Vanuatu (Part 2)
Vanuatu (part 2)
6 July to 11 September 2023
Hi from the Solomon Islands
We have been here for 5 weeks now and are loving it. But before I update you on out time here so far, here is the tale of the remainder of our time we spent in Vanuatu.
I left you last time as we were about to head to Espiritu Santo. On our way we stopped off around the corner at an anchorage we had heard about on Ratua, a small Island just off Espiritu Santo, there is a lovely wee resort there and they are very welcoming to the yachts that anchor in the bay.
As we came in to anchor we saw only 1 other boat. As we got closer Dave said ‘We know that boat” and low and behold it was old Kevin on Matt Lau who we had first met in Tahiti and then again in Fiji. The last we had heard from him he was up in Kiribati so it was a surprise to see him. We went over for a coffee and had a good catch up.
We had a lovely few days relaxing in Ratua. We did a couple of snorkels and saw some lovely fish and a few turtles. This bay is known for its turtles some of which are very big. We saw one while going around the little river inlet to the side of the island and when it took off it made quite a wake, they can really move!
We had a couple of nice nights at the resort bar including their Friday night - band night. The band was great and all the staff who were not working and guests, including us and Kevin, had a great time dancing. We found out from the owner of the resort that the band that played that night was a back up band called in at the last minute, as when the owner had called the original band that afternoon to confirm their pick up time they were all drunk and couldn’t play! hahaha
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| Ratua reception and restaurant being rebuilt after cyclone damage |
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| Bar at Ratua |
We left Ratua and headed to Luganville where we could boost our supplies and get some fresh produce. We spent a couple of nights there and caught up with Carolyn and Andrew on Askari and had a lovely dinner out at the Aore resort on Aore Island.
Supplies full again we made our way around to a nice sheltered anchorage as there was some nasty weather on the way.
We anchored in Palikula Bay along with Carolyn and Andrew.
They had rented a car for a couple of days and asked us if we would like to join them exploring the island. We hitched into town with them to pick up the rental and a couple of hours later we were on our way.
Our first stop was the Riri blue hole. There was a guy on the side of the road offering a trip in a dugout canoe up the river to the blue hole. We talked him into letting us take the dugout ourselves without the guide. After a bit of wrist twisting he agreed and we off, up a river with a couple of paddles. Carolyn & Andrew started paddling but were having a bit of trouble and as I was at the very back of the dugout it made sense I try to paddle with Andrew as the boat needs steered with the paddle from the back. It was a very funny start as we weaved from side to side across the river, we were definitely having trouble coordinating and going straight. The operator yelled from the bridge “No Snaky Snaky” which made us laugh all the more. Anyway we got into a bit of a rhythm and were off meandering up the river. We finally made it to the blue hole and it was stunning. The water is so so blue and it is so clear you can see across the entire pool. We had a lovely swim and Carolyn bravely decided to do the rope swing. It was a bit dodgy to get to and Andrew unfortunately cut his foot trying to climb up and take Carolyns snorkel from her. But the jump fabulously done and one cut foot wrapped up in a towel it was time to move on. Dave and Carolyn paddled back and while trying to outdo Andrew and I in speed and skill we ended up winding through and getting caught up in a few vines, more laughter and good banter followed.
Our next stop was Turlte Bay where we had a lovely lunch at the Turtle Bay resort and then we drove up to the Nanda (Jackies) Blue hole. This blue hole was bigger and even more blue than the last one. Surrounded by lush green it was just stunning. Another lovely swim and it was time to return back to the boats for the night.
The next day we were off again and headed up towards Champagne beach and Olry bay.
There was a small accommodation set up just up the road from Champagne Beach and we stopped for coffee and had a walk down to the beach. Once we got there we realised how Champagne Beach it got its name. There are bubbles coming up through the sand into the water and it looks like ‘champagne bubbles’. This is caused by fresh water rising up at the shore meeting the sea water coming in and when the tide is out the water at the shore is not salty. The water is crystal clear and the sand is very white, quite beautiful.
