Cool Bananas in Vanuatu
Yes, we are still in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Since our last communication we have sailed our way back down to Port Vila having two main stops. The first was Bannam Bay, Malekula Island.
Here we were in an isolated village with no tourism except the yachts. They were extremely hospitable and we had some great experiences in village life. They took us (that's all bar me) for a walk to a beautiful waterfall, picking ripe fruit from trees as they went. The children are so agile, shimmying tall coconut palms for their fruit. Their hospitality extended to an afternoon tea spread on the way back. The village put on their traditional dancing just for us. A real treat.
We then had a good run down to Lamman Bay in Epi. This is where you can swim with the dugong, sea cows. We saw and swam with one. Photos courtesy of Dynes.
The village there was quite large and looked relatively well funded compared with anywhere else. We joined in their Independence Day celebration - run on 'island time'. It's funny but you ask 3 locals what time something starts and you'll probably get three different times. We've learnt to just go with the flow.
From there we were going to visit a couple more islands but the wind was so good, and I was rapidly declining in health, so we ended up making a hasty track straight into Port Vila. Turns out I had a chest infection and asthma – nothing a good antibiotic wouldn't fix. No subsides here – a course of augmentin cost $60!!!
We then farewelled Lyn and Dynes from the boat, Dynes having had about 9 weeks on the boat this season. They have been fantastic crew and great company.
Debs got a great job in Australia which they encouraged her to go to, sooner rather than later, so she hasn't returned to the boat. So Daryl and I had a couple of weeks on the boat, catching up on maintenance and looking for crew. We now have Greg aboard, who has flown from the States to help us with the next two crossings. His friend Lena will join us in Noumea.
Friends from Opotiki, Julian and Nghaire Lowe have been on the boat for the last 10 days. John Connor also came and stayed locally, joining in the days activities. So we had a week of playing tourist and then went sailing for a few days around the coast.
Coming back we hit some bad weather on the notorious "Devils Point" at the bays entrance. The decision to tow the dinghy turned out to be a bad one. The rope broke and it was too rough to turn back and get it, so we had to let it go. A hard call and Daryl is still mourning the loss of a loyal friend.
The cruisers have been fantastically supportive in getting a replacement. One boat offered to swap us a dinghy (along with holes) for a carton of beer. The boat yard dug up an old motor he'd never got round to fixing up and another boat found some old oars belonging to his long- gone dinghy. We're back in business!! Great considering you can't buy a dinghy here even if we had wanted a new one. We'll choose a new one when we get to Australia.
The weather has been fairly wet and wild. We are hoping to leave for New Caledonia in 3-4 days time.
Laurel & Daryl _/)
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