Gaua and Tanna tips please

Hi Vanuatu lovers. I am going to Vanutau for the first time with my Dad (who lived in PNG for three years) and sister in June and July. We have booked a comprehensive travel plan encompassing Efate, Santo, Gaua and Tanna in three weeks.

GAUA
I have booked five nights in Gaua with my Dad. Our motivation is to get up across the lake and view the volcano, ash plains and waterfall. We are not especially fit but fit enough I hope. Do we book Wongras bungalows by phone before arriving? They are one of five good looking bungalow/ guesthouses on Gaua that I have seen but are Wongras the only ones that offer the tour? Do we turn up in Gaua and arrange the accom and tour at the tourist info centre by the airport or do we need to do this before arriving? We are going to Gaua to do the walk (and I'd like to see the women clapping under water if possible) so wondering what time frame we need to get up to the ash plains and stay on the lake? Two nights? Also do we bring a tent? Or i it provided by the 'tour operator'? Do we need to bring all our snacks with us? I understand there are some shops? Is five days enough to see anything else on Gaua? If so what else must we do?

TANNA
We are going to Tanna for three nights. We are going for Yasur but many attractions appear to be on the east/south side and we want to see Yasur at night time. As it is so costly to cross the island I'm trying to work out if we should stay on the east by the volcano (there is a good looking bungalow right nearby- http://www.positiveearth.org/bungalows/TAFEA/rocky.asp or Paradise View Bungalows- http://www.positiveearth.org/bungalows/TAFEA/paradiseview.asp. or Sunrise Bungalows at Turtle Bay and spend a day exploring Port Resolution/sharks bay/walking the east/south or wether we are better to base ourselves on the west at
Evergreen Bungalows http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g317047-d665164-Reviews-Tanna_Evergreen_Bungalows-Tanna.html
$80AUD shared facilities/ $100AUD private facilities and - http://www.positiveearth.org/bungalows/TAFEA/evergreen.asp#Details and do a night tour and explore what the west has to offer. It seems facilities/food/eating will be scarcer on the east. We are not interested in the cultural village tourist stuff- just the people we run into, the volcano and walking- we will spend sometime snorkeling in Efate so that is not a priority on Tanna though suggestions are welcome. Also does anyone have positive reviews of the horse riding tours on Tanna? I have only read bad ones. I know three nights is not long- so suggestions? We booked our filghts already through air vanuatu but I have read somewhere that its cheaper to bok an organised tour to Yasur before you go?

Also out of interest- with only two nights on Santo and a desire to see the blue holes would you recommend staying at Deco lodge or Unity motel in Luganville or getting to Lonnoc Beach? Any other must sees on Santo? I am not a diver but do love snorkeling.

Also my NZ friends played in Port Vila a few years back at a music festival and got sick form the Raro/water. Do we need to tkae purifying tablets? Or will we be able to boil the water?

Many thanks!

Evergreen is a very nice place. Good food and friendly staff/management. Snorkelling a little dissapointing though. Yes, it is "far" (a couple of hours drive) from Yasur but less than 5 minutes from the airport. To visit the volcano you have to travel the distance anyway.
Most tours to Yasur reach the mountain just before dusk so that you can experience the spectacular eruptions both in light and dark. Evergreen arrange tours to Yasur on relatively short notice. (Unless the roads are unpassable due to rain)

There are no "cultural villages" in Tanna. The kastom villages included in most tours are more or less authentic living villages. I visited Ipay and Yakel. (arranged by Evergreen) No other tourists around when I were there. Yakel seemed more "genuin" though. (where men wear nambas and the women grasskirts) If you are lucky you will be invited (males only) to a shell of kava behind the big banyan in the centre of the village!
Do not miss the chance to taste and feel the strongest kava in the world. Just ask the people at Evergreen.
Do not worry about drinking water. Botteled water is available.

eflatjan
http://www.pbase.com/bolla49
http://my.flightmemory.com/eflatjan

It has been quite a while since I visited Gaua so keep in mind my info may be out of date. We stayed at Wongras and can recommend them. The owner was very helpful and treated us like we were family friends. We stayed a couple of extra days than most people so he gave us a tour of the village and arranged a feast for us. He spent most of the day with us and didn't ask for any extra payment (including for the food). Unless there has been a big change in things, I would imagine he would try and accommodate your requests. We did not book ahead, but it was impossible to do this when we went.

We spent two nights camping at the base of the volcano. Many people go for one, but if you aren't that fit then I suggest you go more slowly. The climb up the volcano can be quite tough. We spent the extra time we had on the lake. The walk in and out were OK, but very hot (but we went during the summer).

We had out own tent, but they could have provided us with one. Ours was much more mosquito-proof than our guides!

I don't know about snacks. We ate corned beef and rice most of the time, although our guides did catch some freshwater prawns which were delicious. The food at Wongras was equally great and satisfying.