We next drove to Olry Bay which was just breathtaking. Turquoise blue water and white sand. There was also accommodation here with a cute little treehouse cabin. We had lunch at the restaurant, had a walk along the beach and then drove around the village. It is quite a large village with a preschool and primary school, church, health clinic and quite a lot of cows, a few of which were in peoples front yards and a couple in the school grounds! The school is positioned on the beach at the end of the bay and some of the children were playing in the fishing boats pulled up off the beach! Who needs a playground! Which by the way none of the schools we have seen have. Mostly they have a field and some football goal posts, if they’re lucky.
On the way back to the boat we stopped at the 3rd of the blue holes, Matevula, and I have to say I think this was my favourite. We had a fabulous swim and much fun climbing the ladder on the Banyon tree and rope swinging into the water, encouraging each other with whoops and laughter. Dave was swinging like Tarzan and I was no Jane. I was terrified on the first attempt but by the third I thought I'd done pretty well actually getitng a pretty good swing and jump, well that's how it felt, however when we watched the video back at the very end all you could hear was Dave laughing and saying ’that was terrible’ hahaha.
The rope swing!! So blue and clear, amazing reflection from under water
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Dave aka Tarzan
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And me not really flying at all hehehe
We drove back to the boats via the town and picked up some beers at the gas station. Back on the beach we met with Dan and Holly, from Gecko who had arrived in the bay and who had made a beach fire. We settled in for a few sunset beers.
Holly told us about her phone had been taken from a tree while she was doing a time lapse, but she chased the people along the beach and got it back. We had seen some women at the entrance of the road to the beach and stopped to talk to them, they were a bit coy and not friendly- it turned out it had been one of these women who had taken the phone as when we watched Holly’s time lapse you could see her in the video scoping out if Holly was watching and then going and getting the phone. We then at the end of the night discovered some beers had been taken out of the back of the car, which was parked just behind where we were sitting. Someone had snuck up and opened the hatch and grabbed a six pack. Dave had noticed when he had gone to get another few beers at one point the the hatch was open but just thought one of us had left it open. We were very lucky as we had left our belongings including my camera and our bags with wallets in the car. Being parked right behind us we didn’t even think about locking it. A silly mistake.
Then the next morning Carolyn and Andrew found the back window had been smashed in, we think as there were empty beer cans in the back the guys had come back thinking they could get more beer! It was pretty disappointing as we had not had anything like this happen, but I guess there are opportunists wherever you go and this was a local beach with road access and we have found out since is a bad area.
We spent the next 6 days at this anchorage tucked out of the bad weather and while it was nice to stop for a while and we were glad of the company of the other 2 boats sharing coffees and baking, drinks and dinners. We couldn’t do much else really. We did spot a couple of Dugongs playing nearby but the weather and water weren’t very good for snorkelling. Dave, Dan and Holly had had a bit of a foiling session off the back of the tender, but practising using the wing proved difficult in the gusty wind. We all got a bit over waiting for the weather to pass and so as it had calmed a bit, and as we were running out of produce, we decided to head back to Lugnaville. We farewelled Andrew and Carolyn as they would be heading south and soon back to Australia. It has been great hanging out with them on this part of our journey, from Australia to New Caledonia and here, having first met them in French Polynesia, we hope to catch them on the water again one day. We will miss them.
We headed out the pass and it was pretty rough, messy swell and blowy. The swell was 3- 4 metres and I was seasick again! Once we got out of the pass though it calmed a bit and I came right very quickly.
We got to Luganville and decided to anchor near the town and get the diesel cans filled up. Dave left me on the boat, as it wasn’t the best anchor spot, and went ashore in the dinghy with the 3 containers. On return he decided to put them into the tanks so he could get another lot. It was pretty rocky so he was being very careful perched on the steps filling the tanks. Two done successfully and then on the third the boat jerked with a wave, the nozzle broke and the can tipped up and the rest of the diesel went all over the boat and Dave and into the water. Dave quickly retrieved the nozzle and then jumped into the dinghy to get the can which was floating away. As he was circling to get it a massive boat (cargo ferry) came alongside us and was heading for Dave. I waved to it to slow down and Dave circled again and grabbed the can. Whew!! He then got back to the boat and promptly jumped into the water as he was covered in diesel. I grabbed soap and he scrubbed off, then rinsed while holding onto the ladder and being tossed about in the water. In hindsight this was not the best spot to fill the tanks!! But rinsed off Dave went back to fill the 2 remaining cans while I gave the one that had fallen in a good fresh water rinse. The two filled cans stayed just that way and were stored until it was safer to put them in the tank.
