Volcanoes in Vanuatu, and the Sugarcane Train In Fiji!

We left Fiji during the sugar cane harvest when the cane, which is is a very tall grass was flowering with a feathery head similar to Pampas grass. Once the cane had been cut the stubble was burnt, filling the evening skies with dramatic flames and smoke. The sugarcane train is a narrow gauge railway running around the eastern bays of Viti Levu, transporting open carriages stacked with tons and tons of cane, going to be processed into sugar. The small yellow locomotives made a lot of noise with their hooters, usually in the early morning or so it seemed, when I was slumbering peacefully!

Vuda marina proved a pleasant stop for a few days, it had a shop, a chandlery, and a bar with restaurant which was popular with locals as well as the yachties. However, our berth was directly by the dry sandy boat yard, so clouds of dirt and dust were generated daily by the boat lift, tractors and machinery moving around the yard, which covered our boat in a horrible layer of industrial grime. I needed to scrub the rigging before hanging out the washing and even below decks felt gritty under our bare feet. Mosquitos and other biting insects were also a nuisance, which we combated with nets, coils and repellents.

Despite this we had an enjoyable five days stay, we met up with a friend from the original Rally, Julian on Domini. Together we walked up mountains followed by a delicious Indian thali meal, and went to watch Fiji v Australia rugby in the local town of Lautoka, followed by another delicious Indian thali! We also shared an evening of music, with Ju on his keyboard, Richard on harmonica and myself on percussion, which was great fun. Shortly after that we said farewell to Laura who flew back to a Wales after being a wonderful crew member for 8 weeks. Our last outing together was to mud baths and hot pools followed by a relaxing massage, what a treat! Having done all the jobs we could at Vuda, we moved the boat 5 miles to an anchorage outside another town called Denerau, which had different chandleries and supplies. This small port is a buzzing seaside resort and had shops and restaurants on the deck promenade where lots of tour boats and ferries come and go to the islands.

For a couple of days it was just Richard and I getting the final jobs done, which involved lots of administration on the computer filling in forms for entry into Vanuatu and Australia. We had a bit of trouble getting hold of Vatu, the currency of Vanuatu, as no banks carried it because the country had been closed for 2 years. Because we were leaving on a yacht, we required an extra permit to buy Vatu, as obviously sailors are dodgy at the best of times! Eventually the chap from the Bureau de change at the airport delivered it to us personally in Denerau the day before we left.

We celebrated our last night in Fiji in true Fijian style at a Fijian restaurant, where we enjoyed live local music and a free kava bowl. Richard and I were keen to partake whenever they called “kava time” we went up to receive a bowl, well, when in Rome…..! This strange tasting substance is drunk form coconut shells and gives a slight anaesthetic tingling around the mouth and a mild euphoria which went well with the wine, music and traditional food. The lovely Fijian staff also sang their traditional farewell song to us before we left. There were four in our party, Augustine, our new crew, and also Marc from the boat Gentoo. We had talked to Marc on the radio during our Fiji crossing but only just met him in person! Unfortunately, his daughter had an earache that evening so his wife stayed onboard.

Finally, on Tuesday 12th July 2022, we cleared customs, bought bread and cakes and set off with no wind at all. We motored for the first 20 hours, which was boring but allowed us to settle our new crew Augustine into the bill of watch. The breeze came up from behind us and we launched the spinnaker, gybed the spinnaker, lowered the spinnaker and changed to goose-winged white sails. By the time we were approaching Vanuatu 3 days later the wind had veered all the way round to southerly which meant we were sailing upwind. We had started the passage sailing fairly gently downwind and finished it hard onto the wind in a Force 5, with reefs in our sails and Celtic Star dipping her starboard toerail under the waves.

The weather had become more and more overcast and showery and as we approached the island of Tanna we could hardly see coastline and famous volcano. It was also shockingly cool for us, so frankly a bit miserable, especially as we had to run about in the rain to set the anchor at Port Resolution. Our eyes were stinging and we realised that this was due to the slightly acid rain caused by volcano ash! The water is also slightly acidic and we found it cleaned the bottom of the boat very well!

Port Resolution may conjure up a certain image, but it’s not at all what you imagine. There is no port and after 3 days there wasn’t any resolution, neither in the weather or clearing into the country. A roughly circular bay surrounded by low creeper draped cliffs supporting dark jungle and a glimpse of a palm roof through the undergrowth, probably in unchanged since Captain Cook arrived in 1773 and named the bay for his ship, “Resolution”. We arrived in the late afternoon and were exhausted so stayed on board for the first night. The following morning we excitedly inflated our dinghy and made our way to shore where several thick wooden roughly dug out canoes were drawn up.

