Here In Vanuatu
04 June 2014 | Oyster Bay, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu
Linda 70's & Fabulous!
We arrived in Luganville, Vanuatu after a relatively uneventful 6 1/2 day passage from Funafuti, Tuvalu. Started out with moderate wind and fairly sloppy seas = the usual seasickness for Brad. Then flying along at 7 knots for a period of time, followed by lighter wind and the last 8 hours motoring with the main up in order to make our anchorage before dark.
We were within 5 miles of Espiritu Santo before we could finally see a small bit of coastline below the clouds. Odd when you know there’s a big land mass dead ahead but you can’t see it. But ... the smell of flowers and foliage in the air was sweet and intermittently broken by that of wood smoke, a pleasant reminder of cooking in the islands. As you enter the channel you pass ‘Million Dollar Point’ where the US dumped endless equipment into the ocean at the end of WWII. Guess it wasn’t worth hauling it away and lord knows we wouldn’t want to just leave it behind for someone else to make use of!
The Ni-Vanuatu are Melanesian and seem to live primarily out of town in the surrounding hills. The lush green vegetation is quite a sight after over a year out in the atolls. They have very fertile soil and plenty of it, so the produce at the market is exceptional and very inexpensive. We’re puzzled by a few things we’ve yet to identify much less figure out what to do with them but that’s part of the fun. Some of my favorite sights are the big piles of peanuts with the roots still attached and yams that must weigh in at over 10 pounds.
Yesterday we hitched a ride into town (about a 20 minute ride from where we’re anchored) in the back of a pickup loaded with locals and their produce. Time to restock after the passage and see what’s available in the shops so we can plan for our upcoming expedition out to the more remote islands. It’s currently pamplemousse season and that’s a treat we’ve been looking forward to for months. Mango trees are just starting to bloom and there’s always loads of bananas and papayas.
There are currently 8 boats anchored here in Oyster Bay, 5 of them we know from our time in the Marshall Islands. Most will be headed along with us to New Zealand at the end of the cruising season in November. In the meantime there’s lots of exploring to be done in and around the roughly 80 islands and islets that make up Vanuatu.
I’ve posted photos from Tuvalu so take a look at the new albums.