Our first stop at
Espiritu Santo was at Champagne
Beach, where the sand was as fine as white powder. Odd as it
may sound, we rarely manage to spend time just relaxing on a beach,
so our day there felt heavenly.
Peterson Bay was intriguing for its proximity to a huge former WWII
base. Completely abandoned, nothing remains besides patches of tarmac
and one long overgrown airstrip—but it’s not hard to imagine the
frenzy of activity at this once major staging ground for the Pacific
theater.
Nearby was one of the island’s “blue holes”, deep pools of
fresh water that are so deep, clear and clean that the water appears
blue. Gorgeous—and great for swimming!
Taking the dinghy up a river through the jungle to yet another blue
hole, we swung on vines into space and dropped into the pool below.
Scary, but fun!
We’d
finally made our
way to Luganville, Vanuatu’s
second main city (after Port Vila, the capital). Anchorage isn’t
great in front of the town itself so we anchored around a peninsula
in Palikula Bay, reuniting with Kiwi friends Rod and Brenda
and
meeting new friends anchored there. A few days of provisioning and
internet were on the agenda—successfully
accomplished, though getting into town involved a dinghy ride, a long walk, then
hitchhiking. Who would have thought hitching
would become normal for us?
Art’s 2016 birthday was spent with Rod & Brenda at Bella Vista
restaurant in Neiafu, Tonga. This year, purely by serendipity, his birthday dinner was at Chez
Brenda (otherwise known as S/V State of Mind).Provisioning meant a lot of vegetables and some fresh meat--oh, and 4 cases of the local beer
(hey, provisioning stops are few and far between!)
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