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The Banks Islands: Northern Vanuatu

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The Banks Islands are in the Northern tip of Vanuatu.  They consist of 7 main islands and several smaller islets.  The three largest islands are Gaua (formerly Santa Maria), Vanua Lava, (with the capital of Sola) and Ureparapara. 

This post will cover our beautiful visit in Gaua, Vanua Lava, and the Rowa Islands.  

The first island we visit is Gaua which has a rugged terrain rising to an active volcano called Mount Gharat in the center of the island.  There are many fresh water lakes.  This is the most popular island in The Banks because it is known for its stunning landscapes, active volcano. In addition, it hosts Vanuatu’s largest lake and highest waterfall.

Vanuau Lava is taller than Gaua at 946m and it too has an active volcano. This one is called Mount Suretamate.  What sets this island apart is its lush rainforest, waterfalls, and active volcano.

Ureparapara is the third largest island and is to me the most exciting.  This island is an old volcanic cone that has been breached by the sea, forming a bay, known as Divers Bay and we will get to sail into the volcanic crater!  And if you look at the photo below this island looks like Pac-Man!

Gaua Island

The first island we visit is Gaua (formerly known as Santa Maria).  Our primary goal was to see the famous Water Music, but we also wanted to hide from an upcoming weather system.  We anchored in Bushman’s bay and had the anchorage to ourselves which was good as we moved all over the place with the high winds.

We went ashore and to our surprise found out that there are four villages in this small bay.  Two are on the main beach directly in front of the anchorage and two are located to the East behind the beach and trees.  We just happened to stop at the main village where we met Chief Willy, his wife Charity and daughter Samantha.  They were so very welcoming and kind. We had a gaggle of kids and the chief greet us with floral leighs.

The village was by far one of the prettiest villages we have seen in Vanuatu.  The homes are raised above the floor, the grounds are clean and orderly, and the bamboo siding was gorgeous.

They are in the process of building a new primary school (top) and a new Anglican church.  Unfortunately, the church and government do not participate in the costs so the village has to raise the funds to get supplies to build both buildings.

The women were preparing for a wedding by weaving baskets, siding, and flooring for the special occasion.  The chief will marry the young couple.  A week later they will have a second ceremony at the church.  The village was in the process of also building them a new home.

Exploring Gaua

Matt and I attempted to walk around to the next village which was about 3 miles and in a different bay.  You can only access it at low tide and you have to traverse over lots of rocks, boulders, and fallen debris.  We didn’t make it all the way around, but we did see lots of beautiful black sand beaches and caves.

Water Music

Water Music is a unique artform and a sacred practice performed by women.  Watch and listen, in awe as the ladies move their hands beneath the water creating an amazing range of sounds!  Originating and perfected in Gaua it is a rare gift to see it performed.  The women gather in the shallows of the lagoon and prepare to wow their audience.

A small troupe in Efate will perform a type of Water Music in a green pool which completely takes the magic and mystery away from this cultural tradition.

At first we did not know what to expect despite seeing a few clips.  This was an unofficial performance where the ladies gently placed flowers in their hair and casually walked into the water wearing their regular clothing (no costumes).

They make different sounds by cupping their hands and going lower in the water (bottom picture), slapping the water, swishing the water, and pushing the water around.  It sure looked like they were having fun, despite being soaking wet.

The entire village came out to watch.  The children sat with Matt and I and the men sat under the tree.

Matanda Bay (Gaua Island)

The winds gave us a break and stopped blowing 35-40kts which gave us a small opportunity to move to the next bay over where we could more protection.  We moved less than 2nm to Matanda Bay and it was so much more comfortable.

Chief Michele and his father, Chief Richard are absolutely the best host families we’ve met.  Their village is located up the small hill to protect it from the elements.  They have a very abundant garden, a beautiful Anglican church, lots of animals roaming around, and colorful homes.

We greeted them with a bag full of reading and sunglasses and a small bag of assorted medical / health items.  In return, they gave us pamplemousse, papaya, green beans, green onions.  They asked us to fix a boom box and small charging device.  Unfortunately we could not fix either of them, but Matt tried really hard.  They then gave us more green onions and stopped by to give us 3 freshly caught lobsters.  They were literally hunting bugs right behind the boat (see the flashlights in the water)?

Outgiving with the Locals

Well, we could not let that be given without giving them something in return.  So, we gave them a soccer ball, sewing needles/thread, and some batteries.  The morning we left, Chief Michele came by and gave us an entire stock of bananas, sweet potatoes and taro root!  Seriously, they win!

