“I did feel very sorry for the natives there as they have very little money,” Cr Sharon Tapscott said.

“In Australia the government would rolling out help, but their government is poor in the first place.

“They just don’t have the resources we have.

“The outlying islands will probably take more time to recover.”

Cr Tapscott returned to the Bega Valley on Thursday after an 11 day cruise on the Carnival Legend with her husband.

While her ship had avoided the worst-hit areas of Vanuatu they did visit Santo, which had been touched by the cyclone.

One of the more striking evidence of the storm Cr Tapscott saw when she arrived on Santo was a six-foot, metal advertising sign which had been bent to the ground.

She visited some villages on the island, where huts had been damaged, coconut trees knocked to the ground and some crops flattened.

The passengers on the ship bought plenty of items, as Cr Tapscott said “you just sort of have to contribute to their economy”.

Before they departed, Cr Tapscott said there was a stage when it was looking unlikely that the cruise would leave.

She was slightly nervous as they left Australia as she knew the ship had to go through where Cyclone Pam had been, and the crossing was slightly rough but otherwise fine.

They were supposed to visit five islands but ended up just visiting four, going to islands which included Lifou and the Isle of Pines in New Caledonia.

Despite just missing being caught in a cyclone, Cr Tapscott said the cruise was “absolutely awesome”.