Bound for Australia

Our trip across to Anatom started well with 2 days of 165 and 152 miles made good, and our second best fish – an 8.8 kg Mahi Mahi. Big enough to be a good feed, but not so big to deprive brother in law Warren of the record when he was onboard at 10.2 kg. After that the wind, but also the waves, died away steadily, and we motored the rest of the way into Anelghowhat Bay on the Southwest of Anatom at noon Saturday. The upside of a calm end to the trip was that our anchorage, behind the reef, was very flat and peaceful. We dinghied ashore, and went in search of the policeman to check in. Anatom has only recently been added to the list of ports of entry, where check in is possible, and it is also very informal, with the local policeman doing all the usual jobs. We were told that he had gone to the airfield as the weekly plane was due in from the Vanuatu capital, Port Vila, and we should come back later. So we relaxed ashore. The kids played with the locals, and we chatted to Mum, Rose. Anatom is the most primitive place we have been to so far. No electricity, apart from a couple of places that have solar panels. Most of the village houses are made of palm leaves, but they are getting a few more concrete buildings now – the small but smart police station, paid for by Australian aid, a post office and the junior school. Next to Anatom, but still inside the reef is a small island called Inyeug, but is has been called Mystery Island, largely for the tourists. This has the small grass airstrip, where the 20 seater plane comes in, but has also been well set up with beach chairs, a jetty, tour stalls and a market place for the cruise ships. Sure enough early Sunday morning the PO cruise ship from Sydney arrived, and over 1,000 tourists descended on this island, swimming, snorkelling, drinking, wandering the craft stalls, and going on local sightseeing tours. Small boats had been ferrying just about all the villagers to Mystery Island since first light to set up for their visitors. The cruise ships, upto 3 a week in the season, really make the economy here. The touristy bustle here, just for the day, was a huge contrast to the sleepy village of Anatom. They even had a big flaming cauldron set up with locals dressed as cannibals, and for $5 you could have your picture taken as ‘lunch’. Our friend Rose was giving massages. The school kids sang traditional songs to raise money for a new classroom. We did some snorkelling ourselves, then as the cruise ship set off returned to the village to wander round some more – looking at the ruins of the first Missionary’s house from 1830, and donating our fish head to one family, and some old toys to the kids we played with. We were meeting Carolyn’s Brother Warren (back again) and Niece, Margaret, on Tanna, the next island, on Monday, and so needed to leave by 5:00 am the next morning. We rounded off the day with sundowners onboard Sirius with Sue and Stefan from Charlotte – an English boat in the same bay, then an early night for our early start the next morning.