Heading north

Vessel Name: Anna Rose
Hailing Port: Hobart
01 September 2013 | Honiara
01 August 2013 | En route to Luganville
16 July 2013 | Ranvetlam bay
12 July 2013 | Ranon Bay Ambrym
10 July 2013 | Lamen bay
03 July 2013 | Port Vila - Nambawan cafe
25 June 2013 | Port Vila
06 June 2013 | Port Vila
17 May 2013 | Bay of Islands
15 May 2013 | Tutukaka
10 May 2013 | Whangarei
Recent Blog Posts
01 September 2013 | Honiara

Journey's end

Well, we are as far north as we are going! Arrived here a couple of days ago and are now in the midst of handing the boat over to Oceanswatch...who have a crew of 8 taking her back to Fenualoa! They will be working there for a couple of months, then taking her all the way south again to NZ to get [...]

29 August 2013

The Banks islands and beyond

Written on 17th August at Graciosa Bay, Santa Cruz, Solomon Isles.

01 August 2013 | En route to Luganville

Blue holes

25 July 2013

White sand, sunshine and dancing

Goodness I find myself hardly knowing where to begin. We have had such a busy and fascinating and lovely few days! We have just arrived at Luganville, which is a proper town and an almost unbelievable contrast to some of the places we have been. We set off from a small island called Ambae at 4.00 [...]

16 July 2013 | Ranvetlam bay

Village life

We have moved literally about 1/2 mile since my last post! We have had some really strong winds in the past few days and where we were seemed to have its own private microsystem of particularly vicious gusts funnelling through a gap in the hills! So we and 4 other yachts are now sheltering in the [...]

12 July 2013 | Ranon Bay Ambrym

Black sand, volcanos and magic

We are now 30 or so miles north of Epi, anchored off a busy little village at the northern end of Ambrym, an island with black sand, two live volcanos and a reputation for magic and mystery. There is a big festival happening here in a few days which we thought we'd hang around for, so we have a couple [...]

Village life

16 July 2013 | Ranvetlam bay
Rosie
We have moved literally about 1/2 mile since my last post! We have had some really strong winds in the past few days and where we were seemed to have its own private microsystem of particularly vicious gusts funnelling through a gap in the hills! So we and 4 other yachts are now sheltering in the next bay along.. Winds still gusty and the forecast is for it to be very windy, wet and stormy for the next few days. (Smile on all of you in England, basking in beautiful sunshine!) The Vanuatu Met service this morning described the sea state in this area as 'phenomenally rough' Even allowing for the idiosyncrasies of south pacific English that doesn't sound nice! ... neither we nor any of the other yachts are going anywhere!

Luckily we were planning to stay here anyway for the festival which is happening on Thursday and Friday, and we are quite enjoying today just hunkering down with our books and iPads! There is a plan with the other boats for a BBQ on the beach tonight, but in the current drizzle that might not be much fun.

We have had an interesting few days. There is a track going along the coast and we have walked several miles in each direction, through delightfully picturesque villages and gardens. Small houses, often on stilts made of woven palm leaves and bamboo and sometimes painted in beautiful geometric designs. They have separate outside kitchens with open wood fires, so there is a lovely smell of wood smoke hanging in the air. Paths are beautifully swept, edged with beds of flowers or small hedges. Lots of chickens and dogs and pigs and small children, and occasionally a tethered horse or a cow. Everyone we pass greets us warmly and asks where we are going. We have learnt to be non committal. People are so determined to be hospitable and helpful that they are likely to offer to escort you, and will go hugely out of their way to do so. The other day in Port Vila we asked a young woman for directions to a hardware store and in spite of our protests she spent her entire lunch hour trailing round with us looking for it!

Yesterday we spent in the village by where we are anchored. I went to visit the primary school to give them some exercise books and crayons, and dauntingly found myself in front of class 1 being asked by their teacher to tell them about England and what work I did. Alexander Technique is not the easiest thing to explain at the best of times, but somehow it seemed to be ok and it was very sweet to see twenty or so 5-7 yr olds enthusiastically feeling for their sitting bones and mimicking how hunched over their grandmothers had become! Simon in the meantime went to help a man whose solar panel didn't seem to be charging his battery. Word spreads fast and by lunchtime he was Mr Popular, and he and his multimeter had a series of assignations with all sorts of battery and charging systems which weren't working properly. (Lucky he had all that experience of charging systems in Whangerai before we left!) There is no electricity in the village. A few people have generators, but solar panels are the latest thing and people seem to have expectations way exceeding what they can deliver. One guy asked Simon what was wrong with his because it wasn't working at night!

It really is raining quite hard now but apparently the BBQ is happening nonetheless. Very British.. (Yet we are the only Brits!) I'd better go and dig out our oilies!
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