Hello from Gero

Good Luck gero

Hi Gero,

My husband and I also dive though we have been extremely slack since we moved here. 
Feel free to contact me when you get here and we can meet over a coffee or a drink if you like

BellaM, thanks for the welcome response. We are just going through the process of getting our belongings to Vanuatu, not that straight forward. With our snorkelling gear in our luggage it's put us at the limit with luggage and it goes from 30kg flying from Melb to Auckland to 23kg Auckland to Vila. Lots of expense to get surfboards and dive gear over. We were trying to get bikes sent over as well but it looks too hard. I asked a bike shop in Melb how much to get bikes sent to Vanuatu, he had no idea!!! Might try again in Auckland to get bikes organised. Is it expensive to fly to NZ from Vila? We are also looking at renting an apartment at Sandalwood for 3 months, long drawn out process emailing estate agents in Vila. We don't get replies from emails for weeks, not sure what's going on with estate agents??
Happy to catch up for a drink when we get there.
Cheers Craig

The dive shops here are very competitive and use good quality gear so I wouldn't be too worried about leaving the dive gear behind
We fly in and out of Brisbane mainly and it is quite cheap.  My mother in law goes to Auckland about 4 times a year and does tell me that it is much more expensive than flying to Brisbane, though I can't give you figures.
There are direct flights from Melbourne to Vila as well, have you checked them out?  Or must you go via Auckland?
There are a few places here that sell cheap bikes, I can't comment on quality but maybe that is another option?
It might pay to contact rental properties direct if you are having no luck getting a response from agents, I can empathise, we live here and often complain that nobody responds to emails :p

We are going Auckland for a bit of a holiday since we are on this side of the country. I want to surf and go mountain biking at Rotorua. Hopefully I get to do both. What do you do to get cash in Vila? Are we able to change Oz dollars to Vatu in Vila? We have travel cards which you can put just about any currency on except Vatu. I think we have the accomodation sorted out, Sandalwood apartments. They look alright by the photos on the net but you can neve tell when they were taken.

I always recommend people change their money here, the rates are much better than you will get in Australia.  My personal choice is to use Goodies, I like the rate they give and they charge no fees.
There is a Westpac and an ANZ here and Aus cards for those banks should work at the ATM's and will dispense vatu.
Otherwise, credit cards are accepted almost everywhere.
I have never heard a negative thing about Sandalwood.
Enjoy your holiday in NZ and look forward to meeting you when you get to Vila

Bella, we finally got to Vila and have settled into Sandalwood apartments. I have checked the beach for surf at Seaside and have done a few runs into town on the local buses and hit the markets. Still haven't worked out where to go for a snorkel close to where we are and do some fishing and snorkelling. Happy to catch up for a drink and a chat if your up for it.
Cheers Craig

Welcome to Vila
I will send you a PM with my contact details so we can catch up.