VANUATU
11 June to the 6 July
Hello Everyone
Hope this finds you all happy and well.
We have been in Vanuatu for 2 and a half months now, it has been amazing!!
We have had so many wonderful experiences. Here is a little snippet of our first month here.
We started our time here down in Tanna Island, Port Resolution. Once settled after our journey from New Caledonia, we went ashore to see about checking in.
The person we needed to speak to had gone into the town but we were told that customs might be coming today or maybe tomorrow and that immigration might come, but probably wouldn’t as they thought there was only one person in the office in Lenakel and he couldn’t leave the office unattended. So we were hopeful we could do customs at least, but no-one really knew when, and they were all pretty relaxed about it. The village/yachting grapevine would alert us when customs arrived.
The village was very basic, mostly thatch style huts. Some had solar power and some had water tanks. One family asked Dave to look at their solar power, one solar panel, as it wasn’t working. The battery was very old and as it was an overcast day Dave couldn’t really assess the problem for them, although the very old battery was possibly a big part of the problem. So until the sun shone and it could be looked at again they were without lights at night. It didn’t get sunny enough again while we were there so unfortunately we didn’t help them. They not only used the power for light but also charged a cell phone and surprisingly they had a television in this house, but she said it wasn’t working even with power as she hadn’t paid her subscription. We got the impression it seldom worked. Many of the huts had no solar power and so when it got dark there might be an outdoor fire but that was pretty much it. This house was also one of the few block houses in the village. It had a main room with 2 rooms off that which were presumably bedrooms. The cooking area was outside in a thatch hut.
The customs officer did turn up the next day and we went to the 'yacht club’ to do our paper work. The yacht club being a dilapidated shack with one side caved in. It was very funny sitting there doing our official entry!
That night our friends Jin and James from Uhuru, who were also anchored in the bay set up their movie projector in the village and screened Moana. All the children and some of the adults came to watch. I made some chocolate fudge sweets and shared them around, I could have easily doubled the 3 batches I made and then some as they were very well received, especially by some of the older women. But everyone got a taste.
There was quite a bit of damage to the village due to the recent cyclones and sadly there is a lack of tools and supplies to do repairs. The school had lost a building due to part of the roof being blown off. Unicef had put up a tent for the school to use but there sadly was no sign of the building being repaired. Covid has also had an impact due to the lack of tourism and things like the local village market has still not started back up, but the women were telling us that now more boats are coming they will try to start it again.
We next took a trip around the island, hiring a vehicle and a driver with a family from New Caledonia and another couple they were sailing with. We all got into the open back 4 wheel drive, driver and guide in the front, 3 adults and one child in the back seat and the rest of us including our english speaking interpreter in the open cab. The roads are being built or have been built in parts but a lot of it is dirt tracks with huge crevices. The roading contract is a 20 year contract to build a road around the entire Island. NZ started the contract and have done some roads, which now look quite old and China are now doing the rest. The new roading being done by China is pretty impressive but very slow going. It was a very slow bumpy drive around the Island apart from the few patches of finished roading. We passed many villages and schools. Half of the schools here in Tanna are French and the other half English. As a result the locals only speak French or English, as well as Bislama the local language, or a dialect of. There are more than 100 languages throughout the Islands of Vanuatu.
We stopped in the main town of Tanna called Lenakel and checked out the market and a few shops. Dave got us a sim card and data and we stocked up on some vegetables. There wasn’t a lot to choose from but we got some nice Bok Choy, carrots and small purple capsicum. We also bought a few eggs which we gently carted around for the rest of our day, only to find out when we opened one the next morning they were hard boiled!! What a laugh, and we were so proud we hadn’t broken them! Hahaha
We had lunch in the village at a local cafe - no fish on the menu so not much on offer for a pescatarian, but the chicken and steak for everyone else was pretty good. It was really fun just watching everyone in the town, a few characters for sure and the children are so cute.
