You've got to hand it to the ingenuity and sense of humour of a people who invented bungee jumping to get their yams in on time. You think Vanuatu's beaches are unbeatable on one island until you reach the next. Divers are delighted at the pristine waters, coral reefs and accessible shipwrecks; vulcanologists' eyes go misty at the mere thought of its many smoking peaks; and naturalists lust after its untouched forests, reefs and extravagant bird life. The islands shimmer with a green that almost hurts the eyes amid an ocean so blue you'd think the picture was doctored.

Exploited, kidnapped, proselytised and robbed for a century and a half under the benevolence of a wobbly colonial administration, the