A last minute decision brought us to Vanuatu. We realized this was our only chance to visit this relatively un-touristed island group. Previously known as the New Hebrides, and ruled jointly by Britain and France, Vanuatu is now an independent nation.
Our welcoming party in Port Resolution, Tanna. The people from the local village are friendly and polite, if a little shy. Several times we glanced out one of our windows, only to find an outrigger a few feet away from our boat, with its occupants patiently waiting for us to notice them.
Here was our lunch spot during our trip to the "big" village of Lenakel, in order to check into Vanuatu. There are many languages spoken by the people of Vanuatu, but the one that everyone speaks is known as Bislama. It is a "pidgin" English that dates back to the 1930's. You can see an example on the front wall above - "Come enjoyem lunch wetem mifala" - which means "Come enjoy lunch with us".
The main attraction in Vanuatu for lots of cruisers is the very, very active Yasur volcano on Tanna. Here's one view of Yasur, from the upwind and less active side.
On our second night in Tanna we visited the volcano, up close and personal. These pictures were taken from the edge of the cinder cone, where no sane person should be. The warnings on the pathway made it clear this was no safe place to stay; they explicitly state that during an eruption you should never turn your back on the volcano - flying lava bombs and rocks have been known to land in the viewing area on rare occasions.
Our second stop in the island chain was Erromango. At Dillon's Bay, the son of the chief took us into a burial cave where victims of cannibalism were believed to have been thrown into. Before entering the cave, he asked permission from the spirits to visit.
While anchored in the Meskalin Islands we saw lots of traditional craft plying the waters, fishing or island hopping. What fuel crisis?
The island of Ambrym is famous for the kastom dance; kastom is pidgin for customary, or traditional. The missionaries tried to stop these dances 100 years ago, but they're making a come back as Vanuatuans have come to appreciate their traditional culture. We were the only off-islanders to see the dancing this day. Of special interest is the elaborate headdress - it takes years to earn the right to own and wear one.
After the hike in Ambrym we moved to the aptly named Waterfall Bay on the island of Pentecost. A few local kids gladly escorted us to the pools at the bottom of the falls, where we swam and relaxed. Here's Austin doing his Napoleon Dynamite impression.
Nightfall at Waterfall Bay. The moon was almost unbelievably bright as it came over the trees.
Next stop on the road to Australia was the remote Huon atoll, north of New Caledonia. Uninhabited and rarely visited, the birds haven't developed a fear of humans; they allow you close enough to touch them - not that we tried.
It's breeding and egg-laying season for the big Green turtles. The females return to the same beach every 4 years to lay their clutches of eggs.
Lots of baby Boobies everywhere. Mom and Dad are out hunting, and the young ones wait wherever they've been left, anxious for their next feeding.
The things they don't show you on the nature programs. The island was littered with the carcasses of dead female Green turtles. They exhaust themselves getting up the beach, and frequently never make it back to the water; sometimes they get trapped in tidal pools, or simply die of heat exhaustion in the tropical sun.
Turtle Rescue 101. It took some trial and error, and lots of help, but we were able to save 8 turtles from a slow death, trapped in tidal pools that have rock walls too high to climb over. Thankfully, another 2 boats were in the anchorage, and working together we managed to herd these gentle giants back to open water.
Interesting shark story: Tyler and I went out on the shallow reef outside the atoll looking for lobsters. We had given up and were headed back when I spotted a big one under a ledge. Tyler took a shot with the spear gun, but it didn't completely penetrate, and the spear dislodged as I was trying to pull him out. Now, we have a wounded lobster trying to hide under a ledge. Finally, I was able to get the gun under the ledge and got a decent shot (imagine being upside down with your head in the sand, trying to peer into a dark space only 6 inches deep with ocean swells buffeting you). Meanwhile, Tyler's telling me about this 4' white tip shark that is getting more and more curious and is circling at increasingly close quarters. As I'm pulling this Granddaddy lobster out of the hole, Tyler is fending the shark off with the spear gun. Tyler jabbed him in his side with the butt of the gun and at one point the shark had the tip of the spear in his mouth, but he wouldn't back down. I finally get the lobster to the surface and the shark starts going nuts. I didn't realize it at the time, but I had cut my hands on the rocks and was bleeding in the water. The water is only a few feet deep and we're crouching down, trying to follow the erratic actions of the shark. I got scared that he was going to bite Tyler, so I dropped the lobster and told Tyler to get up on the rocks behind us. Faster than we could follow with our eyes, he came around me, seized the lobster and took it under another rock nearby. We saw him thrashing around as he tore it to pieces. We exited stage right. Shark: 1, Barbara Ann: 0.
After a few days of atoll adventures and relaxation, Barbara Ann sailed to Bundaberg, Australia. It was an interesting 3 day trip, with everything from a gale on the first night to having to motor in no winds. As far as coming into Australia, I can't beat what Forrest Gump said: "it's this whole other country".
Australia
