The hurricane scare just before we departed Vanuatu in Oct. has us convinced that Oct./Nov. are not good months for us with the anniversary of our dismasting, 4 hurricanes, and now an emergency appendectomy and hernia operations. Fortunately we had arrived in Australia after a delightful weeklong sail from Vanuatu and had time to get Ted to the hospital in Brisbane, almost. Medical care here is outstanding and maybe worth traveling from the states for something serious as their Private hospital system is efficient, skilled, and much cheaper than US prices. Now we are sitting in northern Queensland and will move the boat south in another month after Ted recovers sufficiently and in the meantime the kangaroos and emus are hopping around in the evening.
VANUATU--This is surely one of the world's most fascinating destination with an accessible volcano, Kastom dancers from the villages, water the color of Gin and filled with colorful reefs and fish, including some nasty sharks and a few whales. If time would permit we would happily return here for another complete sailing season. Unfortunately the anchorages are quite rolly but the crafts and culture ashore more than made up for our discomfort. The island of Tanna is located in the southern part of the chain and is the location of the magnificent volcano where one can stand on the rim and be showered with Volkswagen size pieces of molten lava. The local people live in thatched huts constructed of woven bamboo which grows all over the island among the groves of Banyon trees. Life is very simple and school appears to be optional.
Travel within the island is in the back of truck along dusty, pitted roads and interisland travel is obviously by small plane and with little security. We cruised north in the chain, stopping at assorted islands where each village entertained us with different dances. One island had beautiful sailing canoes with sails made of feed bags and the villagers traveled to the mainland every day to work in their gardens, bringing us beautiful produce as gifts or in trade. When the missionaries converted these islands they didn't seem to have much influence on the ancient culture that still remains to this day and is very evident in their dances. The children speak French, English, as well as their local languages and all people speak Pidgin English which is the official language of the country.
With small villages of 25 people these islands do not have the services that we were used to in other countries so laundry and showers were done in waterfalls and we carried all the food, water and fuel that we would need for a month or 2, trying to gauge the correct amount knowing that most items would be forbidden upon entry to Australia. Bill Dean crewed for us the last few months and has now left to return to the states. He has traveled with us on past voyages and will probably return for future ones.
Vanuatu differs from Fiji in that we didn't have to offer Kava to the chief in order to access the land but even here there were certain courtesys necessary when arriving in an anchorage. We were not free to walk until introductions had been made and in some instances money changed hands but everywhere we were greeted by villagers and accompanied by children. Dances are held for special occasions such as a circumcision and the men and women from surrounding villages gather to perform in a sacred part of the village. Some areas are off-limits to women who definitely are 2nd class citizens in this culture. The following photos speak for themselves.
