Hi Ian,

Starfish Beach was really great. They dropped us off with a guide and his wife who camped a few beaches down. Had the whole place to ourselves. New kayaks, snorkelling gear, new tent, sleeping mattresses and the food consisted of whole lobsters, steaks, salads and beer and champagne.

Beautiful location, perfects sunsets over the ocean as the beaches face west. Jerry our guide kayaked over to us in the morning with two fresh crabs, he cooked them up and gave them to us. We then went exploring in the kayak - not another soul/boat etc to be seen from horizon to horizon with a large pod of spinner dolphins leaping and playing right beside the kayak.

A great experience for those people who want to get away from it, but still have a few little creature comforts - very romantic location as well.

Thank you very much for you assistance with booking our wedding and holiday and cheers again for a fantastic time.

Steve

Dear Jenny and Ian,

This is just a note to say a VERY BIG THANKYOU for your tireless effort, genuine concern, attention to detail and meticulous planning in our Vanuatu wedding. We had the MOST AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL DAY! It was just perfect... the surroundings, the people, the weather, the relaxed feel......everything went so smoothly... just like a well-oiled machine! Stress free! Mia was terrific as were everyone else on the island.... and so friendly too!

Michael took some lovely photos too.... if you would like to see some of them you can visit www.photobucket.com and type matandkate (no spaces) into the Search box.

You two are both wonderful co-ordinators of such an adventure... all our friends and relatives were blown away about how we could organise such a thing! And they loved the photos too!. Our mum's were particularly happy that we were married in the 'Chapel', our friends couldn't believe i had a real wedding dress (although that was a bit stressful... and there were some interesting things that happened on getting it there... like it going through the Xray machine!!!!!), people were amazed with the beauty and that we looked so relaxed and happy!!! All thanks to you guys!!!

We truely appreciate the fine effort you made in helping our wedding to be the most memorable day of our lives! Well Done!

Kindest Regards,
Kate and Mat Seeliger

Dear Laura and Ian,

Just a short note to say a HUGE THANK YOU for organising our honeymoon to Crusoe's Retreat. We had an excellent time and made many friends. The staff and people at the village were beautiful and we had a great time with them. We have exchanged contact details with them and hope to see them again very soon. Thank you very much for all of the time and effort you spent helping me to decide which country was the best and then which resort was the best. We were and still are absolutely rapt with Crusoe's Retreat and have been highly recommending them as THE place to go in Fiji and Small Guides as the agent to go through.

Again, thank you very much for all of your knowledge, assistance, patience and time, we are very grateful.

Kind regards,
Cindy Sandars

Hi Laura

Just a note to say thanks for all your help with organising our wedding - we had a fantastic time and Tamanu was a great setting! Connie's photos worked out wonderfully. I have attached a photo a friend took of Cameron & I.

Thanks again.
Gaby

Hi Laura,

Thanks for your fax about the flight to Norsip - all worked out fine. We had a lovely time on Uripiv Island, just off the coast of northeast Malekula. They have a great little guesthouse on the Island and you're immersed in village life. Kielke runs the guesthouse and he is so welcoming and inspiring - he's very committed to helping youth become skilled and empowered to follow their dreams. If you ever have the chance of visiting, make sure you get there! There is no power, or shower facilities………..but that is what is great. You're on an island surrounded by beautiful blue water and reef too!

Thought you might like to see a photo from the wedding. Thanks for all your help.

Jasmine and Nicholas

Hello Laura

It is hard to believe that we have been back from Vanuatu for more than a week already. We had a wonderful time and Mem and Chris' wedding went beautifully. I just wanted to thank you for co-ordinating your part so well. Our accommodation was just right for our needs, and the short walk up to Pango Road each day helped set the scene for a day of relaxation and enjoyment.

We caught up with many of the other wedding guests at other accommodation resorts but were happy to have our place to go back to - it was so peaceful and quiet.

We were so close to the Erakor Island ferry along the waterfront and enjoyed the walk along the sand at low tide, and the ferryman brought us right to Pacific Lagoon Apartments a couple of evenings on our way home when the tide was right. Everybody was so friendly and helpful, and the weather just right while we were there. We cannot wait to go again.

Thank you once again for everything you did for us.

Sincerely
Ted

We promised to send you some photos and here are some of the good ones. : ) There are heaps more that we will send through but unfortunately being back at work has kind of hindered an organised approach to the whole photo thing! Thank you so much for all of your work everything went so smoothly. . We had a fabulous holiday and cant wait to find an excuse to go back. An anniversary maybe?

