Vanuatu Land of Smiling Faces no matter whether the sun shines or not....

As you might have gathered from previous posts, the tropics  have been very kind to us so far.

Fiji Island bliss...skipper at play on our new paddle board. 

For the last 8 months  we have generally  been blessed  with sweltering hot days and warm, balmy nights while we are in port.  We have become accustomed to gentle breezes punctuated only by the odd rain squall.

Blue skies, turquoise water...thought the hat looked better than it actually did!

Of course while we are at sea its often a different story and huge, washing machine seas and not so gentle breezes have often  been par for the course.

The constant rocking and rolling while we bash across oceans is a little annoying but hanging on for dear life 24 hours a day for days at a time uses up a lot of energy. This of course gives  me calorie credits to use when we get back to the warm, balmy, gin soaked evenings on shore!

Gin soaks on board fellow Oyster, Chinook.

However, Vanuatu, previously know as New Hebrides and our next port of call after Fiji, seemed to take perverse pleasure in putting an end to the sunshine and gentle breezes.

Gathering rainclouds 

Black clouds and rain and wind rolled in as we bulleted across from Fiji for 3 days in high winds and rough seas.

We were a little disconcerted by the weather to say the least. Mainly because we were due to be joined on board by our friends Tony and Nicky and their 2 children, Kate and Alex. The four of them  had signed up for a tropical island vacation on Legend IV and we were under pressure to make sure that the sun shone and that they had an idyllic sojourn.

Enormous waves threatening to ruin Nicky's island holiday...and her hair...

Tony and Nicky are old friends from Cape Town who now live in Brisbane. We sailed across the Atlantic with them in 1987. They were on board their Sadler 32 Flambouyant  and we  shared some lovely cruising in the Caribbean before they moved north and East to the UK and we moved south and west to Panama and beyond.

Tony and Nicky and Jean ... young beer soaked  yachties on the beach in the  Caribbean 1987.

Tony and Nicky...on the beach in Vanuatu 2013..older and wiser but still enjoying the sundowners.

The sun reneged on us for virtually 2 weeks and we were forced to rely on cheerful optimism, the island scenery and the people and culture of Vanuatu to add flavour to their trip rather than the diving and swimming and snorkeling that they were hoping for.

Nicole with Kate and Alex..preparing to zip line Vanuatu while waiting for snorkelling and swimming weather.

We ended up having a great trip. The remote islands of Vanuatu were amazing.

Friendly locals bringing gifts of fruit and  showing how it should be done..simply and with a smile!

In fact, in a recent World Happiness survey, Vanuatu scored the highest in the World on an index of  perceived happiness. Not bad for people with very little in the way of material goods and virtually no  access to electricity or  running water.  No doubt its  the lack of material goods that makes them happy!

Al, Nicole and  Kate sharing worldly goods with Vanuatu locals.

Making friends...being surrounded by 2 lovely blondes is sure to push up your happiness quotient!

The islands were colonised by both the British and the French until 1980 and the locals  speak good English or French but communicate with each other using a form of Pidgin English called Bislama.

Ladies who laugh...she thought I was very funny...maybe it was the hat ...need to rethink my head gear!

We found Bislama to be most entertaining...it takes a bit of getting used to but is basically simple, phonetic English. "Tank you too mus" is the islanders version of "Thank you very much"

Happy old guy...

and happy young guy...

There are no words in Bislama for some objects which are probably not commonly encountered in their cultures...

A piano for example is "wun  big fella blak bokis hemi gat waet tut mo hemi got blak tut, sipos yu kilim smol, hemi singaot gud. "

This literally translates to, " One big fellow, like a black box, he's got white teeth but he's also got black teeth and if you kill/ hit him gently (kilim smol) then he will sing out good!"

On the history side of things...  over half a million US soldiers were based on the islands of Vanuatu during the Second World War and evidence of their occupation still literally litters the islands.

Abandoned wrecks!

The biggest tourist attraction in the region is "Million Dollar Point." This is no luxurious string of hotels and homes on the coast as it would be else where in the world...rather it is an underwater  dump off the coast of Espirito Santo where the US soldiers disposed of millions of dollars of equipment at the end of WW 2.

The troops literally drove hundreds of  trucks, jeeps, tractors and tanks loaded with unopened cartons of food and clothing off the jetty into the water.

Talk about materialism gone mad and the futility of war..no wonder the people of Vanuatu prefer to stay out of the rat race after witnessing such a horrendous waste of goods that could have been put to good use in their world...

The futility of war...Nothings changed after all ..Legend IV at anchor  in Portobello, Panama  in the shadow of cannons abandoned by the Spanish  the 17th Century.