Here are some drone shots of Matanda Bay:

We enjoyed a beautiful walk over to another village 4 bays over.  Came across a lot of stone carvings and some paintings.  We actually found a street sign in the middle of the jungle…this totally cracked us up!

And we found a beautiful blow hole to cool us off.

Vanua Lava

We stop at Sola the main town at Vanua Lava.  Our main purpose was to clear out of Vanuatu and see if we could get some diesel.  Lucky for us, we were able to do both fairly quickly.  The anchorage was really uncomfortable and rolly so we stayed less than 24 hours.  No fun photos as the village, beach and community was kind of dirty with trash around.  However, the locals were incredibly lovely, friendly and super happy to see us.

The Rowa Islands

Just 12nm from Vanua Lava are a group of uninhabited islands called the Rowa Islands. The islands are a natural border between Melanesia and Polynesia and are said to be the most beautiful place in the South Pacific.  They are a vast system of 15 coral keys or atolls and reefs.

It was far too windy to fly the drone but this would have been an ideal shot to capture from up above.  We managed to go ashore to the beautiful long beach and enjoyed one night here before heading to Ureparapara.

We enjoyed a beautiful walk around a few of the islands on their white, soft, sandy beaches full of beautiful, colorful sea shells.  Came across 16 crabs and critters eating off of this one coconut shell, Matt lounged on a tree stump and then posed as a tree.

We ventured to another one of the uninhabited islands and to our surprise found a turtle nest!  First we discovered the mother’s tracks up the beach (she came at mid-tide), then the tracks down the beach (she left at high tide).  And her nest awaiting the little beauties to rise.

Stay tuned for our next adventure where we embark on a 1300nm passage from Vanuatu to the Marshall Islands.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred in the first week of September.  Did you read about our visit to Ambae, the Volcanic island?

Ambae a Volcanic Island

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Ambae, also known as Aoba is an active volcanic island.  Ambae is an exceptionally beautiful island and is known for its legendary disappearing act.  On rare days, you can see the beautiful island rising from the ocean in the early morning light.  But as the sun climbs higher, the island quickly disappears behind a glare of sea haze.

Ambae Island is home to one of the seven active volcanoes in Vanuatu, Lake Manaro Volcano. The level 2 active Lake Manaro summit and volcano is about 3000 – 4000 feet above sea level. 

There is an anchorage at the northern tip of the island called Lolowai Bay which is actually an old caldera.  We can only enter this beautiful bay at high tide as we have to cross over the submerged northern wall of the caldera.  Once inside we are blessed with truly beautiful conditions and gorgeous, clear turquoise waters.  The surrounding cliffs are rich in colors as they jet from the water up to the sky.

Even though this is a fairly calm anchorage it was not super peaceful.  We arrived on Friday later afternoon and ended up leaving on Sunday early morning.  As it would happen, four different supply ships were dropping off and picking up during our short 2 day visit.  Not surprising as this is the business center of the province, but a little disappointing as the locals zipped around the anchorage most of the day and night.

Manaro Volcano

The Manaro volcano is pretty active and constantly monitored by a live web cam and seismological charts. The summit is 1,496 metres (4,908 ft) above sea level and about 3,900m (12,800 ft) above the sea floor.    

According to indigenous custom Chief Virenaliu Paul Vuhu, the summit’s valley and lakes are considered `the “sacred place and paradise” where they believe after death, their spirits go to live happily ever after.

The entire population of 11,000 residents were evacuated during its last eruption which started in September 2017 and had after effects well into September 2018.

There are several “lakes” on Ambae which were formed by volcanic cones and filled with fresh water.  We happened to anchor inside one and fairly close next to 2 of them on shore.  So, Matt and I decided we needed to go check them out.

In the bottom right photo, you will see the anchorage is one caldera, the lake on the right is another and then there is a cluster of lakes that make up a third caldera.

A 8.1 mile Loop 

The plan was to walk from the anchorage, which is between 3 and 4 (closer to three) clockwise to the airport and back around.  It looked like there was a road on maps.me so it should not be “too difficult.”  We could have cut it short at Lovatumemea but we were feeling “jiggy” and continued on.

We were enjoying the beautiful views so much that we actually missed the turn off for the first lake. Unfortunately, we did not realize it until we were already several miles past it.  We opted not to backtrack since this was already going to be a long walk.

