by Judy Handley | Sep 19, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Vanuatu |
Day 148, Year 2: A Visit to a Magical Place
Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Weather: Beautiful Day with a Noontime Deluge
Location: Port Vila, Efate
We have seen so many beautiful things in the South Pacific that I have trouble imagining seeing things that are even more beautiful. But the “even more beautiful” does exist. I saw it today. More on that in just in minute. But first . . .
Our day started with Mark going to Customs and then to Immigration to do the necessary paperwork to check us out of Vanuatu. Customs is in one part of town that we have to visit by dinghy and Immigration is on the main street in Vila. Having Customs and Immigration as far apart as possible is the case in most countries we visit. Sure wish they could be located in the same vicinity, but I guess this is the price we pay to be here. Paul on Ranger picked Mark up so I could have Windbird’s dinghy
to go into town. I went to the internet cafe to make another Skype call to Heather and Jed. I was hoping to see grand baby Sam in full action. This time we had a decent connection, but Heather and Jed couldn’t get one camera working and couldn’t find the other. We did have a nice conversation and I got to hear Sam expressing his distress at not being able to eat the computer speakers, but I’ll just have to wait until we get to Noumea in New Caledonia to see him. That will be sometime in the
next three weeks. By that time, Heather and Jed will be fully moved into the new home and will have internet and cameras all working. Once Mark and Paul returned from the checking-out procedure, they headed back to the boats in hopes of getting them to the dock to fill up with fuel and water. Marie and I headed to the Michoutouchkine & Pilioko Foundation Art Gallery. We have seen Pilioko’s art work on the buildings in downtown Vila and we have visited Michoutouchkine’s boutique on the main street
in Vila where he sells his original textile designs. We actually met him there on our first visit to Vila. But both Marie and I have been drawn to the art gallery by descriptions we have read, and we didn’t want to leave Vila without seeing it.
Marie and I hopped on a bus headed down the Pango village road to Esnaar. This is the home of the gallery, but it is much more than a gallery. Michoutouchkine and Pilioko call it their “total concept” and they both live and work there. They have combined their artwork with the natural world to create a truly magical place. Both artists have lived there on the edge of sea for the past forty years. The bus drove us down the driveway and dropped us off. Even in the grassy parking area, there were
black tree fern carvings and tall carved tamtams (drums). We wound our way down a little path and found ourselves at what appeared to be a storage building. We kept saying “hello” and finally a man appeared and showed us the way to the gallery. The gallery was fairly small and had a collection of Pilioko’s large paintings mixed with collections of Melanesian art. When we walked back outside, we followed the path to an area that looked like an outdoor patio. There was a round table with a carved
prow of an outrigger as the center piece. We walked closer to the ocean and found a huge long table. Sitting there, all you could hear was the sound of gentle waves washing ashore. There were the remains of once grand seaside pool and then we walked into what looked like an outdoor living room and then a dining room with a table set for eight. From there we turned and walked through a working area with paints here and there. This brought us to another alcove and a doorway that appeared to be
someone’s home. Pilioko emerged and invited us into his indoor living room. He is now an old man, probably only in his seventies, but he is starting to look very frail. He was a gracious host. By this time, we could see that absolutely everything here was art. The path, the floors, the ceilings, the doorways, the tables, and even the way Pilioko was dressed . . . absolutely everything here was a combination of art and the real. We had a little picture-taking session with Pilioko, said our goodbye’s,
and kept walking to find ourselves at Michotouchkine’s home. There were clothes hanging on the line and I couldn’t tell if they were new items that had just been painted or if they were Michoutouchkine’s clothes drying. whichever, they were a work of art. A brightly painted yellow and red mini-van pulled up and out stepped Michoutouchkine. He asked if we were the women meeting him for lunch. We told him no, but explained that we had met him a month or so ago when we were in Vila. Just a couple
of days ago, Mark and I were in his shop downtown and commissioned a shirt to be done for a gift. I asked him if it was done, and with a twinkle in his eye, he assured me it was in the shop ready for pick-up. It was then that he said that he hoped we had enjoyed our visit to this “magical place.” He said it that way, and I could see in his eyes that he truly feels that. Marie and I certainly did. This was a very special visit. Note: Pilioko is a native of Wallis and Futuna islands but has
lived most of his adult life here in Vanuatu. He met Michoutouchkine at an art exhibition in New Caledonia over forty years ago and Michoutouchkine moved here from Russia shortly thereafter. They have been combining their artistic talents ever since.
