My Wedding in Vanuatu: Arriving in Vanuatu
Our flight touched down on the tarmac at Bauerfield International Airport ten minutes earlier than scheduled in Vanuatu. It was a beautiful blue skied day and I was excited. We had arrived five days before my
wedding in Vanuatu
as required so any final preparation and paperwork can be done on time. As part of the package, we were to be picked up by a limousine, swiftly taken to the resort and welcomed by Marie who was to give us a tour of the resort grounds and upgrade us to a luxury room. I was to be made to feel special.
After retrieving our luggage we proceeded to the arrival hall expecting a banner welcoming us to Vanuatu. Stepping out, as other travelers scatter to find their transfer drivers, we were left to ourselves trying to find what was meant to be our limousine driver. There was not even an A4 sheet of paper with our names on it, there was nothing. Approaching another driver still waiting for their passenger, he mentioned that he is going the way of the resort anyway so was happy to give us a lift. We thanked him, hopped onto his little Nissan disappointed.
Then I got the phone call. Mum and dad had come on a flight a couple of days after us, and Mum sounded excited. “You’ll never guess what? We got picked up by the most comfortable car, and they’ve given us upgrades to a nice room! Oh look! There is champagne in our room! Anyway, bye for now. Your dad and I are going to enjoy this on the balcony.”
So it turned out that they had got the wrong couple. Long story short, they apologized and apologized, gave us the room upgrade and champagne and flowers and drink vouchers and allowed my parents to stay in their upgraded room. The only thing was… where was Marie?
Marie finally met us two days before my wedding in Vanuatu with promises that everything had been done and all we needed to do was to sign the paperwork to apply for the marriage certificate.
We’ve discovered ‘island-time’. When Marie said she’ll run over to the government department to get the paperwork, she actually meant she’ll get there when she gets there. It’ll definitely be before the wedding, but it won’t be in the next three hours.
However, we trusted her, and it got done on time. Let the celebrations begin.
To be continued… or to Part one of My Wedding in Vanuatu
Based in Sydney, Australia, Amy Huang is a writer stuck in the corporate world. A Business Analyst by profession, she work her life around travelling and have managed to squeeze in postgraduate studies in writing somewhere in between. Amy met her husband in 2006 while working on a community development project in Peru, and the travel-holic pair celebrated their love by getting married in Vanuatu in 2010. Amy keep a blog on various travel topics at www.travelstring.com.