But the views were lovely and the breeze was so appreciated as it was a really hot day.

At the very tip of the island we came to these beautiful cliffs.  We heard some chatter and decided to carefully look below.  To our surprise, there were two young boys trying to bring up a tire.  What the heck?  Where are there parents?  Yikes.  It doesn’t look that scary in the photo, but let me tell you it was no place for children.

We made it to the airport and followed the dirt trail that ran parallel to the runway.  We toyed with the idea of walking on the runway (I know, not legal, but still thrilling).  Our thinking was that there is only one flight per week that comes here and both airlines were operating on limited flights (one fighting bankruptcy and the other recovering from a fatal plane crash).

Thank goodness we did not do that as a few minutes later we heard the roar of an airplane.  What are the odds? Seriously?

In the end, we walked over 8.1 miles or 13 kilometers around the northern tip of Ambae.  It was a little longer than we both anticipated. I had one small bottle of water and no food.  We enjoyed a well deserved rest once we got back to the boat.

Intruder Alert

It has been a very, very long time since we had intruders onboard.  We try to be very vigilant by locking all hatches and doors and stowing our belongings.  We try not to leave anything in the cockpit or on the life lines that might provide an “opportunity” for thieves.

However, we noticed footprints in our cockpit when we returned from our long walk around Ambae.  Normally our boat is pretty clean so seeing footprints in the cockpit leading up to the bow is not normal.  We later checked our security camera and found out that two teenage boys boarded Sugar Shack uninvited.  Lucky for us they did not take anything but it still was a violation.

The irritating thing was that we saw these two boys on shore as they were trying to pull their white canoe into the water.  We waived and said “hello” just as they were heading out to illegally board our boat.

The camera captured one kid’s face and the body of the other. We left early the next morning so we did not get a chance to report it to the police or the chief.  Not that they would have done anything about it but I would have liked to scare the pants off these kids.

This is the 6th incident that we know of here in Vanuatu this year.  Of course there are many others that we don’t know about.  But we were lucky as nothing was missing or stolen.  Just a reminder to stay aware of your surroundings, take all precautions, and lock everything up.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post on Ambae occurred in early September.  Visit the scintillating island of Santo in our last blog post.

Scintillating Santo

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Espiritu Santo, (or just Santo, as the locals call it), is the largest island in Vanuatu.  There is an incredible amount of history from WWII museums, relics, dive sites, the sunken SS President Coolidge cruise liner, Million Dollar point, to planes and ships on the beaches and in the sea.  In addition, there are some of the most beautiful sites you will ever see including the stunning blue holes, Champagne Beach, and Port Orly.

We start off at Oyster Bay Lagoon located inside Peterson Bay (east side of Santo).  Our goal here was to visit the two beautiful blue holes: Riri Blue Hole and Matevulu Blue Hole.  Absolutely, one of the most stunning experiences we have had!

Hog Harbor

There are two bays inside Hog Harbor.  We anchor at Lonnoc Beach because it offered better protection from the winds and swell.  We drop the hook in beautiful clear blue water in between some bommies and overlook the pretty beach.  There are three small “resorts” onshore.  The one on the far left is closed (probably because the local airline is debunk and no guests can get here).  The middle resort is the largest and most well known, Lonnoc Eco Beach Bungalows. And the one on the far right is Lonnoc Beach Lodge.  These two locations offered restaurant, bar, trash disposal and laundry services to yachties.  They too were vacant but employees were around.

In front of the Lonnoc Eco Beach Bungalows is a WWII barge that washed ashore.  It now has several trees growing out of the center of it.

The second bay in Hog Harbor, which is far more popular, is Champagne Beach.  This is one of Vanuatu’s most beautiful beaches and is visited by cruise ships and tourists from all over the world. The beach is covered in a super soft, pure white sand and the waters are crystal clear turquoise.  Absolutely a stunning beach so we had to enjoy some champagne while on champagne beach! 

Port Orly

Our next stop in Santo is Port Orly.  We could see from the satellite charts that it was a really beautiful spot.  The super soft sandy beaches had beautiful overhanging pam trees.  The water is so clear that you can see to the bottom in 12 meters!  We cozied up to a little eatery and enjoyed a few lunches as we admired this stunning view.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  We visited Santo from mid-to-late August. We thoroughly enjoy a special performance of Vanuatu’s Bamboo Pipe Drum Band which was an epic performance (check out the post).