We arrived in Port Resolution on Tanna Island on Tuesday, May 20. Tanna is known for its active volcano, Mt. Yasur, so we made arrangements with a man by the name of Donovan to take us to the volcano on Wednesday evening.
Wednesday was Ian’s birthday, so when I awoke, I baked a chocolate cake for him and some vegan brownies that Bob and Sarah on Rhapsody could eat. Meanwhile, Jeff was troubleshooting our running lights and discovered that they had blown a fuse and when turned on used a staggering amount of amps – so he knew we had a short in the system. After a few explorations, he disconnected the compass light, which corrected the issue.
Ian and his birthday cake
In the middle of the afternoon, we all went over to RaLa for tea and birthday cake. After our little celebration, we went to shore to find Donovan. He had arranged for a friend to take us to the volcano in his truck. The road out of Donovan’s village was quite rough, but we soon reached a new paved road, in the process of completion by a Chinese enterprise. (We have heard that the Chinese are building roads in Vanuatu in exchange for fishing rights. And we saw huge Chinese fishing fleets near Vanuatu.)
Once on the smooth road, the trip to the volcano was easy. When we got to the volcano park, we paid our entry fees and then drove to the observation area. It was a pretty overcast day, and fog lay heavy over the caldera. But as the day turned to night, we could see small hot spots of red. And the volcano emitted very loud booms every so often. At one point, one of the hot spots erupted, venting a huge stream of red gas high into the air. I don’t have a picture of it.
At the volcano, video courtesy of Jeff Fredrick
We stayed at the volcano about an hour, breathing in the sulphury gases and chatting with the guides who worked there. Then we walked back to the truck for the ride back to the village.
On the ride up and back, Donovan was able to tell us his story. He lives in a very small village and they don’t have access to drinking water without walking quite a distance from the village, which is very hard for older and infirm people. Because he hasn’t been able to get any government assistance, Donovan has been building a solution on his own, funding it by taking people on treks up to the volcano. His solution is to dam a small river source and install pipes to move the water closer to the village.
Donovan also told us about the long-held beliefs about the volcano and how each of the hot spots was once a person. And when those people throw up stones, those stones can be used by some to change the course of nature.
On Thursday, Jeff and Ian and Laura and I went for a walk on the island. We ventured to a brackish watering hole where many women were washing clothes and children were playing. We then walked over to the windward side of the island. Jeff swam in the surf and we talked to a woman who ran a small backpacker resort. She told us that their village was completely out of water. Someone had broken the pump and they were waiting for someone to arrive from Australia to install a new pump.
Mama washing clothes, child enjoying the water
Jeff taking advantage of the beach on the windward side of Tanna
Talking to the manager of the little resort
All the other boats in the anchorage left, leaving just Aldabra and RaLa. Then Tanik, a boat from Israel, came to check in. That night, we went over to their boat for sundowners.
RaLa and Aldabra in Port Resolution
The next day, we got up very early, put the dinghy on the davits and pulled up anchor and started heading out of Port Resolution by 6:30 a.m. We motored part way around the island and then put up the main. But we still had to motor sail for a while before the wind came up. After using the motor for quite a distance, we were finally able to sail with main and jib, beating and reaching with winds in the high teens. That lasted until we arrived in the wind shadow of Anatom Island, at which point we came to a dead stop. We took the sails in and motored to the anchorage, right off of Mystery Island, arriving about 3:00 p.m. Rhapsody, RaLa and Pole Pole were already there. We went ashore to see if we could get some local currency from the bank and to arrange to hike to a waterfall. We all had drinks together that night on Pole Pole.
On Saturday, Ian and Laura, Sarah and Jeff and I went ashore to find the man who could guide us to the waterfall. We had thought someone had alerted him the night before, but that had not happened. Fortunately, his young cousin heard that we were looking for him and that cousin ran to his house to alert him. Meanwhile, we started walking in the direction of his house, which was about an hour walk. Ilisha intercepted us as we got near his house and guided us there. He showed us around his property, which was very well kept. He had put a lot of work into nice buildings and a large garden.
After hanging out at his place for a bit, we started our walk to the waterfall, along with Ilisha, his young daughter, his cousin Samuel and his young sister in law. It was a four-hour walk through a jungle path that hadn’t been cleared in a while. We did about twenty river crossings. The going was tough and slippery at times. Once at the waterfall, some of us plunged into the cold water and sat on boulders to have some lunch. Ilisha and the kids hunted for eel and shrimp and cooked them in bamboo.
Spear fishing for shrimp and eel
Sarah enjoying the waterfall
The return trip was shorter timewise, but it had started raining and the path was wet and slippery. I fell a few times, even though Samuel was generally by my side with a helping hand. Once back on the main path, we bid goodbye to Ilisha and walked with Samuel back to the village and to the dinghy on the beach. We were drenched and muddy but it had been a good adventure. We had gone 11 miles.
On Sunday, we tried washing our muddy clothes and shoes. Then Ian and I went to shore to give Ilisha some things we had promised him. He was very grateful for everything but mostly moved by a pair of shoes that Ian had given him. In the afternoon, we all walked around Mystery Island, which was abandoned for the moment. Three cruise ships had called in the last three days. The ships disgorge their passengers onto the island for the day. But no cruise ship was there that day so we had the place to ourselves for a quick circumnavigation.
Jeff in the soup pot on Mystery Island
On Monday, May 26, I stayed on the boat while Jeff and Ian and Laura went for a walk on the main island. I studied weather for a passage north. When Jeff returned, we discussed leaving for the passage at 5:00 p.m. that day. Later, Jeff and Ian and Laura attempted to snorkel off Mystery Island. It is supposed to be very good, but it was really windy and choppy. When they returned without much success, Ian and Laura had decided to leave as well. We were heading to Port Vila on the Island of Efate. They were headed to Dillon’s Bay on Erromango. Some weather was coming and we each made individual decisions about where we wanted to be in the weather. Rhapsody decided to stay until they could get some good snorkeling in.