We then anchored around the corner where we had previously been and both just wanted to chill out, it had been a bit of a day!
We spent the next week in Luganville and had a great time attending the local Rodeo and the Independence Anniversary celebrations.
The Rodeo was such a laugh, we were entertained with the skill, or in some cases lack of, of the riders and by watching the crowd. There were time trials, flag races and barrel races. It was a great atmosphere and despite the rain coming down and it being called off early on the first day everyone was in great spirits. We managed to catch a ride back to town in one of the sponsors trucks. We went back to the Rodeo again on the Sunday as we wanted to see the bull riding and Dave was keen for another very good hotdog! Our mainly vegetarian diet gets the better of him when tempted with a good old hot dog or a juicy steak, and the steaks here in Luganville were exceptional, Dave reckons the best steaks he has ever had. Needless to say his meat intake increased somewhat during our time in Luganville.
When we arrived at the rodeo the cowboys were doing their skills event. This was very entertaining as some of the horses would not quite do what the riders wanted them to do, while others were very compliant. The bull riding was great entertainment but again it rained and we left as they started with the bucking horses as it was getting extremely muddy, but it had been a great couple of days entertainment despite the mud and rain.
Wet and Muddy but still smiling
These girls befriended us on day 2 and watched with us most of the day.
We had a great night out at one of the anniversary celebrations with several others from boats around us, a kiwi guy and his crew, some new friends we had met from Australia - Andy and Greta and Olivia from Juniper. Olivia was extremely keen to see the Bamboo Band and had got it on good authority that they would be playing at tonight at the park at 6pm. So off we all went in cabs to the venue. On arrival at the park a boxing match was taking place, we watched several fights. It was run very professionally and the skill from the boxers was impressive. There seemed to be about 4 or 5 clubs from around the island competing. I was very glad no one had been knocked out during the boxing as when we watched them dismantle the ring at the end we realised the floor was a concrete slab! There were holes for the 4 corner posts, which were wedged in with timber and then the ropes were then added. Once the ring had been dismantled we thought we would see the bamboo band play, but no! A local singer started singing, so we had a bit of a dance with the kids and then when he finished still the band didn't play, but we got to see a fire dance show. Surely the much anticipated bamboo band would be next as it was around 9pm by this stage. But no another singer started up and as it was now starting to rain. We had had great fun and it was a great atmosphere. We’d danced, bought food; mainly donuts, from some of the many stalls and Dave had played a darts betting game alongside the kids at one of the stalls. But it had started to rain and the current singer wasn’t great so we decided to give up on the band and head back to the boats before we all got too wet. I think Olivia who had been so excited about seeing the band was a bit disappointed, but who knew when and if the band would finally play!
Luganville town was in a festive atmosphere for the week and we saw a small street parade put on by one of the local shops and on the weekend there was entertainment in the park, more boxing and singing, lots of food stalls and the street was closed off for football matches.
I was very happy to buy a yoghurt maker in town - spotted by Jin in one of the smaller grocery stores. We had seen the powder in the main grocery shop but they had no yogurt makers, and I was kicking myself for not getting one while we were in Australia, so was very happy when we found one. I stocked up on as many sachets I could get my hands on! It the small things like this that can totally make your day!
We returned to Aore resort for dinner with Jin, Andy and Greta. We were very lucky to have the water music happening that night - it was really something to see and hear. Well worth our ride across the bay in the tender.
We joined Greta and Andy and had a lovely bike ride around part of Aore Island, the road doesn’t go all the way around as is the case with many of the Islands. There were quite a lot of cows and quite a lot of mud, but it was good to stretch the legs off the boat as everyone was getting frustrated at not being able to move anywhere because of the weather. We finished the afternoon on Great and Andy’s yacht, eating chocolate cake Greta had made. It was delicious!! We were fast becoming good friends with Greta and Andy and were trying to convince them not to go back to Australia but come with us to the Solomons, they were trying to talk us into going back to Australia.
Several boats around us and including us were waiting for weather windows to head to the Solomons or back to Australia and NZ.