Speak to you soon.
Emma

Hi! Thanks to Jenny and Laura we overcame some setbacks and got to paradise. I forgot or never saw how beautiful Vanuatu is. Loved the people. Pascal and Patricia were terribly nice although the kids were slightly suspicious about the colour of the water because it is affected by soil run off or springs or something. James, who works at Fatamaru, gave us kayak directions and we paddled up to a pool fed by warm springs for a swim with the locals diving off the huge overhanging trees.

Marcello and Rafaella were good hosts but the highlight at Pango was the terrific staff, the resident dogs and the tranquility of the beautiful gardens. The snorkeling was pretty good and we saw dolphins while eating our home-made croissants. What more can I say!

Thanks again,
Denny

Just wanted to say thankyou for making our wedding everything we ever dreamed of. Our entire trip was just wonderful. We have fallen in love with Vanuatu and are already planning our next trip. The effort that you put into planning our holiday made the whole experience so relaxing and unforgettable, for this we will never be able to thank you enough.

Bokissa, was an absolute paradise and we will definitely be going back again, the people there are so friendly, they became like family. The Ni-Vanuatu people are the happiest and friendliest people we have ever met, we just wanted to bring them home with us.

Our Wedding day was beautiful, Connie is so professional and friendly, nothing was to much trouble for her, she put us so much at ease, the day went smoothly. Lunch at Sunset Bungalows was spectacular and our photos have captured the day so perfectly. (I have attached a couple for you to see).

Once again Jenny we thank you very much for everything that you did for us, we will definitely be seeing you in the future to plan another holiday. You are a true professional, who truly loves what you are doing, we have recommended you to all our friends and one is now even reconsidering her wedding after seeing our photos.

Thanks Heaps
Leonie and Rod

Hi Ian & Jenny - thanks for all your help with the holiday - We had an absolute ball. There was so much to do and see we couldn't fit it all in anyway there is always next time and that's for sure. Finding it a bit hard to get back into work mode. All Shane talks about is selling up buying up in Van and starting some kind of business venture. Enough to drive me crazy. Anyway have some photos I will send to you when I have got them all together (email of course). Have some great ones of Patricia and Pascal's lodge. All the kids had a great time and the wedding was great.

Talk to you soon
Maree & Shane

PS We had so many requests for photos etc. from our holiday and wedding that the most sensible way was to make a web site... well here it is: http://members.optusnet.com.au/seidels/Vanuatu/

Hi Jenny and Ian,

We would just like to say a BIG Thankyou for all your help in planning our trip to Vanuatu, we had a fabulous time. The wedding also went well, it was exactly what we had pictured, even the weather behaved itself for the majority of the time! I guess the other bonus to our trip was meeting Ian, it was a real pleasure. Thanks for crashing our wedding and reception! As our trip concluded we were already talking about when will be able to go back again, next time visiting some of the outer islands too. So we should be in touch as soon as our desire to go back to experience the beauties of Vanuatu and its people.

Regards
Nicole and Ricko

Hi Laura, Jenny & Ian,

We returned from Vanuatu - we had a fantastic time, thankyou. Three week's was a good period to learn heaps more about Vanuatu & the ni-vans. Good kastom & Bislama training during our island-hopping to Epi, Santos & Malakula. As for accommodation on Efate - the Pacific Lagoon Apartments suited us perfectly & we would head back there again next time. We also thoroughly enjoyed Fatumara Lodge - mostly because Pascal & Patricia are such wonderful people. We really feel we've made friends there now. During our week there, we went game fishing with Serge (a long-time friend of Pascal's from France) with Pascal and his son, Harrison, who caught a huge Mai Mai. As a consequence, we all had a bar-b-que party with everyone. Good memories. Pascal & Patricia generously shared their experiences (warts & all) and gave us some great down-to-earth advice about settling in and getting things done. Such good people.

I promised to give a report on Sunset Bungalows because you'd made such a good arrangement for us. The bungalow was a beautiful way to start our holiday. Very romantic (so perfect for honeymoons). Gilbert was charming and helpful and the restaurant looked great. We would have loved to have had dinner there, too.

Once again, thank you all for giving us such personal and helpful service. I'm sure we'll be in touch again.

Warm regards,
Judi

Hi Laura!

Yes well and truly back to reality (unfortunately) Vanuatu was awesome!! I loved it. The accommodation was great - fantastic food at Le Lagon - the all inclusive was definitely well worth it - I have never eaten sooooo many prawns, it was great! The service that they provided there was outstanding, they did everything they could do to help you. Hideaway was very relaxing, our room was huge!! Visited the village, and had a Melanesian feast. Breaka's was beautiful!!! The food was a little slow but the view definitely made up for that. We were worried that there was going to be lovey dovey couples everywhere, but there wasn't many which was good and we had a blast! Its such a beautiful place and the people are so incredibly friendly. We both had a ball!!!