Road waiting to be built New Road
Dave Buying data at the Vodafone shop
This little guy wasn't too sure about the camera
After lunch we carried on and drove toward the Mt Yasur Volcano. The landscape changed remarkably as we got nearer. It felt a bit like we were on another planet - black sand, red rock, and a massive ash/sand hill with a soldering smokey top.
After taking photos at the massive sand hill on one side of the volcano we carried on to the official entrance. We all paid our fee and then had a brief ’safety’ talk. Basically follow the guide up the hill and when you get up there don’t go too close to the edge! So up we went, climbing into the lowering sun, and when we got to the top ! Wow! Not only was the view amazing but the volcano was mind blowing. There was no fence, just a few poles that you shouldn’t go past, the guide told Dave they move the poles back when there is a slip! Eeek! That was comforting haha! We watched the volcano spit and roar and explode, and as the sun went down and the darker it got, the glow of the exploding rocks and lava was amazing. It is the most surreal thing I have ever seen. We were standing right on the edge of a sandy precipice looking down into molten fire, you could feel the heat and the explosions rumbled through your body. The experience is almost unexplainable and the photos while amazing just can’t capture the feeling. It was just a massive WOW!
There we are perched on the edge behind the 'barrier'. A couple of posts!
After the volcano we were driven back towards the village with a stop at the guides house where a paid dinner was supplied. It was typical village fare of chicken, bok choy, taro, cucumber and rice. Plus a cake with very pink icing.
We were driven back to the beach, got in the tender and motored back to the yacht, weary but exhilarated after our big day out.
We left Port resolution the next day and sailed to the other side of Tanna where we spent a couple of nights. While there we snorkelled the blue cave which was beautiful. We anchored the tender and the swam through the hole from the ocean into the cave. The light coming in through the hole at the top was amazing - I felt like I was in a mermaids cave!
We then sailed to Erromango island for a one night stopover. On arrival we had a visit from a local also called David. He rowed his canoe out to see us, he was 72 and wanted to come aboard and see the boat. We gave him a tour and then made him a cup of tea and put out some Anzac biscuits. He really liked the biscuits, eating about 4 and then getting me to write out the recipe and explain to him how to make them. I asked if he would get his wife to make them but he said he cooks too. I hope he manages to get the ingredients and have a go. I had to show him the oats and the golden syrup as he didn’t know what I meant. Most of the ingredients are available in Port Vila so who knows one day Anzac biscuits could be an Erromango treat! He was a very interesting guy and told us a lot about his village. We didn’t end up going ashore the next day as we had good weather to leave early. At 0530 in the morning we set sail for Efate, 80 nautical miles.
We got to Efate and anchored in Mele Bay just around from Port Vila. We arrived at 1830, in the dark which made anchoring a bit difficult as there were quite a lot of boats in the bay, but we got the anchor down and Dave went ashore to buy some beers. It was a lovely calm anchorage - the first we had been in since arriving so we enjoyed a beer listening to the sounds of the night.
We got a bus van into Port Vila town the next day and had a bit of an explore and lunch at the local market. We spent quite a lot of time trying to find a replacement anchor light. We realised while in Tanna ours wasn’t working and so that morning in Mele Bay finally being calm enough to go up the mast to see what was wrong Dave found the light not there! We aren’t sure what happened to it but all that was left were the wires. We think it must have been a bird strike.
We had no luck finding anything to replace it even at the chandlers, so it’s internal lights on while at anchor meantime. We caught a ride back to the anchorage with a family who were heading to the beach and had a lovely chat with them. The Dad was about to leave for NZ to go fruit picking in Tauranga. Many of the people we have spoken to while here have had family members in NZ at some time fruit picking. They are often away for 8-9 months at a time leaving their wives and families. The money they earn helps pay school fees which is one of their biggest costs as a family, and often gets them a new boat or car, or repairs to their homes.
Dave and the Curry chef!! We spent quite a bit of time reading the pidgin English around the town
This one at the Health shop translates something like
"I got special medicine belong (for) Pikini (children) Mo (You) Everyone"
After the waterfall we walked back to the beach stopping off at a local coffee house and had a cup of Tanna coffee.
The next day we walked to Mele Cascade waterfalls which were really pretty.
