrential tropical rainfall, the volume of water gushing down Mele Cascades has doubled. That\u2019s a shame since I\u2019m going to abseil down that ferocious waterfall\u2019s sudden 50-meter drop. I hold onto the rope tightly before leaning backwards over the cliff face, letting body weight and gravity take over my fate. I gingerly lift my right foot and take one step backward, I\u2019m telling myself not to look down, that everything will be fine. Time seems to have slowed down \u2013 I feel like I\u2019ve been dangling on the waterfall for an eternity. In that moment, everything I\u2019ve done for the last few days in Vanuatu suddenly flashes before my eye&#8230;<\/p>\n<h2>Getting there<\/h2>\n<p>After a short 2 hour flight from Auckland)with Air Vanuatu, we arrived in\u00a0<a title=\"Expedia Port Vila Travel Guide\" href=\"http:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/Port-Vila.d3715.Destination-Travel-Guides?brandcid=blog.article.vanuatuguide_101214\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Port Vila<\/a>, Vanuatu\u2019s capital and largest city. Vanuatu is made up of 83 islands with a total population of 260,000. Almost a quarter of the population live in Port Vila but the town itself is considered small, with only one main street running along the shore line. Don\u2019t let that put you off as the friendly locals will make you feel right at home in no time, as they do call Vanuatu one of the friendliest countries on this planet. Expedia\u2019s Kiwi travellers spend 4-5 nights in Vanuatu and Port Villa is a popular stop before heading off to explore the islands.<\/p>\n<h2>Where to stay<\/h2>\n<p>Staying at\u00a0<a title=\"Expedia Iririki Island Resort\" href=\"http:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/Efate-Hotels-Iririki-Island-Resort.h1190931.Hotel-Information?brandcid=blog.article.vanuatuguide_101214\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Iririki Island Resort &amp; Spa<\/a>\u00a0brings our trip a step closer to paradise. It\u2019s a unique island retreat just off the main island and is only accessible via a free boat ride available 24\/7. Set amongst a spectacular tropical landscape, Iririki provides the perfect balance between peaceful getaway and conveniently base. While my tropical island fare (bungalow) offers a glimpse of the water, why should I stay indoors when I can spend the time outdoor and submerge myself in a landscape that looks like it\u2019s straight out of a postcard?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a torrential tropical rainfall, the volume of water gushing down Mele Cascades has doubled. That\u2019s a shame since I\u2019m going to abseil down that ferocious waterfall\u2019s sudden 50-meter drop. I hold onto the rope tightly before leaning backwards over the cliff face, letting body weight and gravity take over my fate. I gingerly lift&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,2,4,30,6],"tags":[10,14],"authors":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","category-destination","category-experiences","category-explore","category-food","category-oceania","tag-tips","tag-vanuatu","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth | Expedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth | Expedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After a torrential tropical rainfall, the volume of water gushing down Mele Cascades has doubled. That\u2019s a shame since I\u2019m going to abseil down that ferocious waterfall\u2019s sudden 50-meter drop. I hold onto the rope tightly before leaning backwards over the cliff face, letting body weight and gravity take over my fate. I gingerly lift&hellip; Continue reading Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Expedia NZ Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-09T05:30:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-21T00:49:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8358_22_HT_1280x960.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian Perkins\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brian Perkins\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/\",\"name\":\"Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth | Expedia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8358_22_HT_1280x960.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-09T05:30:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-21T00:49:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/a063f80eea569cd04299829959eb3200\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8358_22_HT_1280x960.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8358_22_HT_1280x960.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":960},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Explore\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Experiences\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/experiences\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Adventure\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/experiences\/adventure\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/\",\"name\":\"Expedia NZ Stories\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/a063f80eea569cd04299829959eb3200\",\"name\":\"Brian Perkins\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bed760c1f2d186fcaff54b90eb387abb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bed760c1f2d186fcaff54b90eb387abb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brian Perkins\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.waveinteractive.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/author\/brian-perkins\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth | Expedia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth | Expedia","og_description":"After a torrential tropical rainfall, the volume of water gushing down Mele Cascades has doubled. That\u2019s a shame since I\u2019m going to abseil down that ferocious waterfall\u2019s sudden 50-meter drop. I hold onto the rope tightly before leaning backwards over the cliff face, letting body weight and gravity take over my fate. I gingerly lift&hellip; Continue reading Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth","og_url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/","og_site_name":"Expedia NZ Stories","article_published_time":"2014-12-09T05:30:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-21T00:49:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":960,"url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8358_22_HT_1280x960.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brian Perkins","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brian Perkins","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/","url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/","name":"Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth | Expedia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8358_22_HT_1280x960.jpg","datePublished":"2014-12-09T05:30:06+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-21T00:49:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/a063f80eea569cd04299829959eb3200"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8358_22_HT_1280x960.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8358_22_HT_1280x960.jpg","width":1280,"height":960},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/billy-law-vanuatu-guide\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Explore","item":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Experiences","item":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/experiences\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Adventure","item":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/experiences\/adventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Vanuatu: the happiest place on Earth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/","name":"Expedia NZ Stories","description":"Just another WordPress site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/a063f80eea569cd04299829959eb3200","name":"Brian Perkins","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bed760c1f2d186fcaff54b90eb387abb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bed760c1f2d186fcaff54b90eb387abb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brian Perkins"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.waveinteractive.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/author\/brian-perkins\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1428,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions\/1428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344"},{"taxonomy":"authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors?post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}