Vanuatu

We set sail for Vanuatu on a Friday- something we never do- never ever. Yes, some might say it's superstitious, and it is. Oh wait, I say that, and I am superstitious. Because if you don't know what you're doing, it's best not to tempt fate. See there I go again. Well, we had one of the best passages ever, and safely anchored after dark (another thing we don't ever do). I guess Vanuatu is a special place, easy-going and safe.  Not being familiar with the anchorage and unable to gauge the distance between us and the anchor light of other boats, we dropped far outside the area. In the morning we awoke to the customs officials. They asked if we could please move closer to the other yachts before checking us in. They were so nice, and accommodating. We didn't have to call on the radio, or walk across town to multiple offices; it was the easiest of anywhere we've been. (FYI for cruisers, the Aneityum anchorage is open with good holding, our charts were accurate and coming in after dark was not a problem. Check-in was also easy, but there is no access to money here, only an exchange bank, so bring your $ US, NZ, Fijian or other currency. The fees totaled $80 US, and we were able to trade sugar and rice for produce).

This is downtown.
 Ladies sat in the shade and chatted, the men  were  hauling cinder blocks to a build site. It was a great place to get off the boat and run around.

Local kids hanging out in the residential area.

Miles flying his kite on Mystery Island

Self photo :)

A day at the beach with the crew of s/v Convivia!

Ahhhh.... 

Just hanging out

The villagers threw us a traditional dinner and invited us to ask any questions we had about their culture and way of life. After 3 bowls of kava, Krister was ready to chat (see previous post). The local kids ran around with Ruby and Miles (from Convivia), we all danced and talked and really got into the spirit of cross cultural exchanges.

Traditional dress

A short walk across the island through coconut palms and banana trees

I was so excited to find my first nautilus shell! ... followed by my 2nd, 3rd, 4th... Krister said I shouldn't keep them all, so I left a few for some one else to find. What a magical beach! 

We had a great time on Anetieyum and Mystery Island, but with such a short time left before we had to be in Australia, we had to keep moving. Early in the morning we set sail to Tanna. It was a long day's sail to Port Resolution, and our charts didn't provide much detail of the anchorage. The friendly locals came out to say hello, they brought delicious, organic produce and asked if we could come by and help fix their generators.

Krister assessing the generator  problem with Patrick, his son Louis, and the local boys.

The kids loved having their photo taken!

Britannia anchored in Port Resolution

Patrick's home, and village

Katie showing us the village garden. Sweet potato, taro, corn, beans, a variety of cabbage, papaya, banana,...

Beautiful banyan trees where everywhere

We made arrangements to visit Mt. Yasur, an active volcano. It was a bit on the expensive side, but like swimming with the whales in Tonga, it was unforgettably awe-inspiring. It felt like living on the pages of National Geographic. Even though I'd seen videos and photos, I was not prepared for the physical experience of standing on the edge of a living volcano. The minor eruptions sent pulses through the air; the shock waves could be seen in the smoke rising from caldera. The larger blasts sent adrenaline pulsing through our veins as we stumbled backwards in instinctual survival mode. The vibrations of the molten rock hitting the earth could be heard around the crater and the pulses of air forced out blew through us.

As the sun set, the lava glowed brighter and Mt Yasur  disclosed its secrets

Local fishermen in their homemade outrigger

After the volcano experience, we were off again. This time on an overnight passage to the capital, Port Vila on the island of Efate.

Krister on watch with the bananas received for working on a generator

The day before elections in Port Vila- voting is taken very seriously.  The streets were full of pride and  propaganda.

Amanda looking over Port Vila.

We've had such wonderful times here in Vanuatu, wish we could stay longer.

Footprints in the volcanic black sand

Kava in Vanuatu

I've been disappointed by how mild (or nonexistant) the effect from Fijian kava has been. Fijians love their kava, and I just don't get it.

The kava in Vanuatu is another story entirely. We were invited to a traditional feast onshore that, of course, involved a kava ceremony. I was struck first by the lack of "ceremony" involved - rather than having everyone sit formally in a circle, the kava was just available to be consumed as people desired. Think beer keg, where a social circle develops, but there's no official event. I was struck (very) shortly thereafter by the powerful effect of the kava.

I felt relaxed and talkative at the same time. Our hosts told us to ask any questions we wanted to about their lives and culture, and sitting with the Vanuatu-ans (?), drinking kava and talking about what it feels like to live in the same village that your family has lived in for 50 generations, watching stars above swaying palms brought me an overwhelming sense of wellbeing.

The Best Passage Ever

We've spent a long time now being at sea in relatively uncomfortable conditions. The trip to and from New Zealand is well known as a passage that's considerably less comfortable than the down hill tradewind passages we had early last season. Looking back, it seems like the last truly "nice" passage we had was maybe the pacific crossing... and even that had it's moments of nastiness.

I think we'd forgotten how nice it can be to just head down wind in moderate seas. So basically we've spent the last three days looking at each other and smiling saying "Is this what sailing is actually supposed to be like?"

We're in Anetiyum, Vanuatu now and just cleared in through customs. Vanuatu is supposed to be the "friendliest place on earth" or something to that effect (most islands in the South Pacific like to advertise as such), and this time it actually seems to be true. I've never met such friendly customs officers.

A bit of weather has kicked up; it's blowing 25 knots and rained hard last night. It's actually a pretty nice way to wake up after a passage - no reason to do too much, so we're taking it easy on the boat and getting excited to do some exploring tomorrow...

