| Vanuatu Highlights August 2 - September 28, 2006 by KT Passage from Fiji (7/29 - 8/1) Read the excerpt about our passage from our Blog by clicking here. Port Vila, Efate (8/2 - 8/17) We spent our first two weeks in Vila exploring the shops, enjoying mounds of fresh food (and great steaks), and trying to find a weather window to get down to Tanna. We visited the local museum which, although small, was excellent. We especially enjoyed the guide who spent a good half hour with us, demonstrating sand drawings and describing their meanings. Sand drawings are used to recount legends, songs and ceremonies, as well as leaving a simply message. They are continuous, elaborate designs, and can vary from island to island. The final drawing he showed us was an intricately drawn angel fish. This is the drawing that they must learn, perfectly, before dying. Once they die they travel up to the mountain on the southern tip of Pentecost where a pool of water containing an angel fish is waiting for them. They must create this sand drawing for him, and if they do it correctly, then it is known their heart and life was pure, but if they do it incorrectly, then it is known that they are not pure, and the angel fish will eat their entrails!!! With all the cruisers in Vila, it was also a great chance to make some new friends, and we enjoyed many sundowners. Between the rainy days, and meeting Roxanne, who has to kids on board, we also caught up on some of our game playing! One night we even gave Tom & Lynn (Roxanne) a 'night off', hosting their two kids for pizzas and games aboard Billabong. During those two weeks we tried twice to get down to Tanna, both times turning back. Our attempts, although unsuccessful, were not an entire waste; we managed to snag a 5.1 foot Wahoo during one outing. Finally, we opted to fly out to Tanna, as they say, "Nothing goes to weather like a 747"! Tanna (8/18 - 8/26) Our time in Tanna, where we stayed aboard Island Sonata, was outstanding. We were blown away by both the Nekowiar Festival near Lenakel, and the active volcano in Port Resolution. Each of these events has their own journal: Nekowiar Festival ; Mt Yasur Volcano (these links can also be found at the bottom of the page) Aniwa & Erromango (8/27 - 8/30) We had a fast sail (still aboard Island Sonata) from Port Resolution to Aniwa. In the guides Aniwa is only listed as a day anchorage, but with the winds predicted to lighten and from a direction that left the anchorage well protected, we decided to stay there overnight. It was a tight squeeze, and John had to get in the water to find a good spot to drop the anchor. Just shortly after anchoring, a number of men appeared on the beach, calling and waving to us. John and Chris took the dinghy in to see them. Apparently they wanted money for us to anchor. Now here is where things get difficult and confusing for us. According to the government, as posted in the custom offices, locals should not receive (or ask for) any money from yachts for anchoring. But there is government law and then there is Kustom (or local) law. And according to these men, we needed to pay 1,000 vatu per person, per night, plus 1,000 for the boat. That would be about $50 US per night, just to anchor! John told them that when he checked in with customs in Luganville, he had been told not to pay any anchoring fees, but still the men said it was required. John and Chris didn't have any money on them, so the spokesman said he would return tomorrow to collect the fees. We had arrived in Aniwa around 4pm and had planned on leaving the following morning. We weren't going ashore or even snorkeling. With that and with the conflicting rules of the government, we decided to go ahead and leave early in the morning without paying, trying to avoid any conflicts or potential scams.
A local, David, stopped by in is canoe to welcome us and invite us ashore. The following day we went in to say hello and David, after introducing us to his son and showing us their plant nursery, It was a full day sail back to Port Vila ... 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. We were happy to be back, and anxious to see how Billabong had fared over the last twelve days without us. All was well, and everything just as we'd left it. That night the four of us went out for hamburgers and fries, celebrating our great time in Tanna, and the fact that we could all live together for nearly two weeks (on a boat no-less) and still come away friends!!! Port Vila, Efate (8/31 - 9/4) We happened to be in town on Friday night (Sept 1st), when we heard about some dancing culture show that the USP rugby team (University of South Pacific) was putting on to raise money for a rugby trip to Fiji. The tickets were only 500 vatu (about $5 US) each, and the show would included dances from all of the South Pacific Islands, put on by USP students. You'd think we, along with all the other cruisers, would've learned by now ... we all showed up 'on time' ... and wouldn't you know it, us whities were the only ones there! About a half hour later locals began arriving, and even they were early for "Island Time". The event was held at a local 'club'; with a bar, t.v.'s, and gambling downstairs, and a stage area upstairs. The stage had been decorated with randomly placed balloons -- looking like something an eight year would do. Laughing, I said to Chris, "It's obvious the rugby boys are the one's who did the decorating!" The two MC's for the night were a lovingly looking ni-Van women, elegantly dressed, and "Bianca", a cross-dresser, with just a bit too much bouncing energy.