While we were walking down the long driveway, a taxi came delivering the luncheon guests. As the taxi came back out, the driver stopped and asked if we wanted a ride back to Vila. Both taxis and buses here are mini-vans. The only difference is the ‘T’ or ‘B’ on the license plate and the fact that buses cost 100 Vatu (~$1 US) to take you almost anywhere and taxis charge 500 Vatu (~$5 US) or more. But since we were far out of town and weren’t sure when a bus might come, we took the taxi. The driver
was from Port Resolution in Tanna and we enjoyed talking to him about that. No sooner did we get in the taxi than the skies opened up. For five minutes or so the heaven’s dropped a huge amount of water. When we got to our destination, we had to get out of the taxi and walk through a river of water. I could not believe that much water rushing down the street come from only five minutes of raining. When I got back to Windbird, I was so excited about what I had seen at that I had to download my
pictures and show Mark. I could see that my pictures did not quite do justice to the “magical place” but I will always have my memories.
In the afternoon, Mark and I walked downtown to pick up our daughter’s birthday present. The shop wasn’t open yet (lunch times here go anywhere from 12 noon to 3 o’clock), so we walked across the street to see what was happening at the Cultural Center. There was a display about contemporary singer Vanessa Quai. She is a ni-Vanuatu woman gaining world-wide acclaim for her music. She is from Ambae Island, just north and west of Pentecost. We learned that her birth mother was from Fiji and her
father from Ambae. We didn’t understand what happened to Vanessa’s birth mother, but we were told that her father married a woman from Ambae and that Vanessa lived most of her childhood with the step-mother. We really liked her music, so check it out. I would imagine that it is available on Amazon.
Our last stop in town was at the Post Office to send a birthday package to our daughter Heather and to send a package of shell items, seeds, and woven items we have collected. It looks like we could have difficulty getting these things into New Caledonia and Australia, so we took this opportunity to ship them home. As we headed from shore out to Windbird, we saw that Incognita, a Canadian boat that had been at the fuel dock since before noon, was moving back to the mooring field. This gave the
opening for Ranger to go fuel up. As soon as they were finished, we headed over. So now we are back on the mooring, full of fuel and water, and ready to leave for New Caledonia. We will go into the internet cafe one more time in the AM to post our last Vanuatu photos, and then wait until the afternoon to leave. This trip will take us two nights, and we should arrive in the Loyalty Islands on Saturday morning.
I still have the sniffles, but the cold is not too bad. Doing two nights at sea will fix that, however. The lack of sleep always leaves us a bit run-down, so the “not too bad” cold will probably get worse. Ooops, there I go again leaving that glass half-empty.
by Judy Handley | Sep 18, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Vanuatu |
Day 147, Year 2: Trip to the Mele-Maat Cascades
Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Weather: Sunny Morning, Rainy Afternoon
Location: Port Vila, Efate
” . . . and it will most likely change.” That is Paul on Ranger’s daily mantra concerning weather reports, and he is most likely correct. We started our day at the internet cafe taking a close look at New Zealand’s MetVuw 7-day weather forecast and comparing that to our GRIB files. For once, both are in agreement that our best weather window is to leave here late on Thursday, arriving in the Loyalty Islands on Saturday morning. We could also leave on Friday and probably have better winds, but
by Monday a system will be going through New Caledonia bringing windier weather. We’d like to get there before that system approaches, so we will probably leave here on Thursday. “Probably” is the key term. We will check out in the morning and arrange to get duty free fuel on Thursday morning. We will then be ready to leave if the weather gods so will.
After checking out the weather, we hopped on a bus with Ranger and Scot Free II and headed to the Mele-Maat Cascades. This was about a 20-minute bus ride out of Vila. We arrived at our destination and could immediately see the pools of milky-clear water. We had read that the pools would be crystal clear, but I think the amount of rain we have had in the past few days might have contributed to the milky-tint to the water. Mark thinks the rocks were limestone and that was the source of the milkiness.
He thought this because he saw stalactite formations in some of the falls, looking identical to formations you would see in a limestone cave. As we started our walk up to the waterfall, we passed water rushing over rocks and falls forming pool after pool of water. We then started to climb and had to walk through the pools and sometimes rushing water. These were the cascades. As we approached the falls, the path was through pools of water and small climbs up the rocks made possible by steps carved
into the stone. The final ascent was straight up the falls holding onto to guide ropes as the path leads you up the mountain of water. At the top, there were two pools of beautiful water formed by the 35 meter falls. We swam in the pools and stood under the water crashing down from above. The water was cool at first, but once we adjusted to the temperature, it was very pleasant. We were surrounded by rainforest and waterfalls. It was truly stunning.