We had to pay 2 entry fees, the first to get in which went to the local family who own the lower land and keep up the amenities. The second entry was paid on the walk up to the waterfall. This apparently goes to the Chinese who now own this part of the land, including the actual waterfall. It seems the owner loaned money from the Chinese, most likely the Chinese bank and couldn’t make his payments and so the Chinese now own the waterfall. It made me sad that this beautiful piece of land is no longer owned by the Vanuatu people. According to David from Erromango we got the feeling this is happening a lot in Vanuatu. a lot of the tips in Port Vila were Chinese owned and because of the Chinese overstaying their Visas here the time tourists can stay in Vanuatu has been reduced from 6 months to 4 months.
Nice little place to rest after our climb up to the waterfall. Dave trying to keep the flies off!! haha
After the waterfall we walked back to the beach stopping off at a local coffee house and had a cup of Tanna coffee.
The coffee is grown on Tanna and use to be roasted there also but is now roasted right here next to the coffee shop in an old church. We had a little tour of the roasting church and learnt a bit about the coffee, which is very very good.
We went around and anchored in Port Vila the next day and stocked up on petrol and diesel. Also flour sugar and rice for trading for vegetables in more remote areas and for the Solomon Islands. We did a general top up of our everyday groceries and got some fish produce from the market. There is a lot of Bok Choy and chinese cabbage here, large cucumbers and we managed to get some aubergine and some tomatoes. We went for dinner at the local yacht club and then decided to visit the Iririki casino. It was pretty quiet being a Wednesday night but we sat at the blackjack table and Dave taught me to play. It was a lot of fun and we came away 500 vatu up, a whole $6.50. What a result!
Last of the big spenders!!
On the 23 June we headed to Havannah bay on Efate Island.
A beautiful bay but with quite a deep anchorage but we found a good spot just past The Havannah Resort, how convenient! We had a lovely paddle board while there seeing lots of turtles. We also checked out a yacht wreck, called Blue Gold, that is on a reef past where we anchored. It was pushed onto the reef during cyclone Pam. We climbed on it and had a bit of a look around. It was still reasonably intact and in its day was most likely quite a beautiful yacht. I wish I’d had shoes on and a flashlight as I’d love to have explored more. I found some brandy glasses unbroken on the saloon floor and the kitchen had a full fridge and microwave all in place and in tact. There were even a couple of captains jackets hanging up at the helm.
I got a bit of vertigo when I went inside as we were pretty much walking sideways and after a while had to get back in the tender and wait for Dave to finish exploring.
The village where it is want it removed but there seems to be a lot of ’nobody wants to take responsibility for it’ and it doesn’t help that the owner seems to have been detained in Europe for fraud. It is so interesting what you learn when you research these things. Anyway it was a fun little explore.
We had a lovely night with the Uhuru and Gecko crew having cocktails at The Havannah resort, which is really lovely, and watching the sun go down.
I decided the next afternoon to have a snorkel off the back of the boat in the hope of seeing more turtles. I was only in a few minutes when I spotted an odd shape below, and then another! OMG they were massive cone shaped jellyfish, and there were a lot of them. I think I turned and swam back to the boat quicker than I ever have - no way was I going to be in there with them and risk getting stung!!! No more swimming for me in that bay.
We left Havannah Bay, Efate on the 23rd and headed to Epi. I hadn’t been feeling great on our sails so far and was determined not to get nauseous so I set to in the kitchen and baked Anzac cookie, seed crackers and coconut and lime scones and I was actually ok, although it was a fairly calm sail/motor sail. We arrived in Epi and I mucked up the anchoring, missing the marker and putting out too much chain, anyway a few angry words later from the captain and we were anchored, and both a bit grumpy and tired. We got over ourselves and went ashore to a lovely beach bbq with Uhuru, Askari and Gecko. It was really lovely. James had set up lights on the beach and we all shared food. Holly from Gecko had made cinnamon dough for desserts and we all made cinnamon twists around sticks to cook over the fire, a lot of fun and very yummy. It was like having a cinnamon brioche open fire style. The family who lived on the beach came to join us and whilst quite shy it was lovely to chat and share our food with them. The couple had their little baby with them, he was only one but very tiny so I presumed he had possibly been a prem baby. The lady was very proud telling me she lived in a block house and that she had solar power too. It is very humbling and reminds us what we take for granted on a daily basis.