Thanks soooooo much for everything!!
Rach

Hi Jen,

I'm back. We had a wonderful time. Thanks for all your organising. Sunset Bungalows was really nice. The staff and the owners, Gilbert and Isabelle, were so accommodating. Gilbert gave us lifts all over the place. All the guests we spoke to were raving about it. The staff were even telling us how nice their boss and his wife were. The bungalow was so beautiful. The food was excellent and there were often visitors at the restaurant.

Whitegrass was also really good. I told Bev you sent your regards. The volcano was so awesome and well worth the visit. Once again the staff were great. We went on a day trip to Lelepa Island. This was fantastic and I would highly recommend it. Everyone on our boat said how much they enjoyed it. We had couples of varying ages and a family so it showed it was targeted at all ages. Had a BBQ lunch on the beach, went into scared cave, they stopped the boats in this really deep cove and we all jumped off to snorkel. Was probably the best snorkelling we had in Vanuatu. We then had to climb up a ladder into the boat. They also stopped at a village where they have us afternoon tea. They did a lot of filming for Survivor on Lelepa and around that area. We didn't know this until they told us on the tour. They told us a whole lot of background stuff to the TV show, which put it into a new light! Ha!

We got around on the buses. It was so easy. The locals were so friendly. It was so much like Africa in the look and vegetation except you didn't have that uneasy feeling of not being safe. Anyway once again thanks for all your help.

Speak to you soon!
Robyn

G'day Ian,

Currently feeling the pinch of a Melbourne Autumn! It's good to be back but a bit sad to leave as well. The trip was excellent… a fantastic holiday. Thank you for organising it. Some highlights: Sunset Bungalows - very romantic and idyllic, intimate and private - rooms were superb - good opportunity to explore out of town - The restaurant had great food, excellent steak and coconut crab… White Grass Ocean Resort - Fantastic location - Great variety of tours…Iririki Island Resort - lot more commercial style of resort - all the luxuries - very convenient to town - Iririki Pass a must - tour desk very helpful, great range - - b'fasts were amazing - bar meals were pretty good and reasonably priced - had the best cocktails… Mele Cascades - Amazing!! - Natural and unspoilt - well worth the trek… Yasur Volcano - Great Tour - kids from the villages another highlight… Underwater Cave - Tanna - Awesome - snorkelling was excellent… Yunier Kastom Village - Tanna - a good experience… Lelepa Is Tour - full day tour was very enjoyable - good tour guides and great snorkelling… Golf - PV country Club - Fantastic experience, got our own caddies (never had that before) cost the same as hiring a buggy. Front nine has the best views.

As far as eating spots go, prices were comparable to Aussie cafes and restaurants. The food was great. Flaming Bull steakhouse and Sunset had the best steaks…The waterfront had good burgers for lunch and nice meals for dinner. I had the ribs, which were excellent. Rossi's had excellent service, a nice view back over the water to Iririki and beyond at night. The seafood platter there was HUGE. We've got enough cheap grog now to keep us warm down here. We'll email you some photos once we get organised.

Cheers
Tanya and Julian

Hi Laura,

Well we're back from Vanuatu, we loved it very much...... had A LOT of trouble boarding the return flight home !! ha ha

Anita and I would like to thank you very much for arranging our trip, everything went smoothly and as expected. Thought you might also welcome some feedback on the 3 x Resorts we stayed at:

Sunset Bungalows - we loved this one, the intimate, quiet environment; the new & clean Bungalows; the pool; and the very friendly "hands-on" approach from owners, Gilbert & Isabelle. eg. Gilbert frequently volunteered to drive us and other guests around the place, to town, tourist sites, airport etc etc at any time - nothing seemed to be too much trouble.....

Aore Island Resort - fantastic setting/location, very quiet and intimate also (we were only one of handful of guests there at the time though), good activities/equipment in Kayaks & Mountain Bikes for example, again great Owners in Gary and Ann and very much "hands-on" as well, brilliant attentive/friendly staff, however we felt the accommodation could really do with an update!!

Breakas - absolutely brilliant location/setting/environment, fantastic pool, great sand beach and top snorkelling just out front, also decent surf for surfers.

PS. we absolutely loved the tour to Vil Vil traditional village, met and spoke with Daniel, thanks for the recommendation.

Rgds,
David

Hi Ian/Laura,

Thanks for organising our trip to Vanuatu - we had a great time and couldn't get over the friendliness of the people. I thought I'd pass some feedback to you on the resort and restaurants we went to... so here goes:

- Breakas was great. The pool is fantastic, rooms are very nice and they do their best (with 'island time' taken into account) to help out at all times. It's also not too crowded (only 15 fares with 2 people in each) so you can find space for yourselves pretty much anytime. I'd recommend them to any couples who were heading over there...

