Wild Vanuatu
07 October 2012 | Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu
Guest blog by Lane
"The Millennium Cave is a raw and unspoiled experience. If you are a health and safety freak, this may not be the thing for you... The Millennium Cave tour is an unforgettable experience and a must-do if you are willing to enjoy nature in its original form and minus the plastic wrapper of 'western' safety regulations."
-- local tourist mag
This less-than-reassuring puff-piece was entirely accurate, and sets the tone well for Espiritu Santo, the largest island of Vanuatu: (http://goo.gl/maps/CWtlY). Chock full of friendly native villages, stereotypical South Pacific beaches, relatively few tourists and minimal infrastructure, WWII shipwrecks and downed aircraft in the mountain jungles - it’s pretty great. But more on the Millennium Cave later.
I was fortunate to be invited back onboard Whippersnapper for the third time. The guys keep Whippersnapper in fine form, he looked and felt as tight as it did 13 months ago in the Med. With huge smiles and impossible tans, the guys welcomed me in warm summer rain at Luganville airport after a short flight from the utterly-missable Port Vila. A quick stock up on food, beer, reef shoes and fishing supplies (leading to an awesome Wahoo catch by Mike later in the week) and we were soon on board and navigating into nearby Oyster Bay. Hair-raising to get into - we scraped by with 0.5m clearance at one point - the benefits became clear: a protected bay, a friendly resort with cold beer and an awesome chef, and free wifi that our collection of devices flooded.
With clear skies and blazing sun, we set out for the famed Champagne Beach the next day. To my complete delight we were joined by a pod of very playful dolphins, which helped distract me from the seasickness caused by the rolly waves. Champagne Beach is the stuff of South Pacific postcards. A pure-white arc of sand backed by palm trees and jungle-coated cliffs, leading to gentle, crystal-clear aquamarine waters. When the cruise ships drop-in, the locals trade in thatched-roof huts at sands-edge. The only locals present for our visit were the farmers’ quite reticent cows.
We moored and kicked off our daily Monopoly Board Domination Comp in the neighbouring Hog Harbour, so-named because it’s a pig of an anchorage due to rolly waves. As it turned out the winds weren't our biggest problem; it was the nasty coral bommy that gave us no end of grief when trying to untangle the anchor the next morning.
Once untangled, over about 4 hours we sailed up to Port Orly, billed as a “Mediterranean -style harbour village”. Not quite: Vanuatu is very poor, and this village also suffered being wiped out in a cyclone some years ago. We did find; tasty coconut crab, lobster, beers, and warm smiles in an unbeatable beachside setting at the Paradise restaurant.
I got a taste of Whippersnapper at (near) full tilt and slamming into the waves on the 6 hour sail back to Oyster Bay, thanks to a strong headwind. I also got a taste of the “1 big tack vs. multiple small tacks” debate between the guys that doesn’t look like it’ll end anytime soon.
And so, back to the Millennium Cave. Thwarted by an earlier attempt to do it due to heavy rain, we were all keen to experience it. From Luganville, a one hour road bash in an ill-equipped Hiace took us to meet a local highlander who would be our guide on the 4 hour trek through muddy, slippery jungle paths, rotting bamboo bridges, and mountain villages with the only modern concessions being mobile phones (and the odd “mobile phone tower” - a bamboo structure to climb up into for better reception).
The Cave’s impressive 30-40m high entrance is framed by ferns in a small gully, with a fresh river flowing into and through it into pitch darkness. Armed with ineffective torches, our guide led us - often single-file, holding hands to stay upright in the current - through the 500m cave. Overhead hundreds of swallows and bats threatened to get into our hair, spiders leapt across our fingers as we grabbed the walls to stay upright in the current, and there was even a waterfall descending from high up in the 60m chamber.
(If you see the photos of us with face painting, each symbol relates to an element of the Cave - including the waterfall).
Emerging back into daylight, the next phase began while our guide’s sister and children carried our bags back up through the jungle. It was billed as a “float” down the river in life vests to the next jungle path, sort of… The “float” lasted about 2 minutes. And was rapidly followed by slippery rock climbing, squeezing into gaps flooded with torrents of water, swinging down on metal chain links hammered into rock walls, navigating strong currents in water tunnels, and generally having a ball in a simple life vest and no liability waiver. 4 hours later we collapsed back into the Hiace - exhausted, covered in mud, blisters, scrapes and smiles all round.
Mike and Hugh: you've outdone yourselves again. Thank you for this (third!) round of wonderful memories.
See you on the shores of Sydney.
-- Lane