After the show, we walked back to the boats, stopping in at the local open-air market, to see if any stalls were still open and if we could get some fresh bread. We hadn't really ventured out in Vila at night, and it wasn't until now that we realized a large portion of the women and children who worked the stalls, slept here overnight. I can't imagine how uncomfortable it must be, they are protected from rain, but not the cold night's air, and they are sleeping on hard cement, On Monday we went into the resort on Iririki Island to see a snake dance performance. It was a short performance, with only about ten men performing, but it provided a good taste of a dance normally performed in the islands farther north (where we would probably not make it to). Havannah Harbour (9/5 - 9/6) The sail from Vila to Havannah Harbour was a short one, and would've been beautiful had our engine water pump not gone kaput! I kept us under sail, while Chris jerry-rigged a temporary fix. The fix allowed us to run our engine while we anchored, but we were both nervous about running it too long, and so tried to anchor fast ... hard to do when the holding sucks! Even more of a bummer was that we had finally gotten out of rainy Vila, to sunny Havannah, only for Chris to have to return by bus. So while I enjoyed the sunshine, Chris was back in the gloomy rain. Luckily he returned with a fix and we were both back in high spirits. Revolieu Bay, Epi (9/7) Although long, it was a good day sail to Revolieu bay. We didn't bring in a fish, but were entertained by the activity the followed us; including the sighting of a marlin and a huge tuna, with fins expanded like wings, stalking our lures. We only stayed one night, as the winds were predicted to die, and we wanted to get up to the Maskelyne's before that happened. Maskelyne Islands, Malekula (9/8 - 9/12) We really enjoyed the SW corner anchorage in the Maskelyne Islands. The anchorage was calm and the scenery that surrounded us was beautiful; with green hills stretching down to white sandy beaches, patches of mangroves reaching out to the blue-green sea and coral poking up from beneath the waters. The anchorage was crowded, so it was tough finding a good spot, but it also meant new faces and new friends.
On Saturday (the 9th), we walked the south west beach collecting 'magic rocks' and shells, saying hello to the few locals that we came across. (The magic rock story was Sunday was MJ's birthday, which we celebrated with pizza and cake for lunch, and fish, drinks, cards, and cake for dinner. Monday marked 1,000 days of cruising for Chris and I. Something we only know because I've never bothered to re-program my watch. It is kind of fun to be able to see exactly how many days we've been out! Chris and John did a bit of dinghy fish, with no luck, while I kayaked around one of the small islands. When I returned from kayaking, a few kids were rowing in their canoes, and stopped to visit. I sat on the swim step, while one of the young girls tried out the kayak ... she and her brother couldn't stop laughing. Later Chris and I went ashore to say hello to one of the men that had stopped by Billabong a couple of days earlier. That evening Island Sonata had EVERYONE over for a 1000 day out party (any excuse for a party around here!). There were 18 of us aboard Island Sonata, but it never felt overly crowded (the good thing about a catamaran!). We spent most of Tuesday just relaxing, with Chris making holding one of his fishing lure 'seminars' with Wandering Star in the morning. Port Sandwich, Malekula (9/13 - 9/14) We decided to stop in Port Sandwich mostly because we were ready to leave the Maskelyne's, but wanted to wait out the shifty weather before going into Banam Bay.
We took a dinghy ride a long ways up one of the rivers. It was a bit eerie, with the muddy still water, funky mangrove trees, and overwhelming silence. If ever there was a place for a spooky movie with crazed mean wild animals, this was it. We returned to Billabong in the rain, with the wind increasing. The wind had shifted and our anchor hadn't re-set so we had dragged just a bit, and had to re-anchor ... in the rain of course! The next morning Chris and John returned to Ezekiel and Serah to say goodbye and bring them a few gifts as thanks for the gifts of the previous day. Chris said it was funny, because they once again had to hold hands and pray, and since Ezekiel prays in Bislama, some of the wording just comes out a bit funny. Apparently Ezekiel wanted to ask God for us to be safe on our boats which came out sounding a bit like, "Oh, Big Man, please no killem .... no makem big waves .... "!!! Banam Bay, Malekula (9/15 - 9/16)
We returned to Billabong, just before sunset, and Chris decided to make a quick dinghy fishing run. About ten minutes later I saw him coming back and figured he had broken something or tired quickly. Imagine my surprise when he returned with a dog-toothed tuna! Word got around the fleet quick, and the next day he was hosting more fishing lure 'sessions'! Besides the barracuda which we threw back, we caught two other good-eaten fish during our short stay!