Fabulous Fiji

Anyone following this blog who knows that we are already in Australia  and have long departed from Fiji shores must please forgive me for the time warp from which this blog emerges.

In fact talking of time warps...Alan and I often imagine the nightmare scenario of being caught in one mid ocean and being catapulted back onto Legend 1.

Legend IV forging through big seas  avoiding being sucked into a time warp. Not difficult to imagine when the wind and waves get mean.

We shudder to even contemplate having to cross an ocean in the tiny little craft that braved the elements back in ' 87 manned by 2 tough and intrepid sailors (Alan was tough and intrepid, I was just foolish)...a very different team  from the spoilt and soft 50 somethings on Legend IV. (Al insists he is still tough though, I am the soft, spoilt  one!)

Hardened Mariners  Fiji 1988.

We came face to face with this contrast in Fiji when a version of the Van der Stadt 34 we sailed on the first circumnavigation pulled in alongside Legend IV in the marina in Port Denerau.

Legend IV alongside a  version of Legend I....

Ancient mariner with the  Polynesain Boar's tooth presented in honour of his  50 something birthday.

Fiji was particularly busy and exciting and has been one of our favourite island groups thus far.  To begin with Oyster arranged for Fiji Customs and Immigration officals to be flown in to a far flung group of islands in the east of Fiji where yachtsment sledom venture. It was a real coup for Team Oyster Debbie, Eddie and Jacqui who continue to be our fantastic support trio on the rally.

Ryan, Tough and Intrepid sailor circa 2013 hoisting the Fiji Courtesy flag on arrival in the Lau Group.

The Lau group was absolutely incredible. The islands were unspoilt and magical and the locals welcomed us with a feast of roast pork and traditional  dancing and a Kava ceremony.

Unimpressed with Kava root that needs to be presented to be presented to village chief. Would have preferred a beer!

A dinghy tour through the Unexplored Islands. of the Lau group.

Kava is the mind numbing grog that needs to be presented to and shared with the cheif of a Fiji village whose island you would like to explore.  Its the equivalent of presenting a six pack of beer in exchange for the privilege of camping on someone's lawn.

In the past the young women of the village would chew the root and spit it into a bowl for consumption by the visitors. Luckily the chewing a spitting no longer occurs...or so we are told!

The ceremony is very male dominated with women, in spite doing all the masticating, are only offered the Kava last after all the men have supped!

Dominant males... in skirts.. bracing for the Kava ceremony

All dressed and ready for the  Kava ceremony...leis and hat are optional extras.

From the Lau Group we headed West for Savu Savu where Ryan left to get back to Cape Town and  we were joined by our friends Mark and Caryl Cockburn and 2 of their sons, Jo and Chris.

The Cockburn family proved to be fishermen of the very first order! Their enthusiasm was fuelled by marvellous catches.  in addtion, they were perfect guests and cleaned and cooked  the piscatorial produce with just as much enthusiasm as the catching entailed. 

Jo with a 16kg Giant Trevally...the freezer is still full!

Sushi and Sashimi, fried/curried/battered/smoked fish were on the menu several and each meal was more innovative and delicious than the last.

Chefs at work..

Nicoles friend Annie joined the boat in Pt Denarau and they spent many hours around the pool at the Hilton interspersed with bouts of jet skiing, paragliding, tubing and looking glam.

..and perhaps not so glam..

Its been a While!

Just when you all thought that Legend IV had sailed into a black hole, I return to blog once more
and hope that anyone out there still cares!

 My only excuse for the silence is that we have been having a good time and sometimes its better to live the moments rather than to take time out to write about them.

Taking up from where I left off in Bora Bora..

New Cockpit Cushions -Handmade Gift from Helen-Thank You

From here we were headed for Tonga. We left early in  the morning after the Oyster Party at Bloody Mary's. The Oyster parties get wilder and wilder as we go further west and the fleet lets its hair further and further down.

Rumour has it that an average of 2 bottles of wine was consumed by each person at this particular  party. I probably skewed the average as usual but hopefully no one remember this. I certainly don't.

Oyster fleet quietly at anchor in Bora Bora...calm before the storm.

After this fracas, we sailed soberly across the Pacific for 7 days, in a  hurry to get to our next port. The reason for the haste was the fact that Ryan and Nicole were due to meet us in Tonga.

We had miscalculated how long it would take us to get there...foolishly forgetting that we were going to sail across the   International date line at 173 degrees west. This line of latitude has now stolen 2 days from our lives. The first one in 1988 was not  sorely missed but considering that we are now on the   downhill side of middle age we are now reluctant to surrender even one minute of our golden years.

