Adventure Back to Port Vila

I woke up at 6:30am today, as the driver said he would come by at 7:30am to drive me to the airport. It was the same driver as last night, and Mai and a few other people hopped in with me as they were going to the main town to catch the boat to Port Vila which takes 12h.

Even with the rickety truck, everything was going smoothly and we made it out of the boonies, to the main paved road that goes across the island back to Lénakel. However two thirds of the way across the island, I hear a quiet click from under the vehicle, and the driver says in the most calm voice “oh, no brakes” before veering off into the ditch. There was an embankment after the ditch, so even with the minimal speed the truck had, it was enough to tilt it over and totally flip the truck onto its side. That’s one way to stop without brakes.

Thankfully I was in the front passenger seat so I could prepare myself a bit and held on to the truck as it tipped. It came to a stop and I was basically just hanging there overtop of the driver. The back window smashed, but everyone was safe and okay, other than a small cut that Mai’s daughter got on her knee. I didn’t see if anyone was in the back of the truck, but all the things of course tipped out.

A few passing trucks stopped to help, and we caught one of them the rest of the way into town, with the driver left to deal with his truck. Thankfully we left with so much time to spare that I wasn’t stressed about missing my flight. And hey, the truck ride would have cost 5000VT so I guess I saved $60! A bit of a jarring experience but very minimal as far as what it could have been

After the second truck dropped me off in Lénakel, I caught a bus to the airport and was the first one there for the flight, way before checkin even opened. After getting checked in and checking my bag, we waited around for the plane, which apparently had troubles in Port Vila and seemed to not be coming anytime soon. Finally, two hours late, the plane arrived and we all got back to Port Vila. A couple of Ukrainians missed their connecting flight back to Sydney but that’s kinda on them for booking such a tight connection in a pacific island country with a bankrupt airline lol

Feels nice to finally make it off this island, full of crazy experiences hahaRead more