Ranon, Ambrym (9/17) It was another motor-sail over to Ambrym. We anchored near Ranon Village, as we knew they offered tours to the volcano. Ambrym's active volcano is purportedly not as impressive as Tanna's, but the ash planes are supposed to be an impressive site. Unfortunately, we learned that the volcano was 'closed' for the planting of the yams (related to spiritual beliefs). Typically they don't close the volcano until October, but this year they had planted early. We joined some other cruisers who had also just come over from Banam bay and were taking a village tour in order to look at the wood carvings. We had to pay for the tour, 400 vatu ($4) each (normally 800, but on special then), which according to the little paper we had been given included tour-like stuff, such as pointing out various plants & foods, demonstrating weaving and carving, and so on. What we got was a person taking us around from one wood-carver's home to the next, showing us the carvings that were for sale. Granted, we wanted to see carvings, and even purchase some, but where was the "tour"? Chris and I only bought a couple of items, but the cruisers we were with spent tons of money ... and still at the end of the day we were all charged for the "tour". Ranon is definitely one of the places in Vanuatu who has taken tourism and making a buck a bit too far. Ambrym is also where the Rom dance takes place. Originally I had really wanted to see the dance, but a few other cruisers didn't give the dance that great of reviews. The costume is quite impressive, but paying $40 bucks each just for the costumes seemed a bit pricey, so Chris and I decided against it. With no Rom, no volcano, and everything else at Ranon costing money, and with our visas running out of town, we decided it was time to head back towards Vila. Revolieu Bay, Epi (9/18 - 9/21) We had been dreading heading back to Vila, as it is against the winds, and we'd have to really watch the weather, waiting for a shift or lighter wind. The trip to Revolieu wasn't too bad, but it was still to weather, and by the time we set the hook in Revolieu we were worn out. For only the third time in the last two weeks the sun was out and the sky was clear when we entered Revolieu. That night the sky was lit up with thousands of stars. We were highly disappointed when we woke the next morning to clouds and rain! We spent four nights in Revolieu, mostly just entertaining ourselves while waiting for decent weather to finish the trek south to Vila. Twice we walked the dirt road to a nearby village and school (about 45 minutes one-way). Here we met a young Peace Corp's worker, Kevin. We ended up having him out to Island Sonata for dinner, where he entertained us with his guitar playing and singing. He writes his own songs/music and they are amazing. We also ended up leaving the solar oven with him, to pass on to the village. Kevin and Beth, from Red, had given us the oven in Majuro. We had originally hoped to pass it on to 'our village', Naviqiri, in Fiji, but we never had enough sunny days to teach them how to use it. Most of our time in Vanuatu had also been cloudy and so we were getting worried we'd never find a place to leave it. Since Kevin will be in Revolieu for a couple of years, we figure he'll have plenty of sunny days and plenty of time to show the locals how it works. Port Vila, Efate (9/22 - 9/27) Finally on the 22nd we figured it was as good as it was going to get, and spent the next 12 hours beating against the winds for Port Vila. Luckily the seas weren't too bad, and we were able to point pretty high into the wind, making good time and good heading. Unfortunately we didn't leave quite early enough, and therefore found ourselves racing against the setting sun. We need about an extra hour, but with Island Sonata helping us we were able to make it safely to our mooring ball in the dark. We couldn't believe when we first rounded the point to Vila's bay ... there wasn't a single cloud hovering over Vila! Never had we seen Vila so clear ... it was a bit ironic, as it seemed the clouds had been following us around over the last few weeks. Once inside the bay, with the sun just having set, we were motoring up the channel, when a huge cruise ship was making it's way out of another bay into the channel. Although we knew he was going to turn, and had given him ample space, having such a massive ship pointed directly at Billabong was a bit nerve-racking! When the cruise ship finally turned, and passed just along side us (heading out the channel while we were heading in), we could feel it's vibrations! The next five days it was cloudy and rainy ... go figure! We did our usual 'get the boat ready' routine, some last minute internet-ing, and of course the typically weather watch. On Thursday, the 28th, we said good by to Port Vila, and Vanuatu, and headed for New Caledonia.
