Tag Archives: volcano

The Banks Islands: Northern Vanuatu

Leave a reply

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

Leave a reply

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.

Ambrym, the Volcanic Island

Leave a reply

Ambrym is a volcanic island with one of the most active volcanoes in the country.  This volcano has a very large caldera that is 12km in diameter and has two very active craters: Marum and Benbow.  The Benbow crater includes two lava lakes near the summit.

The locals offer 2-day hikes up to the summit, but you can only hike if the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo Hazards Department deems it safe and a level 1 or below.  During our stay on Ambrym, the volcano was rated a level 2 so we were not able to even consider the hike to the summit.

Ambrym is the 5th largest island in Vanuatu and is a beautiful triangle shape. It is known for the very active volcano which dominates the island with its desert-like caldera. Small parts of the island are inhabited by locals and the rest of the island, the majority, is covered by a dense jungle.

We start off on Ambrym at the West side of the island at Lonwolwol Bay.  There is a lovely family here that runs the Lonwolwol Yacht Club.  They offer cultural events, host 4 festivals a year, and give tours of the famous Lonwol Lake crater.

Lonwolwol Bay

This bay has a very interesting history.  Jessie, the owner of the land, explains that in the very early 1900’s Europeans settled here and brought with it Christianity.  They established a hospital, several buildings, and a nice community.

However, the chiefs noticed that the locals lost their culture and respect of their heritage so they performed black magic.  This sorcery caused the volcano to erupt and completely destroy the Christian community in 1913.

So the remaining locals were able to re-establish their heritage and cultural ways.

Lonwok Lake crater

Prior to the massive volcano eruption of 1913, there was a lagoon where many boats and cargo ships would shelter within the protection of the island.  However, after the eruption, the open lagoon was closed off and became known as the Lonwok Lake crater.   It is said that it is so deep that you could put a cruise ship right in the middle and it would float.  This crater now serves as a place to swim and kayak.

Beautiful Garden

Jessie and his family now live on the edge of the lake.  They earn a living by offering cruisers tours around the lake and cultural events.  They also have a beautiful garden full of tomatoes, potatoes (regular, sweet, and kasava), pumpkins, cucumbers, salad, onions, carrots, and more.

We ask Jimmy to give a us a tour around the lake.  It took about 2.5 hours to do the 5.3km walk through the forest.  He showed us where the megapode and ducks lay their eggs, procured us some coconut cake, and protected us from 6 stampeding cattle (running from his dogs).

Craig’s Cove

Just around the corner is another anchorage called Craig’s Cove.  Supposedly they had a market which we wanted to visit. So my friend Chris on Moana asked me to join him on a dinghy adventure.  Craig’s Cove is only 3nm away so it should be “no problem.”

Famous last words.  The winds and the seas were showing off and causing havoc on our dinghy.  In retrospect, we should have turned around.  We ended up having 20+kts on the nose and 2.5-3m seas.  Which are huge in a little dinghy.  But we pushed on.

The top photo is before things got dicey.  Once we rounded the corner the $hit hit the fan.  But we arrived safely at Craig’s Cove.  I will skim over the fact that I fell in the water as we were beaching the dinghy (first time ever in 14 years).  There are two ship wrecks in the anchorage and the holding is supposed to be horrible (which is why we did not bring the big boats here).

We seek out the chief to ask his permission to walk around the village and he assigns three local boys to give us a tour.  They took us by the primary school, the church where we found a tam tam (tall, wooden, carved, slit traditional drum), the airport, the market, and the store.

Here are our fearless leaders (top left), a shot of the village and the airport.

Traditional Local Dinner

Jessie and his son Jimmy asked us if we would be interested in a traditional, local dinner on the beach for $1,000vt/pp ($10 USD) and we said “yes.”  By mid-afternoon, two more boats showed up so we invited them as well.

They started preparing around 1430.  First they prepared the loc (or lovo which is an underground oven).  They dug a hole, laid sticks and then rocks on top.  They set fire to it and let the rocks get very hot.  Then they laid banana leaves forming a bowl.  Inside the banana leaves the put bananas and pumpkin and then folded more banana leaves on top.  

Next come more rocks, more leaves and then it is topped with a burlap sack and left to cook for hours.  They used sticks that are split at the end like chopsticks to remove the rocks.

Dinner: fresh salad picked from the garden, boiled salad, yams, island taro, pork, & chicken.

After we all enjoyed our delicious dinner, they built the best bonfire.  We sat around and enjoyed the music and even had a little dancing.

Check in with us in a few days to see the beautiful bays we find in Ambrym.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred over the 4th of July weekend.  Did you discover the Mysteries of Maewo Island in our last blog post?