Another tropical island

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Wala Island is a small island paradise in the north east of Vanuatu. It has 323 inhabitants who make a living out of the copra and cocoa crops as well as some beef cattle which are mostly on other nearby islands. Tourism is an add on with 3 or more cruise boats a week anchoring off the 150 foot deep water anchorage only 500 metres off the island.

Many of the people today came from the nearby island of Malekula to assist with the various tourism opportunities. The people are called Small Nambas named after the penis leaf sheath that was traditional wear. The island had a tradition of cannibalism due to its isolation from the outside world and talking to a man today he said in his grandfathers time (he was 45) it was still practiced. A warrior when defeating his opponent would eat his heart.

The combined population of Malekula and the nearby adjacent islands are 25,000 with up to 30 indigenous languages spoken as well a Bislama, English and French. A little girl I was having a chat with today told me she lived on the island and went across by canoe to school which was in French. She did not like English in the beginning but her mother spoke it with her and told her it was important for tourism. When I asked her what she wanted to be when she was older she was quite puzzled, I think life is very predetermined here and of course she will be a wife and mother. So we spoke about how young girls work in shops, or are hairdressers or nurses or teachers and she thought maybe working in an office would be good.

Martin tried the local drink Kava. It is made from a root of a type of pepper plant, dried and grated with coral and mixed with water and drunk out if a Coconut half. A small amount in a bowl is sculled and its effect is to make the person feel very "chilled" and relaxed. So initially it smelt and tasted like fresh lawn clippings and then once drunk your mouth becomes numb. One of the local men in the hut where we had the Kava said he has up to 5 drinks of it after lunch and then he becomes a very good listener and had a relaxed afternoon.

The villages on the island are neat and tidy, crops of tapioca, banana, and pawpaw can be seen everywhere with chickens running here and there. Pigs, cats and dogs are also part of village life. Housing is mostly thatched huts with some use of corrugated iron and cement. No electricity but generators to run essential needs, and fires for cooking. The local children in the market area had various little animals for you to pat and hold and pay a donation to get your picture taken. Turtles, nemo fish, bright blue starfish were on display as well.

Snorkelling off the shore was brilliant. The best so far on this trip. Living coral that was not bashed around, fantastic fish life, vivid colours with visibility of 100ft. There is quite a large shallow reef around the island and then a quick drop off to the deep water. Canoes dug out of a single log seem to be the major mode of transport.

The tenders needed no tickets this morning, we jumped on one at 9-30am after a breakfast at the waterfront where there is passable coffee, vegemite and tomato juice, none of these are available in the Plantation.

We are the champions-.......Well we won one game of Scattegories once we figured out alliteration gave you double points. Gotta love "flying fox" "foot fungi” and "flying fortress". We followed this up with a win in trivia, 17 points out of 20 and won 2 P&O caps for our trouble.

The ship set off, around 5pm, for a small journey to the top of the Vanuatu islands.

Tonight was going to be island night so after karaoke and a couple of tunes we dressed up in sarongs, loud shirts and leis and had tea up at the buffet on deck 12. We noticed a storm building and saw the odd flash of lightening and by the time we had finished our main, we grabbed our glass of wine, cheese and biscuits and went out on the deck to nature's own fireworks. Twas lovely, and I really love being underway and sailing. The feeling of powering through the water is very comforting.

Irish coffee at Charlie's on deck 5 was a perfect end to our meal. Piano music, calm ambience, luxury! And we have had enough coffee to have 2 free ones for our next caffeine fix, frequent sipper cards at sea, who would have thought!

Movie night in the Marquee tonight, "Cowboys and Aliens" and back on deck 14 afterwards for a look at the crowd for what remained of island night after the storm and rain cancelled most of it.

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Photos

Fishing vessel
We saw them being used

Typical housing
Not much other than natural materials used here

locals
They played happily in the vine swings

Wala island
Very pretty and neat

painter
We were relaxing in the cabin when this guy popped up to do some painting