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Firefly - The New Hebrides



Up until independence in 1980, Vanuatu was called the New Hebrides. This name seemed a little strange until Friday when it was cloudy all day and rained for several hours - during this time it did look very similar to Bonny Scotland, but to us, more the mainland of the Western Isles area as opposed to the Inner or Outer Hebrides. Aneityum Island is mountainous and the vegetation is quite lush, green and does consist of a good proportion of coniferous trees.



We arrived just before midday on Thursday 18th having sailed the whole route from Fiji apart from a 7 hour stretch of motoring between 1600 and 2300 the day before - fortunately the wind came back enough to make it very pleasant sailing on the last night of the passage - with about 12 to 14 knots of wind we were managing to run goose winged at about 6.5 knots despite a rolly sea.



On arrival at Aneityum it was actually beautifully sunny and very warm, we went ashore to check into Vanuatu but the local policeman, Richard, was nowhere to be seen. The Anelcauhaut villagers were very helpful and friendly and we went off to look for Richard with the help of Gabby, the lady who runs a very small shop. The village ladies were all in colourful dresses whereas many of the men looked like Rastafarians with long dreadlocks - there must have been some 'connection' as a lot we wearing Bob Marley tee shirts. The accessories they carry are very interesting - the men in particular always have a machete in one hand and in the other a small handbag for their mobile phone! It seemed the most unlikely place to get cell phone coverage but clearly there was and everyone seemed to have a phone and a lot of people were busy making calls. In fact Gabby was very pleased to have the opportunity to call Richard on our behalf - but he didn't answer.



The locals are sport mad and there was a serious football match being played on the local pitch - teams of 11, full kit and boots, referee, lines men and a good number of spectators. The location of the pitch initially looked superb, one side of it alongside the beach and the grass was quite good. Unfortunately, on the inland side, about 25% of the pitch was on a steep bank running the whole length - so any play down that side was about 3 metres higher up! The expectation was that the policeman would be watching but we never managed to find him and decided to come back the next morning - he did eventually come out to Firefly in his small boat later on and checking in the next day was completely very easily.



From the early 1800's until 1870 Anelcauhaut was a major whaling centre in the south pacific and there are ruins of European style stone buildings in various places in amongst the more prefabricated houses used by the locals. Other than basic farming, fishing and tourism this place feels very remote, there are no roads and no land vehicles at all.



Mystery island on the opposite side of the lagoon is actually the main tourist attraction and several times a month cruise ships visit - fortunately not during our stay. Despite the poor weather on Friday we took the dinghy over to visit the island. It was very beautiful, sandy, palm covered place surrounded by azure water and reefs - just big enough to have a grass airstrip in the middle. Things were well organised for catering for hundreds of passengers descending on the place with a good jetty, well prepared paths and some informative signs. There were lots of small buildings where the Anelcauhaut villagers would set up stalls to sell trinkets and a large number of individual thatched loos! Having the place to ourselves felt very odd especially when we sat in the 'Cannibals Cooking Pot' a large stone pot that would be a photographic highlight when any cruise ship was in.



Snorkeling in the Coconut Pass, a local marine reserve, just off Mystery Island was excellent. Huge amounts of fish and lovely coral - in both cases consisting of a number of species we had not seen before. It was fairly late in the day and also being overcast was unusually dark and we were keeping a very good look out for any sharks - we saw none but did spot a couple of marine turtles.



We left Aneityum at 0730 on Saturday 20th and are making the 45 passage to Port Resolution Bay on Tanna. We have 15 knots from the south east and as we are heading almost north its very pleasant sailing as usual - the sun has just come out too!



Paul and Susie

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