We left Port Vila about a week ago with plans to continue North along the volcanic chain of islands that make up Vanuatu. While Cassie stocked up with fresh fruit and veges (half of which I had never seen before), the rest of us stocked up on cheep DVD’s and even cheaper duty free
booze. $14 for a 1l bottle of Johnnie Walker and no limit meant we had quite a load to carry back to the boat! Trouble was we couldn’t drink any till we cleared out of Vanuatu in a couple of weeks time……hmmmm, definitely a test of will power!We thought it would be nice to take it easy so we decided to do short trips during the day before pulling up into a protected anchorage to spend the night. Our first stop was just off the northern end of Efate (Port Vila) before we hit open water again briefly on our way to Cooks Reef. This reef is off the southern coast of Epi and with perfect conditions we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get in a bit on snorkeling and spear fishing before heading out to sea again. Unfortunately, the fish weren’t as big or stupid as I would have liked, but it was still good fun.
Our next destination was an inlet off the southern end of Malakula Island, called port Sandwich (don’t ask about the stupid name, it must have been the French who left in 1980). We had been having excellent sailing conditions since leaving Vila and this leg was no exception with average speeds of 7-8kts for most of the trip, mostly under spinnaker. We were also coming to the end of the last Waahoo that we had caught just out Vila, so it was time to throw out the lure again. It wasn’t long before we had hooked up again, this time it was Simon’s home-made popper made out of an old broomstick that did the damage.
This 
thing has been slaying plenty of fish on this trip so if you’re thinking about trolling for the big fish don’t get sucked into the hundred-dollar jobbies down at you local tackle store, this thing is the shizzle! Anyway, another beautiful Mahi-Mahi hit the freezer and should keep us going for a good while yet.When we finally reached the mouth of the inlet at port Sandwich after an 8hr sail we were all relieved to be out of the heaving swells that were building with the rising winds. We had been reading in the Vanuatu cruising guide about man eating sharks in this harbor so we were also a little hesitant to get in the water! Port Sandwich used to be an old French settlement before Vanuatu gained its independence in 1980, and the French moved out. It’s now occupied by a few hundred Melanesians who have funnily enough abandoned most of the French buildings to build their own traditional houses. Most of the villagers here work in the Copra (coconut) plantations which is the main industry on the island.
Anyway the next day we all went ashore and it wasn’t long before we had been introduced to what seemed like half the village. The people here speak Bislama (local pidgin english), French, and English (in that order) and although they kept telling us in English ‘I don’t speak English’, we seemed to have no problems communicating. Before we knew it, a feast of roast pig had been arranged for us the following day. For the last couple of years I’ve had a philosophy of only eating what I would call Free-Range, good-karma, sustainable meat. When I went traveling I knew I would have to compromise on these values if I was really going to experience local culture, but in this village I had no worries. The whole village was simply a free-range grazing area for cows, pigs and chickens. When they found out we were after a pig, the word was put out amongst the villagers and before we knew it, the pig was killed, butchered and roasted in the local bakers (wood-fired) oven. Yum!
After our feast with the locals of Pig, yams, rice, and fresh bread (hmmmm…..starch!) we also got a chance to try the infamous Vanuatu Kava. We were told specifically not to eat anything before hand so just before dinner one evening we landed our dingy and met one of the Peace Corps workers who had agreed to show us some of the-night life around town. It was only 6:00 when we got into town, but already dark and as we walked past several kava bars (really just low-key grass huts… no neon lights here!) we could already hear the kava being prepared. There are also very few lights (and definitely no signage) in the village at night, so if you didn’t have a guide your chances of finding kava might not be so easy. Anyway, we found our bar, a low key grass hut filled with men talking in hushed tones (and spitting all over the show) and settled down on bench outside. The first round wasn’t so bad because we didn’t know what to expect. Me, Si, Cassie, and Terry threw down a bowl, and immediately felt the numbing effects take over in our mouths. After a second bowl was choked down by each of us (now anticipating the earthly tones of dirty dish water….aghhh) we were well on our way. I think it affected each one of us differently but it sure made the 30min walk back to the dingy a bit more of a mission!
That pretty much sums up the traditional way of living in most of Vanuatu outside of Vila and Luganville. Not a lot of villages have electricity, relying on generators (rare) or solar panels. The people are super friendly, never pestering, and always generous. Crime seems to be very rare, and we’ve read that there’s a 100% employment rate in Vanuatu. This hardly surprised me, when you go into a store in Vila it seems like there are always 2 staff to every customer!So now we’re in Luganville in the North, and planning to stay for about another week.
There are loads of WWII wrecks around here including the famous USS Coolidge so we’re all looking forward to doing some diving on sunken ships, planes, jeeps and reefs. My underwater camera is still holding up so I’ll see If I can get some good photos…..stay tuned!
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