We only had a short 2 night stay in Lenakel. The anchorage was very uncomfortable & the town itself wasn't all that exciting, but we did manage to find some lovely fresh bread & buy a couple of the local beers, Tusker!. Saturday we headed back around to the east coast to Port Resolution (named by Captain Cook for his ship). This is a really lovely, calm anchorage with plenty of locals paddling by in their dugout canoes saying hello. We went ashore with PANTHERA & NICHA to have a wander through 2 of the villages tucked into the corner of the bay. They have been working hard at getting housing back up after after Cyclone Pam, but crops & banana plantations etc still have a long way to go. Also the pipeline that delivers fresh spring water from about 4km away has stopped working so they haven't had easy access to water for nearly 7 months. The villagers were extremely friendly & very welcoming to us. We made a booking for lunch the next day at Avoca Restaurant in the village of Ireupuow – run by the lovely Serah. It's nice to think we can help them out in some way. We walked for about 3 hours that afternoon...the children always running out to say hello & pull cheeky poses when we took photos of them.
Sunday morning was spent doing some jobs on the boat. Ange has started cleaning out cupboards, wiping them clean & tidying up, in preparation for our entrance into Australia. Our lunch at Avoca was basic, but very delicious. Each of us was served an omelette, rice, baked sweet potato, carrot & choko salad and a grated salad of raw vegetables, ginger & a vinegar dressing. All topped off with dessert consisting of small, sweet pancakes & a cup of famous Tanna coffee. Everything apart from the rice & flour was provided by her garden & chickens!! We visited the small community store where the village sells woven baskets, bags & a few trinkets to visiting tourists. Geri & Annabelle couldn't resist the bags, so again we were helping out the village!! Sunday afternoon we went back on shore to give the 2 villages & the local school small donations of staple foods, clothes & water containers from the three boats. We hope that this can help them in some small way. We were then bundled in to the back of the only car in the village - a 4WD owned by a lovely gentleman named Werry. Our yachtie liaison & guide, Stanley, was lucky enough to grab the other front seat. There are no roads on this side of the island only very rough 4WD tracks which certainly gave everyone’s kidneys a bashing along the 50 minute journey to the entrance to the Yasur volcano. After parking the car at the base of the volcano we had about a 20 minute walk up to the crater. There were plenty of people already there & Stanley led us around the rim to the perfect viewing location. The volcano erupts every 5 – 10 minutes throwing molten rock way up into the air. The clouds of sulphur that followed were overwhelming, burning your eyes, nostrils & throat. It was very windy so ash & dust was being blown into your face as well. We had sore eyes for a day or two after. As darkness fell the colours were just amazing...so red & hot!! Some of the eruptions were so huge & noisy you took a step backwards & said OMG!!! After about an hour & a half we headed back down to the 4WD & made our bumpy way home. Once back on the boat, a shower was bliss!!!
Monday morning we were back into the 4WD & ferried to the 'Kustom' village of Etapu where they still live a more traditional way of life. Our arrival was greeted by hidden beating drums, asking the villagers to return from their crops, & perform for us. We were treated to 3 lovely dances with the men wearing traditional nambas (penis sheath) & the ladies wearing grass skirts & lovely face paint. Our friend Richard had been looking forward to donning a nambas & the chief, Jack, got him organised. Richard looked great & the villagers then did other dance inviting him to join them. Plenty of laughs from us & some great pictures as well! It was a really great morning & we felt very lucky to see other remote village & it's lovely people. As the 4WD had dropped us off that morning & continued onto the markets at Lenakel we had a 2 hour or so walk back to Port Resolution. It was great to get some more exercise with the girls power walking & leaving the guys for dust!!!
Tuesday we headed off around 11am for Port Vila on the island of Efate. We had a shocker of a passage with very little wind as night fell & we spent 8 hours with flapping sails & an uncomfortable roll as we managed only to do between 2- 4 knots. Early Wednesday morning we set the spinnaker again & were able to make better progress. We were very happy to sail into the bay at Port Vila around midday! We cooked up some great BLT wraps, had a beer & went to sleep for a couple of hours. Then a quiet night for us on board the boat.
Thursday we spent exploring Port Vila. We had a great lunch at the town markets which are open 24 hours a day. The steak was to die for!! We also found a butchers & a great supermarket for stocking up before we leave for the northern islands.
Yesterday was a morning of retail therapy for Ange while Steve helped Richard repair the windlass on PANTHERA. Again it was back to the markets for lunch – at a different stall this time – still great food! Last night we caught a bus to the Beach Bar near Hideaway Island Resort. After Happy Hour we were treated to an hour of 'fire dancing.' It wasn't quiet what we expected.... locals dressed up in jeans performing to modern, western music... we were hoping for traditional singing and costumes...but it still was very good & performed by some truly talented locals from the village of Mele near Port Vila.
More boat cleaning this morning & then we will pop ashore to watch the AFL Grand Final & partake in a few beverages!!