After an uneventful wet overnight sail (80nm)we arrived to more rain and mist in SW Bay. The festival yesterday was held in Tenstick village and consisted of a local string band (consisting of a home made guitar carved from a solid log and conventional guitars most missing a few strings) to entertain while the ladies of the village had vegetables for sale, some local craft of tie-dyed sarongs and tastings of local food.....laplap with coconut cream, banana cake and plantains with coconut cream. They tend to dress many of their foods with coconut cream to add flavour. The women were colourfully dressed in their floral 'Mother Hubbard' dresses and managed the event very well. It was interesting to note that one of the local women, instead of the village chief gave the formal closure, thanking all those in attendance, as well as asking for 'feedback' as to how they could improve the way they ran the event etc. seems like they are into 'best practice'! Today we motored about 3kms over to another bay where Kustom dancing and a lunch was being organised by the local village. We were greeted by guides all dressed in the same colourful shirts and dresses with name tags which looked quite professional. All the visitors were presented with a lei of fresh flowers and assigned in groups of six to a particular guide, who would look after you for the day. Quite a professional approach for a remote village. The morning was spent watching the Kustom dancing by the Nambas-all male, the name given to the people in this area. Dressed in colourful feathers, face paint, and reeds with a penis sheath, the men and a few young boys danced a number of performances to a group of drummers. Only boys who have gone through the circumcision ceremony which happens when they are around 10 years of age are eligible to participate in the Kustom dancing. The performance was held in a beautiful setting just back from the beach with a steep cliff covered in lush tropical growth as the backdrop. Lunch was quite a feast prepared mainly by the women of the village. A piglet was roasted and ceremoniously carried to the table,by a couple of young boys, fresh fish was deep fried (the closest dish to western tastes)plantains baked in their skins with coconut cream,laplap topped with coconut cream, baked taro, rice, boiled eggs,rice and various other dishes covered in coconut cream! The visitors were served first.. they even had paper plates and plastic utensils for eating so well prepared for entertaining their international visitors. We plan to leave this quite picturesque anchorage tomorrow and make our way around the bottom of Malakula to the Maskelyne Islands. ##

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