Full Moon setting as we cross the International Date Line

We needn't have hurried  though, Nic and Ryan arrived almost 3 days late. Their flight from Johannesburg to Sydney was delayed by 24 hours and all their complicated connections fell to pieces leaving their impatient parents champing (or is it chomping?) at the bit to see them after 5 months.

Coming into Tonga 25years ago..who is this young lady?

Tried to get the old lady to pose in exactly the same spot on our way in this time.

Ryan had just finished his final exams at Edinburgh so he was ready for some sun. Nic is on a short gap before she starts at the Pratt Institute of Design in New York in August.. Looks like we have instilled a wanderlust in both of them!

Proud Dad welcoming pale Chicks back into the nest

Tonga was marvellous and it was wonderful to have Ryan and Nic back on board.

We tried out the outdoor adventures on offer...go karting....

Power kayaking...

Cave diving....

Some activities were more successful than others!

There were Tongan feasts to enjoy....pigs on spits...

And pigs in restaurants..

Fish to catch...

Beautiful sailing..

Sundowners to share...

Friendly locals and good markets if you like yams...

And of course the obligatory enthusiastic Polynesian dancers.

Stunning Society Islands

From the Tuamotus we headed for Tahiti..."The Cartier of holiday destinations" according to one of our tour guides. He coined  this phrase in his explanation for the fact that many of the 5 star hotel resorts on the island have gone out of business in the face of the current economic crisis.

Troubled Paradise.

Crisis or no crisis, the Society Islands are true gems. We spent 3 weeks in the area, enjoying one marvellous anchorage after the next in the company of our friends Keith and Lindy...who had braved the mammoth journey from Cape Town via New Zealand to taste this tropical treasure.

Lindy shopping for Grass skirts in Papeete Market.

Our boom had been admirably repaired by Eddie, the Oyster Doctor, as soon as we arrived in Tahiti so Legend IV is now in ship shape and, fingers crossed, will remain so all the way back to Antigua!

Cook Bay, Moorea...Legend back in business.

For good measure, Oyster arranged to have the skippers of the fleet blessed by a Tahitian priest..just to cover all the bases and to keep the wind Gods smiling gently and sweetly on us all!

Feeling a little self conscious Skip?

 

The Big Kahuna busy anointing.


.

 Continuing my geography lesson of the previous blog, the Society Islands are middle aged in geological terms. They consist of volcanic inner islands  surrounded by coral reefs..the best of both worlds...much the same as a  middle aged man?

Middle aged man in search of surf spots!

I could go on for hours about the Society Isles..we are in Bora Bora at the moment. "The Pearl of the Pacific" according to Captain Cook. 

Sailing into Bora Bora..Keith checking to see if surf's up.

We toured the island on a motorbike...ate at Bloody Mary's (twice). ..AND.... Al bought me a fabulous pair of black pearl earrings...embellished with diamonds! So it was worth the wait and all is forgiven....Thanks Skip!

Magical Atoll Idle/Idyll

The Islands of French Polynesia present a spectacular contrast from one group to another.

There are 5 separate groups, each characterised by geographic features which reflect the geological age of the group.

Niku Hiva, Marquesas-breathtaking scenery.

Our first port of call,  the  Marquesas islands, consist of volcanic outcrops,  not yet old enough to have had coral reefs develop around them. The islands are steep sided with deep anchorages in bays which are formed mainly by collapsed craters.

Four and twenty Blackbirds enjoying the Polynesian scenery along with Legend.

The next group on our route, the Tuamotu's,  are the most ancient of the French Islands. The Volcanoes have eroded away leaving only the coral reefs which surround them. The reefs now form a ring of coral outcrops and small islands around a lagoon.

Rangiroa Lagoon- Tuomotes- Palm Island fringes

The lagoons are accessed by passes, large and small, terrifying and placid, which need to be negotiated in order to enter the shelter of the shallow, sandy anchorages therein.

Al and I used our week in the Tuamotu's atolls to rest and relax after the Pacific passage.

We swam and snorkeled with sharks and rays and colourful fish in coral gardens, read our books, ate at restaurants large and small, went for walks and the toughest test of our mettle was the odd bicycle trip around the sandy islands.

Brompton folding bikes circumnavigating the globe....

We finished our idyllic sojourn with a visit to a Black pearl farm..where poor Al misread my words...which stated that I wasn't "that keen on black pearls".

 He didn't get the real message ..("I'd love some black pearls but am waiting to see if you care enough to buy them for me.") and when he didn't actually buy any for me, I sulked for an ungracious week!

I had to wait until Bora Bora before he got the mixed signals and unvoiced sentiments.. but he did come through in the end..... Watch this space.

Beautiful black pearl and a dud....bit of a gamble considering both oysters required 5 years of nurturing.

Pearl farmer tending his crop.

Husband of sulking wife wondering what he has done wrong!