Vanuatu

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The passage from Fiji was hard work and it seems as though the days of champagne sailing are behind us. Unfortunately Si caught a cold the day after leaving Fiji so he was miserable for two days. During the four day passage we were constantly looking over our shoulder for the dark clouds associated with the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ). We thought we had got away but sure enough on day four, the heavens opened and stayed that way for the next 24 hours. At mid morning we approached Vanuatu, we could barely make out land. Thankfully the pass into Port Villa was easy to navigate. When we arrived at the bay, it was still pouring so getting the anchor down was the next on the agenda. As the quarantine anchorage area is deep (25m), trying to find a good spot amongst the other boats proved difficult and we where both soaked and cold by the time we got the anchor securely down.

Si went to shore to organise immigration and customs. He came back rather disappointed with Port Villa and the locals…not at all friendly or helpful. Maybe it was the +A$200 in local arrival fees? (priced to get us ready for entering Australia?) That evening we had drinks on New Address II (Jeanie and Col) who we hadn’t seen since Panama and met some of the Port2Port (P2P) participants. During our short 5 day stay in Port Villa, we caught up numerous times for a movie night and a very boozy farewell P2P lunch that lasted all afternoon.

As we only had limited time, we decided to take an island tour of Efate and see some of the sights. Thankfully, our views opinion of Port Villa did not extend to the rest of the island. Four of the five days in Port Villa, there was a cruise ship in port. Once you got away from the tourists, you could see some of the magic of Vanuatu that many of the other yachties had experienced. We visited some lovely beaches, drove through the villages, ate local food and swam at a pristine waterfall and cascades. It was a great day and their hospitality was very warm and friendly.

After the normal provisioning, checking out, water etc etc…we popped over to Mele Bay, behind Hideaway Island for a swim and a day of relaxation before out last passage home. Vanuatu is definitely somewhere we want to spend more time in as the outer islands are meant to be wonderful.

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Photos

Anchorage at Port Villa
Still morning