We left Dillion’s Bay at midnight for an 80 miles sail to Port Vila, Efate Island, Vanuatu on the eve of May 16th. A fast and furious journey through Vanuatu ended here at Port Vila. We needed to check in “officially” into Vanuatu here and wait for a weather window to head to New Caledonia. We also needed a phone since mine went for a swim back in Tanna Island and of course internet. We moored at Yachting World for 5 days and were busy watching weather, meeting new faces, enjoyed walking through town and the enormous market, and having a great steak for dinner!
Here is a highlight of Port Vila:
Meet Simon, the coolest custom agent we have EVER met!!! After we contacted him on the VHF radio, he met us at our boat to clear us in. We offered him Oreos and a Coke to enjoy, as we do, and completed the formalities and chatted it up a bit. We came in about 3:30 pm and he was not sure the Bio-Security guys would come out. He said if they can’t come today then tomorrow was fine. He left and about 15 minutes later, he came back with the Bio-Security team. We asked “how did you get them to come?” He replied: ” I bribed them with your cookies you gave me”. After we were cleared to go ashore Simon organized a mooring at Yachting World for us. Just in time for SV Another Adventure to anchor in the Quarantine area to get checked in that day too…this was good since the quarantine area is full of coral bommies and is not great anchoring.Our view from our mooring at Yachting World. They come out with a escort boat and help you to your mooring. There are a few shallow spots from the Quarentine anchorage to the the deep bay where the moorings are. I saw 8 feet underneath our boat then drop to 70 feet within minutes. Additionally there is a cable you have to go under, I think it’s about 60 feet high so if your mast is too tall you can’t go underneath it. There is another path but thankfully we were short enough to go underneath.From our mooring, I watched kids and families play in the water by the shore over the weekend. Here is a father and his kids cooling off…the boy couldn’t be happier!The market: It was huge with food being cooked and served on one end and fish being sold at the other and souvenirs at another and flowers outside. In between were vendors selling fruits and veggies…..AND dead chickens in a box!Peanuts anyone? I really wish we would of bought some of these….Getting internet at a cafe…might as well get breakfast too!Walking town I saw this sign….it reminded me of the saying “Milk…it does the body good!”…not the same I know…but you get my drift : )We always have to try the local beer…..Tuskers was actually really good.Since Frank has been to Vanuatu multiple times, he knew the lay of the land and showed us where to obtain things like a phone, sim card, etc. He also knew lots of people. We enjoyed many happy hours on SV Another Adventure. This night we met David and Lyn who have been in Vanuatu conducting relief work with the Ministries of Health and Education for 10 years…that means they were there for Cyclone Pam and saw the aftermath the country had to endure. They were a wealth of information in regards to everything from infrastructure to education to medical and overall cultural roles and politics…. a perspective only someone who has had to navigate through the countries government and work with the locals could have. Such an eye-opening discussion into a country that just sought out their independence from the French and England….maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all? It’s all up for debate , depending on what side you’re on…one that is too grand for us to comment.We finally saw a “decent” weather window as a big blow was headed our way and we wanted to be in New Caledonia for it. But before we left we knew we wanted to take advantage of the great duty free prices we were seeing for alcohol. Alcohol is very expensive in Indonesia, we heard, so we wanted to stock up. Fingers crossed that we don’t get charged VAT tax in Australia…it will be what it will be. Again, Simon was the key! We needed this piece of paper to obtain duty free prices. Simon made sure the wording on it was changed so that we could have the duty free items delivered to our dinghy rather than to the customs office….a bit a way but manageable…it was more about time getting the items back to the boat in time for us to leave.Vodka, gin, and run was about $12 usd, bottles of wine for $6 usd (we got the cheap stuff but it’s French), and a couple of speciality liquors like Baileys and my all time favorite single malt scotch!
Our time here in Vanuatu would NOT have been as pleasant and enjoyable without sharing it with SV Another Adventure. Frank and crew, Ivonne, made this time here so special and even though it was short and brief, the friendships gained is meaningful and deeply felt. We all enjoyed a nice meal out our last night in Port Vila of Thai food…. Next up…tummy issues in New Caledonia.
SV Another Adventure: Frank and Ivonne…we hope to met up in the future : )
p.s. Cruisers…do as much online business in Vanuatu before you head to New Caledonia….it’s cheap and reliable in Vanuatu…learn from our mistake.
p.s. We asked Simon, the cool customs agent, about Dick and his piece of paper and his fees for anchoring in Dillion’s Bay. Simon was surprised. We took a copy of the paper SV Another Adventure had and took it to the customs office. Simon gave it to his boss, we assumed, and they shook their heads and stated there was no legal obligation to pay Dick at Dillion’s Bay. In the end, it’s a decision up to each vessel to pay a village for an anchoring fee if it’s ask for. For us, we don’t have any issues giving funds to the village as a whole if we were confident the funds were truly for the village. But in this case, it seemed clear to us Dick would be pocketing the cash for himself and the village, who we think should reep the benefits of any “anchorage fee”, would not see a dime. For this reason, we didn’t pay….but it’s up to you.
Thanks so much for your fabulously worded post. We love reading about your adventures. Especially since our trip ended up being shorter than expected, we can live vicariously through yours.
OMG…Hi Sweetpea! So sorry we missed you in Opua, NZ this year….boat projects got the best of us. Hope your time in NZ was amazing and you don’t have to live vicariously through us…you can join us any time : )
Thanks so much for your fabulously worded post. We love reading about your adventures. Especially since our trip ended up being shorter than expected, we can live vicariously through yours.
OMG…Hi Sweetpea! So sorry we missed you in Opua, NZ this year….boat projects got the best of us. Hope your time in NZ was amazing and you don’t have to live vicariously through us…you can join us any time : )