Pentecost and Maewo Island, Vanuatu

The majority of you will know that Pentecost is the site of the land divers. These are a handful of very brave, if somewhat pressured, young boys who are taking their grades in order to be accepted as an adult. The concept is to build a tower of vines, branches and tree roots to a height deemed fair by all in question and then for the participating youths to select a vine and with this vine attached to there feet perform an antiquated version of today’s modern bungee jump. The results are seemingly impressive as through our discussions with the locals we learnt that since inception only 1 person has died! And of course it had to be when Queen Elizabeth was visiting hey! The reason they say is due to the fact that she visited in the dry season and the locals were pressed into performing and hence the dry vine snapped instead of stretching and the results were catastrophic.

Vicki and Jim did manage to see a used tower in its forlorn state of being turned into firewood. They took a walk up to the site with a guide and enjoyed the thrill of the real deal. Dylan and David had hopped a ride on the back of a truck that was going to the airport. Purely as a sightseeing adventure. When the group reconstituted itself Jim, Dylan and David went to snorkel a US warplane from the WW2 that was lying rusted on the bottom of the sea just off the beach in about 30 feet of water.

After a brief stay in the southern most bay we moved half way up the West coast of Pentecost and anchored off of Waterfall bay. So named due to the presence of a rather magnificent waterfall. The boys enjoyed a dip in the cool waters and thereafter a brisk walk along the shoreline to the school up on the hill to look for vegetables. Walking down the dust road one feels like they could be the one and only person in the world. It is so isolated and peaceful. We did however see a large lorry loading up beach sand for building purposes back at the school. On arrival at the school we found few fresh provisions but picked up what we could find. We were given things as well as the people are so warm and welcome. We discussed the future of Vanuatu with the school chaplain and then we sauntered back the way we came.

We moved on to Maewo and the anchorage of the Asanvari Yacht club after experiencing extremely windy conditions in the most northern bay of Pentecost. We were happy to be out of the wind and the people of Asanvari welcomed us in with open arms.

Chief Nixon the orchestrator of the village and its happenings was all too happy to have us at Asanvari and together with a few other yachts in the anchorage he organised a truly fantastic evening, with strong Vanuatu Kava, great food, good music, a string band and Kastom dancers. The young kids had there own dance with extended bamboo poles and a rhythmical clack, clack to which the dancing kids would perform a sort of hop scotch dance to. It was all absolutely beautiful and the night ended with cheers all around and laughter in the air.

In the following days we visited the waterfall on various occasions and took a plunge in once or twice. We also escaped the yacht for an afternoon of strolling on the beach until we could stroll no more. Not due to fatigue but rather due to the fact that the path ran out. At this point we found a small empty village. Empty we guessed because everyone was out in the gardens working. We also found and fed a pig that had the beach all to himself, although he was tied up. We climbed back over the hills and perused some of the ingenuity of the islanders in the bamboo irrigation creation. With the aid of bamboo and some well placed holes they could run the water from the water falls all along the banks and hence irrigate there crops. A rather ingenious method of labour reduction. Of course it meant that the gardens could occasionally be converted to swamp when no one 'turned the water off'.

With the memories of the dancing and singing fresh in our heads we took off for Santo via Ambae. Ambae was a short stop and allowed for Dylan and David to push themselves to the outer most limits of their physical capabilities by performing a back to back hike up the Mountain on Ambae to take in the breathtaking views of the Crater Lake and all it had to offer! Unfortunately the season had been a dry one and the lake was not as spectacular as the guide book indicated. It was a pair of exhausted South Africans that traipsed down the hill from the 'base camp' to the main road to find a public truck to take them home. Although the truck ride was a seemingly endless meandering of routes past the airport, many local houses and stop offs we were only too happy to arrive back at the bay and to have Jim collect us from shore! Best of all was the great hot shower and the fantastic meal Jim and Vicki had prepared for us. What a relief to be home again.