We were back at the Waterfront restaurant by 1:00 in the afternoon. We all had lunch together and then Mark and I went back to the internet cafe to do a little more research on our destination in the Loyalty Islands. Mark then took me to Windbird and he went back into town to do one last ATM withdrawal in Vanuatu. We need money to check-out in the morning and to get fuel on Thursday. I spent my time figuring out what we have onboard that needs to be shipped to the US before we leave here. Both
New Caledonia and Australia have very stringent entry requirements, and there are things that we have bought that might not make entry. Those will be shipped home tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Sep 17, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Vanuatu |
Day 146, Year 2: A Little of This, A Little of That
Date: Monday, September 17, 2007
Weather: Liquid Sunshine Throughout the Day
Location: Port Vila, Efate
Today was not an eventful day, but it was a good one. We are getting up earlier and earlier since by 6 AM the sun is shining brightly. We had banana bread and cream cheese for first breakfast, and then had bacon, eggs, tomatoes, and whole meal rolls for second breakfast. Between breakfast one and two, Scot Free II came by for a short visit, Mark went to shore to get water, and I did one more mini-laundry. Our sheets are king-sized, and since our laundry tub is a five gallon bucket, you can’t
do a lot at one time. When Mark went in to get on the internet, I stayed on the boat. It looked like rain, and yesterday’s laundry was still not dry. I wanted to leave it out, but be here to take it in if the skies opened up. Well, the skies didn’t “open up” but they drizzled all morning while the sun was shining. I took laundry in and put it back out, and took it in again and put it out again. It was that kind of day.
I am going through closets, drawers, and other hiding places looking for things that we will take home. We are both hoping to be able to come home, but Mark’s online searches have still not found decent prices for the trip from Australia. He will keep trying. He did make reservations at the Bundaberg Port Marina this morning, so now we know that is where Windbird will be for the Australian summer and our winter. We had been toying with taking Windbird to Brisbane, but the prices in Bundaberg
turned out to be cheaper. Mark came back from shore around 1 PM and we had a quick lunch and headed back to shore. Mark had not been successful in contacting Adrian at Vila Refrigeration this morning and he wanted to try and catch him at 1:30 which is the end of lunch time. Our freezer is still not running quite right, so we wanted Adrian to come back for a second check. We called, but Adrian was not in. We left a message asking him to call us at the internet cafe and then we asked the young
woman there to take a message for us. We went into town to do some shopping and when we returned, we found Adrian waiting for us on the dinghy dock. He had called us back and left the message that he would be here at 3:00, but we were in town and didn’t get the message. In any event, he came out with us and once again tried to balance our system. Mark is still not sure things are quite right, but we will have to wait until about noon tomorrow before we can make that final determination.
We have decided to check-out of Vanuatu on Wednesday and we have a reservation to fill-up with duty-free fuel on Thursday morning at 8 AM. It still looks like Friday is the best day to head to New Caledonia, but we will be ready to leave on Thursday afternoon if the weather should change in our favor.
I am fighting a cold or a sinus infection, but not sure which yet. I don’t feel terrible, but I’m not up to my usual energy level. So I’m muddling along. I told Mark that I think I am just having snorkeling withdrawal. When I can get back in the water, I think I’ll be fine. Tomorrow morning we plan to meet Ranger and Scott Free II at the internet cafe and Mark will do some weather research with them while I try to make another call to our daughter Heather. Our connection was not good on Saturday,
so we are hoping tomorrow will be better and we’ll really get to see Sam in action. After that we are going to the Mele-Maat Cascades. The water evidently tumbles and twists as you drive towards Klem’s Hill. There, according to the Lonely Planet, we will find “pool after pool of stunningly clear, aquamarine water” with a 35 metre waterfall in the middle of a rainforest. Sounds beautiful. In the afternoon we hope to visit the Michotouchine & Pilioko Foundation Art Gallery. We have visited their
downtown shop but are anxious to see the gallery.