We had decided to stay a bit longer in Vanuatu until the weather patterns really settled down as we aren’t on a time schedule and so pinned our hopes on things being settled by the end of August.
Dave did a dive on the Coolridge wreck and while not one of his favourite dives was still quite amazing, unfortunately the dive was too deep and technical for me but a few days later we snorkelled on Million Dollar Point, even though the water was a bit stirred up from the recent rain it was still well worth doing. Million dollar point is the area where the Americans dumped all their tanks, trucks, boats and pretty much everything else from the base they had in Luganville after the war (WW2). They didn’t’t want to take it all back to America and while they offered it to the French and the Brits, neither wanted to pay for it and so they just dumped it. It was quite a sight!
We decided to head back to Ratua anchorage as there was another blow coming and the anchorage we were in was rocky enough without that. But our time there was abruptly interrupted the day after we got there with me having severe stomach pains. I had had a few pains the two previous nights but they’d gone and I had just put it down to exercising later in the day when I had food in my stomach!? But no, Wednesday morning the cramps were back and while I was keeping busy and trying to ignore them it was getting worse. Dave was off on the paddle board and so I decided to just lie down with my book. This did not help and when Dave arrived back about an hour later he took one look at me and said he was going ashore to the resort to see if there was a doctor around. Of course there wasn’t and the nearest one was back in Luganville, a 2 hour trip on the yacht. The Ratua Resort were amazing and offered to take me on one of their speed boats, and so half an hour later, and in more pain, we were on our way to Lugnaville. A bumpy 45 minutes later we were ashore and in a cab on the way to the clinic. We got there to find it was closed for lunch, but Dave yelled out from the gate and they came and let us in. After examination, clear blood and urine tests they were unsure what the problem was and with no scans or ultra sounds they are pretty much running on a process of elimination, medical knowledge and experience. The head doctor who had been with the Australian flying doctors thought it was might be a kidney stone but as the tests were negative was unsure and so gave me some anti spasm tablets and told me to go back to the boat and take painkillers. I left the clinic crippled over in pain and promptly fainted at the gates. Dave called out for help and next thing I knew I was being lifted onto a gurney and carried back into the clinic. The pain then went to next level, I had earlier rated it as 8/10 so it was easily now 10/10! I sounded like someone in labour. I was sick and fainted again and so they decided to give me morphine, half an hour later I was still crying out in pain, so much for the morphine! They were then talking about getting me air evacuated to Port Vila, but being late afternoon they weren’t sure if it would happen as the plane won’t fly after 3:30pm. They had tried to get a saline drip in to me as you have to have one in for an air vac, but me being me and nothing being straight froward they couldn’t get the needle into my chemo ruined veins and so on the 4th attempt it was decided that it was too late for the plane now and as the morphin had finally kicked in and the pain had eased they would let me go. I was sick again as I walked through the waiting area and then again when we got down to the wharf but we decided this was probably from the morphine. Jin had offered for us to stay on Uhuru as it was much closer to the town than our yacht if things flared up again. Settled in there and a couple of dry crackers in my stomach Dave went ashore for some dinner and started making a plan to fly us to Brisbane as he was really worried and wanted me to get scans etc. He booked an early morning water taxi back to our boat to get passports and clothes and was looking at flights the next day. But on his return I was well rested and feeling fine and so told him to wait to see how I was in the morning. I was totally fine in the morning and so the water taxi was cancelled and we made the call we wouldn’t do anything except get back to our yacht in Ratua. Dave contacted the resort and they came and picked us up after dropping off some guests. We were so grateful to them, they wouldn’t let us pay them anything and so I made them a chocolate cake before we left.
The day after we were back we had drinks on the boat to celebrate my recovery and had all the boats in the anchorage come over. Our friends Pete and Ellen had arrived from Fiji, it was so great to see them again! Greta and Andy came along, they had secured our boat and retrieved our tender from the shore the day we went to the clinic, we were so grateful. Kevin joined us and another yacht we had met in Pentecost Jim and Shannon. Jim had sent me over some biscuits that morning as a get well gift. It is a lovely community we are part of.
We had a really fun night with them all.
The next morning we said farewell to Greta and Andy as we were now heading in different directions, us back to Luganville and eventually to the Solomon Islands and them back to Australia. We were really sad to be leaving them. You meet some amazing people on this journey and some will stay friends for life.