We had a lovely walk around the village the next day meeting the locals and we ordered some fruit from Benny, who also ran a cafe, to pick up the next morning. Late that afternoon the supply ferry arrive - "Big Sista. As it anchored in the bay small boats from the island came to pick up supplies and passengers. It was quite an event to watch as boats got loaded with supplies and people scrambled on and off. We even saw cargo being passed in and out of windows and a couple of people climbed out of windows onto boats to disembark. There wasn't a system but it all seemed to get done and certainly no health and safety rules here everyone just gets on with it. It was very entertaining, and as it got dark the ferry lifted anchor and departed with it's new passengers. We learnt that the boat comes weekly, most of the time!
And so the next morning, a Papaya and some Pamplemousse (like a grapefruit but sweeter) on board and we were off towards Pentecost Island.
We motor sailed for a while and then got 2 hours of lovely sailing into Pentecost, Home Bay. We had some quite large dolphins playing on the bow as we went along. They were rubbing their tails along the bow and having a great time.
When we anchored in Home Bay a local man named Robert came to see us with his boys. He offered to sell us some fruit and vegetable. The next day he arrived with Papaya, local cabbage (a kind of green leafy plant) some coconuts and some very odd large bean like vegetable which they told me how to prepare for cooking.
We went for a walk and explored the village, meeting several locals who are all interested in where we are from. We came across a group of local lads and girls working clearing the side of the road with their machetes. All the guys posed for photos and had a great laugh with us. The girls are shy but laugh at the boys antics. They had done a great job of clearing the road, their work for the village.
We found beautiful private pebble beach where we had a swim in the clearest water and then dried out on the warm stones afterwards. A little piece of paradise! On the walk back to the both we rinsed off in the freshwater river where we had seen some local ladies washing Kava roots.
Bit of mechanics going on in someone's front yard - getting right in there!
Few of the local kids, they love getting their photos taken.
Our little piece of paradise
Our main reason for visiting Pentecost at this time was to see the Naghol Ceremony (land diving). This was to be the last one of the year. We were very excited. On the day of the event all the yachties met on the beach around 7am and we were driven up into the hills, in the back of trucks, to the village where the ceremony would take place. Our driver was a bit crazy and we had to ask him to slow down. They only had a couple vehicles to transport everyone so I guess he was on a schedule. We were the first truck load to arrive at the village and we were greeted with much excitement. Many of the men were wearing Namba 'penis sheaths’ and were quite a few of the boys and the women were in grass skirts and while some had greenery draped across their breasts some were topless. This is one of the few villages where it is still common to dress in the traditional way, but more people dress up especially so for a ceremony. The tower which had been built at the beginning for the season, the jump take place every Saturday between April and June, was being reinforced and the vines were being prepared for the jumpers.
There was great excitement as more truck loads of tourists arrived and once we had all paid our fee to the chief we were greeted with a speech and all given a necklace of flax and hibiscus. We made our way down the hill to the seating area and the dancing and chanting began above us. It was quite mesmerising and the build up got louder as the first jumper - a boy of 9 climbed the tower to his platform. He was on the lowest platform but for a young boy it was still high. You could see the fear in his face and the chanting and encouragement grew until he finally jumped. He landed hard but was picked up and brushed off. Claps and cheers for his bravery followed and the singing and dancing continued. We watched 9 divers in all, each one getting higher and higher until finally the chief did the last and highest jump. Every jump was heart in the mouth stuff to watch, the tension builds before they jump, they call out, spread their arms and clap their hands above their heads and then they dive out flying through the air, and as they land the tops of their hair is suppose to touch the ground and then they fall to the ground.
The final jumper is picked up and carried around and cheered for for his bravery at making the highest jump.