I’m secretly hoping that we can go to Mele Island, also known as Hideaway Island, on Thursday after we get our fuel. We could spend the night there and leave for New Caledonia on Friday. But then, you are never supposed to start a crossing on a Friday, so maybe we will just have to leave on Thursday. We’ll have to keep you posted on this one.
by Judy Handley | Sep 17, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Vanuatu |
Day 146, Year 2: A Little of This, A Little of That
Date: Monday, September 17, 2007
Weather: Liquid Sunshine Throughout the Day
Location: Port Vila, Efate
Today was not an eventful day, but it was a good one. We are getting up earlier and earlier since by 6 AM the sun is shining brightly. We had banana bread and cream cheese for first breakfast, and then had bacon, eggs, tomatoes, and whole meal rolls for second breakfast. Between breakfast one and two, Scot Free II came by for a short visit, Mark went to shore to get water, and I did one more mini-laundry. Our sheets are king-sized, and since our laundry tub is a five gallon bucket, you can’t
do a lot at one time. When Mark went in to get on the internet, I stayed on the boat. It looked like rain, and yesterday’s laundry was still not dry. I wanted to leave it out, but be here to take it in if the skies opened up. Well, the skies didn’t “open up” but they drizzled all morning while the sun was shining. I took laundry in and put it back out, and took it in again and put it out again. It was that kind of day.
I am going through closets, drawers, and other hiding places looking for things that we will take home. We are both hoping to be able to come home, but Mark’s online searches have still not found decent prices for the trip from Australia. He will keep trying. He did make reservations at the Bundaberg Port Marina this morning, so now we know that is where Windbird will be for the Australian summer and our winter. We had been toying with taking Windbird to Brisbane, but the prices in Bundaberg
turned out to be cheaper. Mark came back from shore around 1 PM and we had a quick lunch and headed back to shore. Mark had not been successful in contacting Adrian at Vila Refrigeration this morning and he wanted to try and catch him at 1:30 which is the end of lunch time. Our freezer is still not running quite right, so we wanted Adrian to come back for a second check. We called, but Adrian was not in. We left a message asking him to call us at the internet cafe and then we asked the young
woman there to take a message for us. We went into town to do some shopping and when we returned, we found Adrian waiting for us on the dinghy dock. He had called us back and left the message that he would be here at 3:00, but we were in town and didn’t get the message. In any event, he came out with us and once again tried to balance our system. Mark is still not sure things are quite right, but we will have to wait until about noon tomorrow before we can make that final determination.
We have decided to check-out of Vanuatu on Wednesday and we have a reservation to fill-up with duty-free fuel on Thursday morning at 8 AM. It still looks like Friday is the best day to head to New Caledonia, but we will be ready to leave on Thursday afternoon if the weather should change in our favor.
I am fighting a cold or a sinus infection, but not sure which yet. I don’t feel terrible, but I’m not up to my usual energy level. So I’m muddling along. I told Mark that I think I am just having snorkeling withdrawal. When I can get back in the water, I think I’ll be fine. Tomorrow morning we plan to meet Ranger and Scott Free II at the internet cafe and Mark will do some weather research with them while I try to make another call to our daughter Heather. Our connection was not good on Saturday,
so we are hoping tomorrow will be better and we’ll really get to see Sam in action. After that we are going to the Mele-Maat Cascades. The water evidently tumbles and twists as you drive towards Klem’s Hill. There, according to the Lonely Planet, we will find “pool after pool of stunningly clear, aquamarine water” with a 35 metre waterfall in the middle of a rainforest. Sounds beautiful. In the afternoon we hope to visit the Michotouchine & Pilioko Foundation Art Gallery. We have visited their
downtown shop but are anxious to see the gallery.
I’m secretly hoping that we can go to Mele Island, also known as Hideaway Island, on Thursday after we get our fuel. We could spend the night there and leave for New Caledonia on Friday. But then, you are never supposed to start a crossing on a Friday, so maybe we will just have to leave on Thursday. We’ll have to keep you posted on this one.