We headed back to Luganville and had to now look at our plans. We decided the weather was still not settled enough to leave for the Solomons yet and so we decided to do a bit of Island hopping with Pete and Ellen and visit some places we hadn't yet been.
Stocked up again with fresh produce we all set off back towards Palekula bay hoping to get up to the Olry anchorage.
On the way to Olry we stopped in a couple of anchorages, one being Petersons Bay. We had to manoeuvre around quite a bit of reef to get in here. Dave was up ahead on the lookout and I was at the helm following a track we had on the iPad navionics. For some reason and without me realising it changed from Heads up to North up and I was suddenly steering the wrong direction heading for a reef. Eek! A bit of shouting from the front and Dave ran back to take the helm and I went on lookout. I'm not good with North up, much preferring everything to be the right way up (Heads Up) when I'm looking at it!! It's a bit like having to turn a map around and have it facing the way you are going. Having dodged the reef and the bombies on our way to the anchorage we got the anchor down in what was a lovely wee spot.
From here we could take the tender up to the Matevula Blue hole and did this the next day with Pete and Ellen. It was really lovely going up by river. We had a lovely refreshing swim and we got to do the rope swing again. I was very happy to nail it this time round!
We had a bit of bother when we left this anchorage. The anchor chain wrapt around a line that must have been attached to the jetty near by. Dave had to dive down to untangle it while I slowly drove forward to take the tension off. I was pretty nervous driving forward knowing Dave was down there under the boat, but he got it untangled and we got the anchor up all good. Thank goodness he can hold his breath for a long time!
Nailed the rope swing this time Blissful, so fresh and cool
Heading back to the yachts well refreshed
We made it up to Olry and such a beautiful anchorage I would have to say one of my favourites here in Vanuatu.It was lovely to be anchored in clear turquoise water.We had a lovely beach fire that night with Pete and Ellen and Olivia from Juniper.
The next day we went ashore and explored the village and found the small market where they were selling cabbages, small capsicum and bread. We came across a couple of kids doing some bike repairs, the kitchen knife seemd to be the tool of choice!
We stayed her for a few days having a lovely snorkel and I treated myself to a massage at the resort. It was so nice to have sunny days and no rain for a change.
We left Olry and headed for Ambae Island. It was about a 10 hour sail and a bit rough. I spent most of the time at the helm, an ear plug in one ear (It is meant to help with seasickness) and had a lie down for a while. No devices, no cooking and regular snacking and I wasn’t seasick!
A bit out of sorts but I can deal with that. Hopefully I’m getting my sea legs back.
We anchored around the corner from the village as it was more sheltered but went ashore and had a lovely walk around the village with many of the village children. One of the little ones named Cia had taken quite a liking to me, I had carried her on some of the walk when she got tired and couldn't keep up with the older kids, she cried when we left. One of the boys had his toy car - a stick and a wheel and he gave me a ride up the hill, I ran beside him! Hahah But we were much faster than everyone else using the car!!
We next went to Mawoe Island - it was a cruisy 10 Nm sail which we did in about 90 minutes. We anchored in Norovorovo (great name!)and when we went ashore one of the village elders met us and showed us around the village. The village was very organised and seemed very community driven. They were very self sufficient with gardens, chickens and cows. We met the chief who was about to go into a planning meeting with some of the men from the village. A couple of young girls came and gave us some cucumber and coconuts. They were very shy, and didn't stay to chat. many of them are scared to try to speak english even if they learn it at school, and I can't say I blame them , even if I could speak their native tongue I'd be a bit scared to try and have a conversation in it. Many of the villagers came out to greet us, they are always very interested in where we are from. We came across a couple of adults and a few kids playing cards and Dave stopped to show them his card trick, this caused great amazement and laughter when he got to the end and revealed his trick.
Most of the houses were thatch style, the only buildings were a small kindergarten and school and a building for when people came to visit that they could stay in. We are always amazed at the basic way of living but also the amazing self sufficiency.