- Restaurants were also generally good. The locations were great, and therefore the meals were always an experience, but we were a bit disappointed with the variety of seafood at some places (given its an island nation). Paradise Cove and Vila Chaumieres were two that stood out from a location perspective. Our favourite restaurant was Les Alizes - the bus drive out there was a bit rough, but once we got there we found the food to be the best we tasted and the couple who run it were great (their English is improving!!).

We also went to a little Thai place that is only open on Thursday nights - Ban Thai I think. It was lovely and very reasonably priced - well worth a visit. It might be useful updating your write-up to say that they don't accept credit cards... cash only!. Can catch unsuspecting people (such as myself) out at times!!!

That's about all. As I said, we had a great time, so thanks for all your help.

Cheers
Tony

Dear Ian

So glad to have met up with you at Iririki. Sorry if we were a little wobbly, but we'd had a great evening on the QE3 dinner cruise. Being the only couple on the cruise we felt quite special, consequently drinking way too much and having a lovely old time. ...Our own personal serenading guitarist and our own personal boat driver. Could never happen in Australia. We shared our wine with them and talked and sang and weaved and laughed our way round and round the harbour for much longer than we paid for.

A great tour was to Mele falls. A delicious lunch was welcomed by all (Bengor restaurant) after a most invigorating mornings walk through incredible rainforest, and swimming in paradise pools, the highlight being the top pool where we sat on rocks and showered beneath a hundred feet of waterfall.

Iririki island is a superb resort and we marvelled at it's smooth running and family/staff feel. They made us so welcome. The Waterfront Bar & Grill was pretty damn good and there we overindulged till well past closing time (yet again) with a bunch of very entertaining resident ex-pat kiwis. We had dinner late in the week at Tropic Bistro and met the fabulous Lesley, as you suggested we do. The meal was superb and Lesley was magnificent. Truly the Queen of Port Vila! The food at Tropic is a cut above everything we tried in Vila and I'd recommend it to anyone who appreciates decent French cuisine (even those such as us, spoilt by Melbourne and Sydney's amazing array of fine restaurants). We left full of fine veal and excellent wine, vowing to keep in touch.

Pele Island was possibly the highlight for me. Incredible snorkeling. The coral and fish were stunning. And Then a BBQ on the beach and a very entertaining tour of the village. A magic experience. We went horseriding through the rainforest (once again the only couple on the tour), and experienced a full on tropical downpour on horseback. Wet but still warm. Lovely. We parasailed, kayaked, swam, snorkeled, rode, walked, relaxed, made new friends, ate, drank, and shopped.

We flew back, rather reluctantly last night. Our holiday in Vanuatu was an experience we will not easily forget and we both found it very hard to leave. The small slice of life on Efate and its surrounding islands that we saw was enchanting as well as eye-opening. The people are delightful. And the cultural mix, with it's unwritten but obviously defined and necessary roles, we found fascinating.

I feel as though my outlook on life has changed a little for the better having visited Vanuatu. I don't know if that's permanent or if Melbourne life will gradually drag me back down, but for the meantime I'm elated. I can't seem to stop smiling at people and saying "Thank yu tu mas" and they look at me quite strangely. For now, it's back to the grind, but I know in my heart I'll go back to Vila some day and that gives me something more to work towards than just year after year of dreary existence in Melbourne.

Hope to keep in touch with you and would love to hear if your gay commitment ceremony thing gets off the ground. Who knows... we may even use that as our excuse to go back in the not too distant future.

Fond regards,
Michael and Brian

Ian

Thank you for helping to make my wedding day so special. It certainly turned out like a fantasy wedding. We were very happy with everything and so were our guests, thank you

Natalie & Craig

Hi Laura,

Vanuatu was aweswome. The wedding went without a hitch. It was great to not have to organise anything. We ended up going on a round-island tour with the Mele Cascades people, and we're so glad we got the chance to see what island life is like.

Thanks for all your help in getting us there.
Carissa

Hi there Everyone!!! ('Everyone' being Rob and Melissa's 85 guests aboard P&O Pacific Star)

I hope your all ready for some more important information!! Attached is the latest spreadsheet and please let us know if you would like travel insurance and flights to Brisbane organised through Ian at Small Guide Travel, he is very very helpful and patient!! We cannot recommend him highly enough. For now Ian has our party booked for the second onboard dining at 8:00pm -this can be changed but he had an inkling that you all might prefer cocktails by the pool to getting changed at 5:00pm and ready for bed at 9:30pm. It is all starting to come together now!! Very Exciting!!!