We were given some food after the jumping was over and got to talk with some of the villagers although not many spoke English. I had a hair admiration session with some of the women who had great afros and amazing spring like curls, they in turn admired my hair colour length and texture. We did a bit of hair touching and head patting and once one touched my hair several in the group had to also. They all loved having their photos taken and then seeing them selves on the screen after.
One lady was selling beautiful woven bags and we bought a couple as a memento. We have one hanging now over our beautiful sketch of Piha lion rock.
It was an amazing day and one that will stay with me forever, we feel very privileged to have had this experience. I honestly felt like I was part of a National Geographic show!
We were taken back to the beach where we were anchored and not long after we were back at the boat we were visited again by Robert and several of the villages. They all wanted a tour of the boat. We sat and chatted and ate cookies and then some wanted a go on the paddle boards, so off they went and Dave got in one of their dug out canoes which they though was hilarious. There was jumping off the side of the boat, the older guys checked out the engine bay and then wanted to try out the tender. Everyone left ,apart for a few older boys. They had trampled a lot of dirt on the boat so Dave got the few older ones left aboard a brush and bucket and got them scrubbing the deck. They thought it was hilarious and were very happy to be rewarded with a new cap each for their efforts.
It was a pretty fab end to an amazing day.
The next morning we were leaving for Malekula and had a few extra on board. We had met a French family on Pentecost who had got bit stranded and had asked if we could take them to Santos. We were only going as far as Malekula but they were happy to come along and had managed to sort them selves from there. They were a lovely family and the 2 boys were so excited and so interested in the boat and how everything worked. The little 3 year old girl was relaxed and took it all in her stride.
We asked when they got on board if any of them would possibly get seasick and they said no. We started off in pretty god conditions but as se turned toward Malekula things got a bit rough - I had baked earlier and was totally fine, but as I began to prepare lunch things were sliding all over the bench and bending up and down to the fridge set me off. The boys were being a great help holding things to stop them from sliding but nothing could help my stomach. Just as I was about to set for lunch I was sick! So much for worrying about our guests getting seasick, it was me we should have been worried about! I managed to sit and have a little lunch after but as we were finishing we saw dolphins and as everyone went to the front of the yacht to see them I was leaning over the back, lunch was gone. I tapped out after that and sat with my eyes shut on the stern until I felt better.
We dropped the family to the beach near where we would anchor and they luckily met a guy on the beach who organised a car to pick them up and take them to the town. Other than getting to Malekula and having a flight booked the next day to Santos they had no other plans so we were pleased to find someone on the beach to help them. We thought they were an amazing family, they had traveled for 7 month with their 3 children including hiking in the Himalayas and biking around parts of Australia. The next leg of their journey is to bike for a couple of months in the USA.
We hope to get to visit them in France one day.
We moved to an anchorage spot and had a bit of trouble getting the anchor set. The current was a bit swirly and there were rocks we had to avoid. We got anchored and settled in for the night. The wind and swell picked up the next morning and we decided this wasn’t the best spot to be anchored. There was another boat anchored with us, the guy was solo and was having trouble getting off his anchor so Dave went over to his boat to help him. Once he was off and away we had to get our anchor up, luckily it came up fairly easily and we headed to a more sheltered spot, Gaspard bay. We only spent a couple fo days here as it was grey and the water wasn’t great. This is the spot to see Dugongs but it just wasn’t the right weather.
We then moved on to Crab Bay and anchored in a pretty small space near reef. We were a bit unsure but we got the anchor set well and it was very sheltered so we weren’t going to swing around. It was a beautiful spot and we had it all to ourselves. We had a great snorkel in the pass and saw lots of turtles. They were pretty relaxed and swam quite close. We also saw a big school of Napoleon Wrasse fish and one reef shark. We spent a couple of days here relaxing.
Next we headed to Luganville on Espiritu Santos Island and I will write about that and our time there next time.
Until then
Take care everyone
Much Love
Tracey and Dave
Lovely update again, sounds all super interesting. That's a hell of a volcano. Love the waterfall and some really nice portrait photos you are getting. All the best chaps xx
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