This little cutie was intrigued by my camera,
she couldn't quite believe seeing her image on the screen
We next sailed to Waterfall Bay on Maewo which was lovely. We could see the waterfall from the anchorage. We had a lovely swim in the waterfall and got some washing done there also. Many of the children came out to visit the boat, this may have been because word got out they got given a biscuit! A couple of very young boys paddled up for a second biscuit and wanted to come aboard. They had a look inside the boat and then wanted to go up the front but seemed bit scared. I walked ahead and when I turned around they were crawling along the side of the boat and wouldn’t sit near the nets at the front. We thought this was quite funny and seemed crazy as they paddle around in their wee canoes all the time. Perhaps it was the height from the water that scared them?
We had a lovely young girl come and visit named Serena and she also wanted to look around the yacht. She had very good english and was very bright asking lots of questions about our life. She said we could go ashore and she would show us around her village and we could meet her mother and possibly have dinner at her ‘restaurant’.
So the next day we went ashore and met Elizabeth who had a beautiful garden in front of her house. She was very entrepreneurial, and was building a new house so she could have accommodations and a restaurant in the old house and she also ran a small shop with supplies for the locals so they could get things while waiting for the supply boats to arrive. We booked dinner with her for that evening. Meanwhile Serena and a group of the village girls gave us a tour of the Island. We visited their school which was closed for school holidays but all the rooms were open. It was quite a shock to see how basic they were. Very old chairs and desks of all shapes and sizes, one large black board, a small teachers desk, text books that looked about 40 years old and not really much else. The exercise books showed beautifully neat writing and there were a few stories up on the walls but very little colour in the classrooms as I guess crayons and paints just aren’t available. It was like something out of the 1940’s. I felt really sad that these children and their teachers don’t have more. There was a big field in front of the classrooms and that was the school. There was a balance sheet stuck to the blackboard in one room which showed Income and expenditure. The main income comes from fees paid by the parents, then a government grant and fundraising. From this the teachers salaries are paid, and supplies and maintenance are paid for. Looking at he state of things I would say the income barely covers the teachers salaries, and if parents can’t pay the fees then children cannot go to school. We learnt from this village that many of the men who go to work in NZ and Australia do so to pay school fees and some families can only afford to send on or two children to school.
We had a lovely dinner that evening on Elzabeth's 'front porch restaurant' of coconut crab! It was delicious. We also celebrated Ellens birthday which was the next day. I had made a chocolate cake and we shared it with Serena and Elizabeth and her husband.
We next headed back to Pentecost and anchored at Namaram. The morning after we arrived Dave and I Went for an early morning walk. There were a few huts here and there but it was very quiet. We weren’t sure if everyone was asleep or if they were abandoned. We kept going up the path and came across a big church and the school. We got a great view of the boats in the bay from here. We carried on up the hill and finally met some villagers. We got talking to a guy and were admiring a garden which he said belonged to his sister in-law Mary . She came out to see us with her children and we chatted for a while. As we were leaving they called for us to wait as they had a gift. Mary had gone back to the house and came out with a beautiful woven bag for me . I felt so humbled and also bad that I had nothing with me to give in return, so Dave took off his cap and gave it to her. We took photos with them and and I gave her a hug.
These people had so little, lived so remotely and yet were so generous. I think they were very happy to have us go ashore and visit.
From here we headed back to Home bay where we had anchored for the Land Diving ceremony in July. Again Robert came out to greet us, this time with his young son Tate and we think his older son. They were in the process of building a house and Dave had an old sander he brought out to give them. They have a generator and so may be able to use it. I entertained Tate showing him photos of the last time we visited. Dave went ashore the next day to check out Roberts house and see if they could get the sander working with the generator power, but Robert was still in bed! Definitely on island time. Dave said the village was extremely muddy as there had been so much rain - no wonder they were all covered in dry mud the previous day!! It really hits home how basic these people live - that when it rains they have to just walk around in the mud.
We sailed across to Ambryn the next day and what a sail with 3-4 metre swell and up to 30 knot winds. I stayed at the helm and steered the whole way as this definitely helps me not feel seasick. Dave was busy setting and adjusting the sails. There were a couple of holy hell moments but I really enjoyed it. We saw a couple fo dolphins and what we think may have been a couple of pilot whales, but as it was so rough neither hung around for long.
We spent the night at Ambryn but didn’t go ashore as we had great weather the next day to sail the 63NM back to Luganville. We had a fabulous sail in pretty much perfect conditions.