by Judy Handley | Sep 16, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Vanuatu |
Day 145, Year 2: Another Granola Day
Date: Sunday, September 16, 2007
Weather: All Sunshine and No Rain
Location: Port Vila, Efate
No waterfall for Windbird today. We decided to make this a “bake ’til you drop” day. This means using the oven and that means a hot boat. I decided that I just couldn’t bear to risk losing all of my honey when arriving in New Caledonia, so I used every bag of oats onboard to make granola today. I also decided to make a four-loaf recipe of bread and freeze that. And while I was at it, I used the very over-ripe bananas to make banana bread and I made a chocolate cake just for the fun of it. I
turned on the oven at 8:30 AM and it is still on at 5:30 this evening. The last of the granola will be coming out soon and we can turn off the oven and hope the 95 degree temperature in the main cabin comes down a few degrees before we go to bed. I also did a mega-laundry today. Since we are in port and have access to water, I decided to wash the mattress cover, sheets, and towels, in addition to whatever dirty clothes we had. Mark defrosted the freezer and we got out the last of the meat and
put it in the top of the freezer. Our freezer is much larger than our refrigerator, so we use the bottom of the freezer for frozen food, and then above the grates dividing the top from the bottom, we keep ice trays and food we want semi-frozen for consumption in the next couple of days. Above that we keep drinks and bread. We are working hard at getting ready to go, but right now it looks like it will be Wednesday or Thursday before we can leave. I forgot to mention that yesterday while I went
shopping, Mark changed the oil and the transmission fluid, so when the weather is right, Windbird is ready to leave for New Caledonia. And so are we. Today we got notice that we have been approved for visas for Australia. The visa we needed would allow us to spend up to six months at a time in Australia and to return multiple times over the course of the next year. That means we can come home a few weeks after getting to Australia in November and then return in the spring (fall down here) and
spend four months or so working on the boat and then sailing up the Queensland coast and over the top to Darwin. And we won’t have to apply for another visa when we return.
We had dinner aboard Ranger tonight and the food was delicious. We talked a little about when we will leave for New Caledonia and we spent some time talking about our first experiences in the South Pacific when we reached the Marquesas last year. I owe Paul an apology. I was sure we didn’t use a stern anchor in Hiva Oa, but my logs tell me we did. In fact, I wrote that I had never been in such a crowded anchorage in New England. So these daily logs keep me straight.
by Judy Handley | Sep 15, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Vanuatu |
Day 144, Year 2: Skype Contact With Our Kids
Date: Saturday, September 15, 2007
Weather: Another Beautiful, Sunny Day with Sprinkles Here and There
Location: Port Vila, Efate
Saturday in the South Pacific means that most business stops at noon, or even before in a few cases. So we started our day early and went to shore to call our son Justin to wish him a happy birthday (yesterday here, today in the US) and our daughter Heather to see how the moving process into their new home is going and to see our grand baby Sam. When we first arrived at the internet cafe, Justin was not online, so we called Heather. Moving is “moving along” and Sam is . . . well, quite a character.
I know all grandparents think that their grandchild is the cutest in the world, and we fall right into that category. Sam will be eight months old this week and he is so very expressive. We will post some pictures with this log so you can see what we mean. He is a happy baby who lets you know what he is thinking by the expressions on his face and his version of talking. Real words will come very soon. We had a terrible connection this morning and that was disappointing as the video was mostly
frozen. But we saw enough to know that Sam is keeping his parents on their toes.
We then talked to Justin and Jo in Albuquerque and for some reason had a much better connection. We wished Justin a happy, happy birthday, and he was able to take us on a video tour of our their new home and the half-acre “yard.” We saw pictures of this place when they first moved there and saw just how much work they needed to do to get the place cleaned up. They seem to have risen to the challenge and everything looks great. They now have their puppy Alfie who is growing by leaps and bounds,
three kittens, a bunny, and a couple of chickens. Their rent here is half what it was in Venice, California, and we could see just how much they are enjoying the extra space. They have put in a small fish pond, a little garden, and they have an above ground swimming pool. In dry Albuquerque, the swimming pool seemed very inviting. Once again, Skype ranks high on our list of things we are thankful for out here. Talking to and seeing our kids at no cost is such a wonderful gift.
Mark was running to and fro Windbird in the dinghy while we were talking with Heather and Justin. We had hired a young man to clean the bottom of our boat not realizing that we were double booking the time. So Mark would talk a bit and then run out to the boat while I talked. It was a bit hectic, but it worked. We got to talk to our children and the bottom of the boat is clean. What more can you ask for?
After talking to Heather and Justin, I made our online applications for Australian Visitor VISAs. If I did it right, we will get an email by Monday afternoon letting us know that all is set. We returned to Windbird to have lunch and then Marie an I went to the Namba Tu shopping plaza. We walked up and down the aisles just to see what was there and bought a few things on the shopping list. I’m trying desperately not to overstock, as much of our food will be taken in New Caledonia by Quarantine,
and the rest of it taken when we arrive in Australia. Some canned foods will survive, but all fresh and dried fruit, vegetables, and meat will go, as well as honey. If the weather dictates that leave here on Monday or Tuesday, we will just have to see what is taken. If we stay here until later in the week, I will have a chance to go through things and at least give away some of the food that we know will be taken away.
Tomorrow is Sunday here, but we are hoping we can visit a waterfall that is not too far from Vila. It is supposed to be spectacular, so stay tuned.