Leaving Fiji

Man! Have we been here a long time! The weather, more specifically the SPCZ, has finally moved on and sunny days with light breezes are here. Krister discovered a de-stranding cable in one of our shrouds and a cracked insulator on our back stay a few days ago that we had to scurry to fix in time for this weather window. Thanks to Bruce, the local rigger, we're all set to go. The boat is looking good; full of fuel and food, cleaned up and ready to go. It's been a long time since we've made a passage, but it's only 3 days to Vanuatu. It's the  perfect amount of time to remind us what it's all about, and to get us ready for our longer passage to Australia that's coming up in November. This will be the first passage we've made without Piko since leaving Mexico. They are currently underway, sailing back to Auckalnd, NZ. We're missing them a lot, but keeping in touch via the SSB. Our Emery Cove Marina friends on s/v Convivia have caught up with us and will be accompanying us westward. It's been a busy couple weeks and lots of fun, but we're all looking forward to what's next.
Fairwinds,
Amanda

Some things about Fiji

I've been meaning to write for weeks... has it been weeks since I last wrote?... well here are some thoughts and happenings that I've wanted to write about but until now haven't gotten around to doing.

We've been "out" long enough so that things like dental appointments need to happen before we "go home." Lucky for us, we found an awesome DDS in Lautoka. It was the first time since I was a kid that a dentist cleaned my teeth instead of a hygienist. Nice guy, next day appointments, inexpensive ($25 USD for cleaning and consultation, $20 for a filling), thorough and professional and right on the bus route. We really recommend this guy if you're in the area. 

 Dr. Vimal K Murthi, Thank you!

Another recommendation are these guys...

If you're looking for something local and authentic they've got the goods. Tony hooked us up with a beautiful, traditional, Fijian carved bowl and even engraved Britannia's name on it for us. True to Fijian form, we were heartily welcomed back and invited to stay with him anytime we're in Nadi. I mention them not only because of their friendliness, which was ample, but because the souvenirs and art they sell is all locally made. A lot of the shops here import "hand carved" but mass produced items from China and other parts of the world. I was happy to have met the people who made my keepsake. It's great to support local economies but really it's all about the memories man!

So we've been back in town for a while. (Actually we're anchored in Saweni Bay again) Most days we catch the bus into Lautoka for lunch and admin, like provisioning, filling propane tanks and extending our Visas. No day is ever the same (the "schedule" is pretty loose) and we're always being presently surprised. Like when we went back to the immigration office to pick up our passports we ran into Alex from Moondance; a single hander that we'd meet in La Paz, Mexico almost 2 years ago. What a small world... well it is when you're sailing around it! It's amazing how small and well connected the cruising community really is. I love it! 

Krister carrying a massive bag of groceries to the bus stop. 

A few things about  Fiji...
The sugar industry is huge. There are fields of the stuff everywhere, and after they harvest it, the fields are burned. So it's smokey. Lautoka is home to the largest sugar cane mill in the southern hemisphere.  But it seems that it is closed a lot due to mechanical break downs and a lack of parts. We've spoken to many locals, taxi drivers and market ladies... it has something to do with the military coup and lack of international trade. (Funny note: We've heard advertisements while riding the bus to call or write suggestions for the new constitution.) Most people we talk to don't seem to have much to say about the government. What they'd rather talk about is racial bias. Which leads me to...

Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple

There are a lot of Indians in Fiji. And Fijians, as a whole, don't have nice things to say about them. During British colonial rule, Indians were brought here as indentured servants. Now they live here, but are not allowed to own land. They can lease it, but most of the Indian population lives in the cities and own businesses. To sum it up, the Fijians say that the Indo-Fijians are busybodies and the  Indo-Fijians say that the Fijians are lazy. My opinion (as a liberal American) is that  Indo-Fijian food is delicious, their clothes fascinating and ornate, and that they are helpful although more stand offish than Fijians. Can't we all just get along?!

Typical Indo-Fijian clothing store

Even though we felt a bit like smuggled human cargo, Krister and Lauren enjoyed their bouncy ride in the back of an old pick-up truck into Lautoka

On Monday our friends on Dilligaf set sail for Vanuatu.  We'll be following in their wake at the end of the month. But first Krister's mom is coming for a visit, and we're in for a reunion with Tao and Convivia next week when they arrive in Fiji from Tonga. We've known since the beginning of the season that Dilligaf was planning on being back in Seattle for Thanksgiving and that Piko was going back to New Zealand for work, but after all our lazy days together it'll be hard to go our own way.

One last thing. Today was the first time we drug our Rocna anchor. Nothing too serious; we just nicked the reef. It's mysterious though. We've been sitting in the same spot for a week with mostly settled conditions, anchored in 10 feet, mud and rocky coral. Today started like any other, but then the wind piped up from 17 to 25 knots and shifted to the north, opening us up to the full fetch of the Bligh Water. With a scope of 7 to 1 it's hard to imagine us dragging. We sat thru 45+ knots with 3 to 1 in Musket Cove.  But the hobby-horsing must have unset the Rocna-  maybe too much jerking for our snubber to keep it in the ground at such shallow depths in what's less than perfect holding... Anyway, everyone goes on the reef in Fiji at some point. It's just a matter of time. We're officially in the club now- but just barely.

ps.

A few more sightings to add to our sign collection:

For all the surfers :)

What is this implying?

Some favorites from Blue Lagoon and Manta Bay

Fiji continues to be visually stunning! Although we've gotten lazy about getting off the boat and getting  "out there," we still manage to find surprises and delightfulness while walking around and going ashore.

The blue lagoon anchorage

Dilligaf, Britannia, and Piko

Walking across the island to the Tea House

Waiting for the girls

Cruiser's Happy Hour

Krister hearts Piko!

Soft and Hard Corals

Amanda in action

Snorkel area in front of Barefoot Resort