The next week was spent getting ready to leave for the Solomons. It looked like nearer the end of the week we may get some good weather. Dave had got up the mast and fixed our anchor light. The boat was feeling in good shape to go, but we had had a water pump problem, the pressure pump bladder had burst and the water was coming through rusty. There was no way we were going to get a replacement for this here and so Dave bypassed it and the water was working fine and was clear again. Fingers crossed it continues to work!!
So provisioning done, paper work for the Solomons done all that was left was for us to check out. There were 3 other boats planning on leaving the same time. Olivia on Juniper, her friend Magnus on Libre and Jane and Graham who we had just met in Luganville on Kalimera. We all walked to the immigration and customs offices on the 1 Sept and were officially checked out.
Sadly we didn't get to say a proper goodbye to Pete and Ellen as they returned to Luganivlle after us and were anchored nearer the town. We did do message farewells and blew the horn and waved from the boat as we sailed past their anchorage on our way out. It was so great to catch up with them again, Fiji last year, Vanuatu this year and we look forward to the next time our paths cross on the sea.
We set off with Kalimera on the 2nd September and made our way over the next couple of days to Olry and then left for the Banks Islands towards the first in the chain, Santa Maria Island.
We motored for the first couple of hours and then sailed. We had put our screecher sail up in case the wind was right to use it - this proved to be a mistake. The wind wasn’t right to use it and as the wind got up to over 20 knots the screecher started to unfurl itself at the top and so in 20 plus knot winds we had to get it down. It was opening up and billowing out the side of the yacht, not ideal! I quickly lowered the line as Dave tried to control the sail, then I ran to the other side and started helping Dave to pull it into the cockpit. It broke one of our aerials but not one we are currently using so disaster was averted.
The next morning in the calm of the anchorage of Gaua Island we put the sail up and furled it back in and put it away. It can stay away for the time being, we are really not liking this sail much at all. It has been more trouble than it has use.
We went ashore with Graham and Jane and were greeted by Susan the chief's wife. She took us to meet Chief John Star and we chatted with him for a while. It was very busy in the cooking room and we were told there was a birthday celebration that night and the ladies were making Lap Lap, a sort of cake. We were invited in to watch. The cake is made from cooked Taro and Manioc, another type of root vegetable. These are cooked on hot stones over fire, peeled while hot and then mashed or ground to a pulp. This is done on a huge wooden board with big wooden grinders that look a bit like softball bats. A little water is added as they grind. Once ground the two mixtures are put together and pummelled more with a green papaya. Once it has become glutinous it is spread out and cut into pieces and then coated with a sweet sort of caramelised coconut. Jane and I sat and watched talking to the ladies about their and our children. How many, how old and where they were. Many of their children were away at school or had married and were living in other villages.
The ladies had told us they would do water music for us and so when the mixture was mixed together they said the men would take over making the cake so the women could perform. I said I would leave Dave behind so he could learn to make cake as he couldn’t cook. They all thought this was very funny and Susan said perhaps I need a Vanuatu husband, maybe a husband who could sail and one who could cook too. This got all of us laughing and then I said perhaps one for cleaning and Jane added and one for doing the washing as well which they all thought was hilarious. It brought home how no matter where we are in the world none of us are really that different and if you manage to speak the same language or communicate in some way you can have a good laugh. We went down to the river with the women and children, I took Dave, and they performed their water music for us. Even though we had seen it before it was very special to see it being done in the village environment. After the women finished performing the children all jumped in the river and they started music making with a couple of the adults. Their was dancing and laughter and sheer joy. They just love it and clearly love the water.
We were invited back later for the birthday celebration. The celebration was for 2 of Susans sons John and Bruce. We took with us some sugar flour and rice to pay for the water music performance. We watched the birthday speeches and prayers and joined in a lovely version of Happy Birthday. We were given some cake and Dave and Graham partook in the kava drinking. By the 2nd cup they were both feeling it and by the 4th they were floating. They both had a terrible sleep and weren’t too flash the next day. Dave said it was the strongest kava he’d ever had.
