We stayed in Fiji slightly longer than intended due to the adverse weather. Jean from Superted had a suprise birthday party while we were in Musket Cove and we all had a lovely evening with lots of our friends. We then left and headed to Nandi bay but after a few days Superted, Gypsea Heart and Astarte joined us there. We had a girls day out in Nadi shopping and sightseeing and managed to do a few boat chores. Then after more goodbyes we sailed to Lautoka to clear out of Fiji. This took longer than anticipated because the immigration guy had got the day off but had taken the passport stamp home with him so we had to wait for it to be delivered to the office so that our passports could be stamped!
We eventually left Lautoka on 26 August and headed out through the reef to Vanuatu. The wind was blowing about 30 knots as we left and the sea was very rough. I (Karen) was ill and it was very unpleasant. As we left the land behind the wind and the sea calmed down and the remainder of the sail was fast and fairly pleasant. We made it to Anatom in Vanuatu in 3 days and it was a fast passage for us.
Anatom is the most southern of the Vanuatu islands. We tried to clear in the day we arrived but the official had gone fishing so we had to wait for the next day when a group of us cleared in at the same time. The following day we joined friends from Blue Rodeo, Evergreen and Victory for a walk to a waterfall. It turned out to be a 6 hour trek through mud with lots of river crossings where we had to use rocks to cross. Unfortunately, as our shoes were so caked in mud we slipped off the stones and ended up with very wet and sore feet. Our trousers were covered in mud and Karen's shoes had to be thrown away. The waterfall was OK but certainly not worth the walk!
The following day Karen dived the pass between the main island and a small off lying one called Mystery Island. Mystery island is where all the cruise ship passengers land for the day. The cruise ships are so big they dwarf the main island and given the island only has 500 inhabitants, they certainly have more people! The dive was OK but not as good as Fiji and the water was pretty cold.
We left everyone behind again and headed to Tanna the following day to see the volcano. We anchored in a very pretty bay and organised a trip to the volcano. We went in the back of a truck with 4 other cruisers. Due to a mix up with the village our truck was late leaving and the driver was driving quite fast to get us to the volcano before dark. It was very uncomfortable and he ran over a dog on the way. The villagers were very upset and there were lots of raised voices for a while. It was resolved by the driver agreeing to go back and take them Kava!
We did get to the volcano in time and it was very spectacular. You can stand right on the edge of the caldera and watch lava being shot up in the air with lots of loud bangs. As it got dark it was even better as the orange and red from the lava became more intense. It was very cold on the rim and we were glad of our fleeces and jackets. On the way back down the mountain it poured with rain and we were very wet sitting in the back of the truck. Still it was worth it!
The next morning we left for an overnight sail to Port Villa on the island of Efate. This is the capital and is very civilised compared to the outer islands. We visited the fruit and veg market and the supermarket which was stocked with lots of French goodies. After a few days rest, we had a short sail around to Havannah harbour. This is a big bay with a number of different anchorages. On the way we dived Pauls reef, which was a fairly shallow dive but dive operators feed the fish there and they follow you around so you get to see some big fish up close.
Next we sailed to Lamen Bay on Epi and then on to Gaspard Bay, Malekula. Gaspard Bay was by far the prettiest bay we found. We went there to see Dugongs and were not disappointed as we had about 10 of them around the boat including a mother and calf. They never got closer than half a boat length away and as soon as we tried to swim with them they disappeared!
We continued on up the east side of Malekula to Urie Island, Port Stanley. As soon as we anchored the village elder came out in a canoe and asked if we could fix their generator which 'had a leak'. The following morning we went ashore with tool box to have a look. Mike spent all morning getting the generator motor to run but it still wouldn't produce power. The leak turned out to be in their aluminium boat so that was the afternoons job. In between we did manage to snorkel in the giant clam reserve which was the reason we had gone there.
We left the following day as we were eager to get to Santo and organise diving on the S.S. President Coolidge. We anchored in a lovely protected bay behind Oyster Island. The resort there have a good restaurant so we had a meal out. We had been told that Vanuatu beef was excellent and it was good but not outstanding. The resort on the island helped us organise our diving and transport into Luganville.
The next morning, our taxi into Luganville did not turn up so we hitched a ride on the back of a truck. Unfortunately, the truck overheated just outside town so we had to get a taxi the remainder of the way and just made it to the dive company on time. The SS President Coolidge is a big US Liner converted to a troop ship which hit one of its own mines in the harbour during WW2. It's still intact and very close to the shore so it makes an excellent dive site.
We did the introductory dive so saw the bow of the ship and the front holds but didn't even make it to the bridge. There is still loads of ammunition, guns and tanks in the holds so it was quite amazing. It was our first wreck dived and it is probably the largest in the world! an. In the afternoon we did another shore dive at Million dollar point. After WW2 the US wanted Vanuatu to buy the unwanted equipment used for building roads etc. during the war. Vanuatu was governed by the French and the British at the time and they refused to pay for it. So the US built a jetty and simply drove all the equipment off it into the sea. Its amazing to see as it's like a giant scrap heap under the water. Its very eerie as nothing is growing on it presumably because of the pollution and its such a waste.
We spent a few more days at Oyster Island catching up with friends Liz, Colin, Zinnia and Cosmo off 'Pacific Bliss'. Then it was time to start the upwind sail back to Port Villa to collect our replacement washdown pump which was waiting there for us.
We did the sail in day hops and had to stay in Port Sandwich, Malekula for a day to wait for bad weather to go through. It was hard work and one day we sailed 60 miles to go 30 miles between anchorages!
We stayed in Port Villa long enough to stock up on duty free wine and spirits, collect our pump and recover. Then we headed to New Caledonia while the weather was good for the crossing.
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