Well i made it

[Deactivated Account]

2h:16 from the plane doors closing until touchdown in Port Vila. Nice quick flight & maybe half empty.

Flying over New Caledonia, beautiful reefs



Coming into Port Vila



And 3 hours later im at my favorite nakamal. 5 shells down & 'thats all she wrote'
80f & dead still & its mid winter.

 

[Deleted User01]

That is a far out view you have outside of the nakamal. Is that the ocean or a lake? It looks like you are up on a hill.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

Will be lookin' forward to all your updates, bruz. If only I could drink a picture...

 

[KAVATOM]

Definitely what shakas said.

 

[The Kap'n]

The motherland! Enjoy it. And as usual your pictures are highly anticipated.

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Hay Nemo, drink a shell for me will ya. Also can you take any pictures of the kava plants there so we can see what some of them look like. Aloha.

Chris

 

[Monkava'd]

Wow that looks magnificent.
If you get a chance ask the locals about a kava called Pualiu; it's supposedly pretty popular on the port vila scene.
Maybe you'll get a chance to try a shell or two.
Regardless I know you're prob already having a good time so keep us updated if you can.

 

[Deactivated Account]

That is a far out view you have outside of the nakamal. Is that the ocean or a lake? It looks like you are up on a hill.

Its Erakor Lagoon. The nakamal over looks it, nice cool breeze.

 

[Deactivated Account]

Will be lookin' forward to all your updates, bruz. If only I could drink a picture...

Man im in a dreamland this morning (sic lots of coffee & no fast movements ha !). As ive always said i dont really feel these differences in kava's, i know weak & strong but for the past week or so in aust ive been drinking powdered fijian which was very strong as powders go & then in one day to jump to fresh i def notice the difference. Nothing i can really describe but fresh vanuatu is an infinitely deeper kava with no fast peaks, each shell builds a massive infrasound thing going on, you feel as if a seismic wave is building that cant be seen or heard. Each shell takes 10-15 mins to deepen the bass. Its always best to sit & wait a good while once you have had 5-6 shells as the next 1 or 2 can be the top of a bell curve.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

do you notice if fresh or dry is easier on the stomach bloating/nausea...or are they similar in that regard ?

 

[Deactivated Account]

do you notice if fresh or dry is easier on the stomach bloating/nausea...or are they similar in that regard ?

Without any question fresh is easier to drink. Think of it not a suspended solution as powdered, but as a watered down sap.

The very first thing you notice is the sappy taste. Imagine digging up a tree in your yard, mincing the roots & then mixing that with water, the fresh bitter planty sap taste is very noticeable. You dont really get any bloating that ive noticed but yes nausea is alive & well because its kava & thats what kava can do. Its kavas way of say 'youve had enough tonight'

 

[Deactivated Account]

Wow that looks magnificent.
If you get a chance ask the locals about a kava called Pualiu; it's supposedly pretty popular on the port vila scene.
Maybe you'll get a chance to try a shell or two.
Regardless I know you're prob already having a good time so keep us updated if you can.

Generally is just whats for sale in the market that morning (ie pentacost etc). Ill take a few photos of the varieties once i get the motivation to move which this morning, is not a high priority just now.

 

[Monkava'd]

@nemo I think my next purchase will be a fresh frozen root from one of the vendors on this forum or somewhere else because of all the great things I hear about it.
The fresh hiwa that's been reviewed before sounds nice and exciting.
But you're getting it straight off the vine per se, and that's where it's at in kava land.
I love the descriptions and contrasts you make between the powder from fiji and the fresh Vanuatu; judging from the 5 shells you've had I've no reason to believe otherwise hahaha.
As far as the taste goes I of course wouldn't expect honeycomb but it's gotta be more palatable than the norm and since overtime I've grown quite used to med grind kava myself, I'd prob enjoy the taste to a certain extent.
Don't be too bothered with us here Nemo; put the pics on hold for a moment while you're basking in the sun on island time.
As far as some of us are concerned you're in a land far far away and our only means of connecting to that is with the toast of a couple shells.

 

[Deactivated Account]

Well theres no kava for sale in the market today…odd & ill have to ask why. Ok just asked & got 5 answers that still made no sense to me other that the boat is late possibly. They said not to worry there will still be fresh kava this afternoon.

Its warm, maybe mid 80's f & humid, nothing like summer here but enough to sort my kava. Ive no idea how these pics will post as ive had to reduce them a lot. My download speed here is 0.47Mbps & upload 0.38Mbps.



Australian High Commission… i think they must have a pet T-rex



Inside the markets (sorry i have a fungus spot inside that lens, i have a notorious history of ignoring my camera gear, i must send it away to be cleaned)





Iriki Island Resort



The stairs back to my digs. Not good after a night on the kava. Ive considered seeing if the keys are in one of the hummers. Lots of odd cars here, the south pacific to me seems sort of like a kitchen sink S trap of auto world. Theres a clapped out porsche a clapped out ferrari a few big V8 holdens. All useless on these roads.

 

[The Kap'n]

Ahhhhh I love these pictures so much. They turned out well, even with the compression.

 

[Deactivated Account]

Ahhhhh I love these pictures so much. They turned out well, even with the compression.

Cheers mate. I doubt i can upload any vids until i get home, i will give it a go though. Man i feel as slow as the net, fresh kava can lure you in with 'yeah sure im up for another'. 2 hours until sopfie nakamal opens & im not over the day after hump yet, im getting slack.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

damn, i wanna be there so bad. looks perfect.
if you had access to a printer, i'd send you a little cut-out drawing of me that you could photograph around port vila's nakamals and scenic views.

 

[Monkava'd]

Well theres no kava for sale in the market today…odd & ill have to ask why. Ok just asked & got 5 answers that still made no sense to me other that the boat is late possibly. They said not to worry there will still be fresh kava this afternoon.

Its warm, maybe mid 80's f & humid, nothing like summer here but enough to sort my kava. Ive no idea how these pics will post as ive had to reduce them a lot. My download speed here is 0.47Mbps & upload 0.38Mbps.

View attachment 1099

Australian High Commission… i think they must have a pet T-rex

View attachment 1101

Inside the markets (sorry i have a fungus spot inside that lens, i have a notorious history of ignoring my camera gear, i must send it away to be cleaned)

View attachment 1102

View attachment 1103

Iriki Island Resort

View attachment 1105

The stairs back to my digs. Not good after a night on the kava. Ive considered seeing if the keys are in one of the hummers. Lots of odd cars here, the south pacific to me seems sort of like a kitchen sink S trap of auto world. Theres a clapped out porsche a clapped out ferrari a few big V8 holdens. All useless on these roads.

View attachment 1106

Hahaha well it's called the "High Commision" because the walls are high right Nemo?
Jk, but man I'm entranced by the beauty of it all and the vibe' island life exudes.
Whereas on the mainland it's the "here and now", island life takes on a whole different perspective and it's really 'deep' I guess, like you can tick back the time a bit and just press pause on everything.
Thank you for the pics Nemo, they really do mean a thousand words.

 

[Deactivated Account]

that you could photograph around port vila's nakamals and scenic views.

Organised.