A rough track and a scramble led up to a few huts and bungalows and a low building which was obviously the school, due to the diminutive chairs and tables inside. We walked along a track and found a group of locals planting crops behind a bushy hedge, one of whom was Wherri. Unsure of ourselves, because everyone stared at us , we explained about meeting customs and immigration here, but Wherri asked us to return to the boat to wait for them to visit us. We had obtained special permission to enter Vanuatu at Port Resolution so we could visit the volcano. Brian was meant to be meeting us with the paperwork and he had to fly back in from the capital, Port Vila on another island 120 miles away, but his flight was cancelled. Aware it was now Saturday we wondered if anything would happen over the weekend. To be honest, we enjoyed time to chill and recover from a horrible respiratory bug that Richard and I suffered on the passage, negative COVID test pre departure, so not COVID but nonetheless nasty. Over the weekend Richard had the opportunity to clean the engine bay, change all the fuel filters and discover that we had started to grow the dreaded fuel bug! A mould that forms candy floss in your fuel tank and if left unchecked blocks all filters and pipes. Hopefully, he had stopped it in time. Other jobs were undertaken to fill the time, with grey rainy skies and murky green waters snorkelling wasn’t even an option! Rain or shine, over the weekend local men spent many an hour fishing with small drift nets in the bay, they didn’t have outboard engines attached and the canoes looked hard work to paddle. On Monday morning we ran out of anything to do, and with no internet or phone connection we were cut off. There were already a couple of boats at anchor when we arrived in Port Resolution. A Danish boat that had cleared in Port Vila and sailed back to Tanna, and a British boat that arrived hours before us and were waiting to clear immigration and see the volcano called Right Choice. We called over and had a few beers in their cockpit and also did a quick dinghy tour of the steaming outlets and pools surrounding this intriguing bay, but on Sunday they gave up waiting and decided to head for Port Vila to check in.

On Monday with no sign of an official appearing by lunchtime we headed for shore to see what was happening! Good news, the official would be with us at the Yacht club at 1500 and we booked Wherri to take us to the volcano.

This trip was undertaken in a 4 wheel drive truck, but the roads had disintegrated and fallen apart in the last 2 years so It was a slow drive and incredibly tortuous. We passed villages made from palm leaves, pigs and hens wondered by and friendly people waved to us. Eventually we arrived at the volcano visitor centre, picked up our guide and helmets and left the truck in order to walk up the cinder cone. By now the light was fading and the wind was blowing and as we headed up the desolate rock strewn cinder path the heavens opened soaking us to the skin. The approach to the crater was sulphurous and as we stood at the edge steam and smoke billowed out and blew swiftly away. Then with an absolutely terrifying roar the crater glowed orange and a dense plume of brown smoke and bits of glowing lava rose into the air, fire and brimstone indeed! Despite being soaked and windswept we stopped to watch this eruption about every 4 minutes, for an hour, then made the long ride back to the semi derelict Yacht Club.

Our next island was called Erromango “ land of the mango” 50 miles from Tanna. We were the first yacht to anchor at Dillons Bay and visit Williams Bay town for 2 years so we received a very warm welcome from David and his wife Ruda, who provide tours for the visitors. However, there were a few villagers visiting from the other side of the island who did not know Vanuatu had opened its borders again and they were not happy with our arrival, so we returned to the boat until the situation was resolved, which it was. A wiser course of action than the missionary Dillon who stepped ashore in a tabu area, thereby forcing the local to kill him. He was the last white man eaten in Erromango, but not the last to be killed. The village stands on a river and in March after heavy rain, the river flooded and damaged buildings as well as their vegetable gardens. Trees and wood were ripped out in the torrent, but then unusually big waves drove all the wood up their beaches.

The official language of Vanuatu is Bismala which is based on a pigeon English. The islands and villages all have their own language too and they speak English and French from colonial times. At one stage a French and an English and a local government ruled at the same time, which caused chaos. The Vanuatans also suffered under the hands of unscrupulous traders seeking Sandlewood, subsequently, they distrusted the “white man” for many years.

Freshly squeezed lemonade and a drink of coconut water refreshed us before we returned to Celtic Star for a snooze. David visited us later in his canoe to collect a fishing hook and lure and then we did a night passage to the capital city, Port Vila, on the island of Efate. This was a tough, squally and very wet little passage and we dumped the anchor at 0600 so we could catch up on sleep before mooring stern to at the Yachting World Marina. The marina was busy getting their facilities ready, painting and plumbing , so it wasn’t quite open, nevertheless we got the laundry done, our gas bottles filled in town, plus a diesel delivery. With the jobs sorted, we enjoyed dinner out and then an early night.

Port Vila is a bustling Melanesian capital town with a thriving market and all the shops and supplies we needed.

Richard managed to chase down a problem with the engine start panel and that left us a few days to explore the island of Efate, our very last island in the Pacific Ocean. A trip across to Havanah Bay to go diving turned into a great day out with locals joining us on the bus and entertaining us with their constant "joie de vivre" on the boat as well. The diving was splendid and the resort had a turtle hatchery where I named and released a my sponsored turtle- Tilly!

Monday we are taking a round the island tour and Tuesday we set sail for Cairns, Australia. Internet connectivity is hit and miss, so I will publish now and save tomorrows photos for the next blog in a couple of weeks.