Previous Journal Entry (7/25/06 Western Side of Fiji) Next Journal Entry (10/27/06 New Caledonia)
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It is always exciting to enter a new country. New sights, new smells, new customs and fresh faces. There isn't a country yet that I haven't loved, but some cities seem to linger in my mind longer then others; Port Vila is one of those. There is a certain energy to Port Vila that is hard to describe. Vila is big enough to host a variety of stores, but not so big that you feel overwhelmed. The people are quiet, but always friendly. The shops, from groceries to hardware to souvenirs, are well stocked, and there is never any pressure to buy; looking is completely acceptable. There is great food and fast internet, and while Port Vila is not cheap, it is reasonable priced. I can really only think of two down sides to Port Vila; 1) it rains just about every day, and 2) the huge cruise ship stops there. Okay, so I being a bit snobby that I, a white tourist, do not like be crowded by other white tourists, but really, the town becomes unbearably crowded, and the prices in the souvenir market go up whenever the ship arrives ... so surely you understand!
We left around 5 a.m., heading to Dillian's Bay on the west side of Erromango. We had planned for a long day sail, but with higher winds, we seemed to fly along, and arrived by one in the afternoon! We were also pleased to catch a Mahi Mahi along the way.
offered to give us a tour. We were specifically looking for a rock that supposedly had the outline of a killed missionary, John Williams, etched into it. Williams, along with his companion, was killed and eaten in 1839. David said he knew were it was. After a beautiful walk through the village, down to the river, across the river, and half-way up a small rocky hill, we came upon the memorial plaque set into a stone, dedicated to Williams. We explained to David that, while the walk was great, this was not the stone we were looking for ... we were looking for t
he one with the etching of Williams. Ah, yes, no problem, he told us. So we returned to the village, walking along the river and meeting the locals on the way. We all piled into the dinghy, then crossed the opening of the river, and walked a short distance up the other side, into a cemetery. Here was the gravestone for Williams. We tried again to explain what we were looking for, but with no luck ... and honestly we were only interested because Lonely Planet pointed it out. It had been a beautiful day and a terrific tour, so we left it at that and returned to the boat. Later, just before sunset, David came out to say goodbye (we had told him we were leaving the next morning), bringing us fruits from his garden. We again thanked him for his friendliness and hospitality, giving him a few parting gifts as well.
The show started nearly two hours late ... truly island time, but was quite entertaining. Students from Tahiti, the Solomon's, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati, PNG, and Vanuatu performed local dances, songs, and music. It was a lot like watching a high school talent show, but the energy and laughter were catching, and the traditional dances still remarkable. The difference between the college men and village men really emphasizes how difficult (physically) local village life is; while the college men appeared soft and many of them just a bit overweight, village men are typically either pure muscle, or merely skin and bones, but with minimal flab. Our favorite performance of the evening was the ni-Van string band. A boy about eight years out came out with the group carrying a large wooden box, with a stick strung with a string, attached to it. I had no clue what that box could be, and then the band started up, and the instant the kid propped himself up on top of the box and started to the strum, the entire audience burst into applause. The instrument is a bass, and by moving the stick farther out, and stretching the string, the bass changes tone. The box was practically as big as the boy, so he had to throw his entire body into it. It was amazing to watch and hear!
with only a woven mat for cushion. But many of the women live far outside of Vila and taking a bus or truck in daily is just to expensive, so they travel in on Monday or Tuesday, stay through the week and return home Saturday afternoon.
Locals rowed and sailed their outrigger canoes across the bay to their gardens. Usually their trip would include a round threw the fleet, checking out the boats, and trying to sale (or trade) various goods, such as fresh vegetables and large shells. Most were friendly and wanted to talk, but few spoke good English, so the conversations were short. At first the locals and canoes added to the ambience of the anchorage, but after a few days, the non-ending visits and attempts to make a buck got a bit tiring.