We had a great chat with Bruce who works for the government as a liaison for the Island. He puts submissions forward for things the Island needs to help with health, educations and general living. He said it is very frustrating as the government is very slow to look at the submissions and come back with answers and often by the time they get back to him the plans have had to change. He has to take the boat to the village with wifi to make contact and if he has no fuel for the boat he has to walk which takes him 2 days. The fuel for the boat is paid for by the government and Bruce has to record every trip he does in the boat to account for what he uses. The village had a lot of bottles of water in boxes and Bruce told us this was supplied for the government after the volcano erupted in March and contaminated the rivers which they use for drinking water. Before the water was supplied to them they had to wait for the government to come and test the water. So they were some time without water supply. And speaking of water, we now have a broken water pump, plenty of water just no way of getting it through the to the taps. We are not sure if it because of the by-pass Dave did when the pressure pump bladder burst or if it is something else? Just another little job for Dave to fix!!
We next stopped on Vanua Lava at the twin waterfalls anchorage. We had a really good sail despite again a rather messy se swell, but that just seems to be standard here. The waterfalls were just beautiful - side by side coming from 2 different rivers. We were told we could have a swim for a trade and so had a swim in exchange for a t-shirt. Well refreshed we returned to the boats for an early dinner and early to bed as we were setting of early the next morning.
We carried on then to Ureparpara Island, nicknamed Pacman Island. See the pictured below and you’ll see why.
We decided we would stop here a few days as again there was another strong blow of 30 plus knot winds coming through. We hoped to be sheltered here.
The surroundings were beautiful. We were basically inside a volcano. It wasn’t that calm and we rocked around a bit the few nights we were there but it was better than being out in the middle of the ocean in that wind. Plenty of the locals came out to say hi and all wanted to know if we had wifi, Starlink, as they wanted to call family members who were working in Australia and New Zealand. Jane and Graham have Starlink and so for a few days Kalimera became the internet cafe! William came and visited and seemed to be the village liason. He organised the wifi sessions with Jane and Graham and a walk for us to see the view.
We had a lovely walk through the village and up the hill through the bush to get an amazing view of the bay. It was a lovely village, with lots of gardens. The villagers paddled out wanting to trade fruits and vegetables but as we had stocked up in Lugnaville we had no room for more produce. Beetlenut is a thing here and there were several villagers with very red teeth and lips, apparently we will see a lot more of this in the Solomons. The women in the village always seemed to be working, gardening, cooking. They were shy too and didn't come out to chat, probalby too busy! The homes were all made of wood, bamboo and flax. They mostly have a dwelling with one or two sleeping rooms and then a separate cooking dwelling. We were invited ashore on our last night for Kava, Jane and I went along but declined the muddy drink and Dave and Graham only had a cup each this time after the last experience! Once bitten twice shy hahah
Being greeted as we anchored
Some of the dwellings in the village
Friendly little guy came out to say hi and shook Janes hand
The walk up the hill was so worth the view
Isis anchored in front of the village
The local football field
Kalimera exiting the volcano
On the 9th we headed up to the Tegua Island in the Torres group of islands and anchored for the night.
After a night of rest we set sail for the Solomon Islands. We were having a great sail in 14 knot winds with the main sail and screecher up
(yes we got it out again!) and were chugging along at around 7 knots. But just before sunset the shackle blew on the screecher and the sail was all over the show, we had to quickly get it down and fold it up and we dragged it into the cockpit. So it was mainsail and genoa for the night. The wind had dropped to about 8-9 knots but we were still maintaining a speed of 5 knots so we were happy enough with that. After swapping shifts throughout the night and getting a few hours sleep each we had coffee in the morning and around 10am got the Asymmetric Spinnaker up. It went up very easily and we were cruising along very nicely. We kept this sail up until we were close to the pass and then motored in to anchor at a pretty dodgy anchorage for check in. Luckily Customs and immigration were quick to come to the boat and all cleared we then motored across to a lovely bay where we plan to stay for a few days.
And so folks we are now in the Solomon Islands and very excited to be here. Dave read a book about the Solomons when he was about 15 and has dreamed of coming here ever since.
I will sign off at that and a Solomons update will be posted soon.
Take care out there everyone
All our love
Tracey and Dave
*Thanks to Carolyn, Ellen, Pete and Greta for sharing a some of your photos xx
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