posted in our 9/11 Blog, for the excerpt on magic rocks 
It ended up being a very pleasant stop thanks to two extremely generous locals, Ezekiel and his wife Serah. Ezekiel was quite the character. When we first arrived he was wearing a white (now mostly brown) button up shirt, that didn't quite fit - the buttons were all stretched, and his small belly protruded from the gaping wholes. He had an enormous smile, and enthusiastically shook our hands, all the while talking non-stop. He wanted to know our names, where we were from, where our kids where (what, you don't have any, well what are you waiting for), and on and on. He invited us inside to wait for Serah, who had gone to the garden. Inside he sat us all down, and then ran off, returning with a couple of huge photo album books. While we looked through his photos, he went off to peel some pamplemouse for us. His photo album confused us all (we were there with Island Sonata). There were pictures of obvious family, and photos from other cruisers we knew, but there were also tons of photos of all these white people; riding horses, getting married, prom photos of teenagers, and so on. One photo actually looked like it could've come from a magazine, then I looked closer, and sure enough it had indeed been cut out, we could see the magazine print. Very strange and funny. He served us the pompelmouse and continued to talk a mile a minute. His English was heavily accented, and we could only understand one out of every ten words or so. Many times he mentioned the "big man", to the point that we were all wondering who this apparently fat man lived and why Ezekiel was so taken with him. It was until we had to pray prior to eating the pamplemouse that we realized that the "big man" was God! We also learned that Serah had only become 'Serah' when she married Ezekiel, prior to that she had some non-Christian name, which Ezekiel stated with obvious horror!
Chris tends to get antsy sitting around and likes to explore, so he asked if we could look around. Ezekiel, said yes, of course, but we had to wait for Serah first. So we just sat there, waiting. Finally I guess Ezekiel got bored too, because he said, okay we could walk until we saw Serah ... apparently he likes to be in charge of things! He gave us a tour of his land, which was beautiful. He owns a pretty large stock of cattle, and processes coconuts. The coconut trees were on a hill that sloped upward away from his house and church. Near the bottom of the hill was a huge pile of still husked coconuts. Just as I was wondering who collected all those, CRASH-BAM, a coconut fell from it's tree, landed to the ground, then bounced and rolled down the hill, landing in the pile of coconuts! Ezekiel laughed and made a joke about what a good coconut collector he was! On our way back, we spotted Sera returning from the garden, loaded full. We accompanied them back to the house, and started to say goodbye, when they told us to wait. Serah separated all of the fresh goods into two piles and then told us one pile was from each of us! There was a huge amount of food there, bok choy, tomatoes, eggs, papaya, and bananas. We tried to tell them it was too much, but they wouldn't hear of it, and so away we went, once again amazed at the giving and friendliness of the locals.
Banam bay was an easy motor-sail up the coast from Port Sandwich. It was again a bit crowded, the most boats we've been at anchor with in a long time (about 15), but it's a big bay and there was plenty of room. We went in that afternoon with a number of other cruisers to see the dance performance. At the Nekowiar I thought I had gotten used to the nambas (penis sheaths), but as we entered the dancing area for the men, I found myself trying hard to not stare! Apparently there are different types of nambas, and some cover quite a bit more (or less) than others. Here, they wore minimal coverage, with, as we call them, "the boys" hanging right out there! I had seen pictures, and some men at the Nekowiar had these type nambas as well, but still it was shocking to be around twenty men raging from 17 to 80 years old, all practically naked. We were greeted by a line of about five men, who all shook our hands, and then one would put a leaf wreath over your head; you had to bend forward, and holy-moly, look at what you're looking directly at now!
The men performed four dances for us, and they were all terrific. They were laughing, singing, and energetically jumping around. They wore bean pods around their ankles to add to the beat of the older men playing the drums and tam-tams (ni-Van carved drum). A few 'photography' friends, as well as some of the books on photography, have said that when filming or shooting, try to get at a different angle; either lower or higher. So I was squatting down, filming, I glanced away for a minute, and when I turned back and looked through the viewfinder, one of the dancers had turned and was enthusiastically jumping towards me ... and oh my gosh the 'boys' were coming right at me! I nearly dropped the camera!
We moved to a different area to watch the women's dance, where the main attraction was a little girl trying to keep up with her mom. The women's dance wasn't quite as exciting or energetic, but we still enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards the men had us introduce ourselves and then provided us with drinking coconuts and their local dish, lap-lap. We had to pay for the dancing, but it was well worth the small fee, and one of the things I feel they are totally justified in charging for.
Banam Bay has a great beach with thousands of neat shells; we spent part of our morning just walking the beach and admiring the shells ... usually joined by curious children checking out what the whities are doing! On our second evening in the bay we walked inland a bit to another village, who had string band. They had the box-stick-string bass instrument as well, and a five-gallon barrel for the drum. The locals and cruisers all danced, and there was an abundance of laughter.