It’s November here in the South Pacific. Come to think of it, it’s November everywhere in the world. The difference here though is that the South Pacific cyclone season has officially started and it’s time for prudent sailors to leave places like Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu. My plan was always to continue to Indonesia. Either through the Torres Strait between North Australia and Papúa New Guinea or via Micronesia. But as some of you that follow my GPS tracker have noticed, I’m on my way to Australia. The reason for this is that it’s a little late in the year for going directly to Indonesia. I’m at least 2,500 nautical miles away, most of the way through cyclone alley, and even if I made a run for it I would get there during the monsoon season. So I’ve decided to hibernate in Australia. Indonesia can wait until next year.
As I’m writing this I’m getting close to the halfway mark on my 1,000 nautical mile crossing to Bundaberg, where I will check in. A procedure that is a little daunting as I’ve heard numerous stories about the Australian Border Force, and worse, the Department of Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry. The latter authority is known to go through the boat with a fine tooth comb in search of anything harmful that you may bring into Australia. As if they don’t have enough things that want to kill you already! All I can do is to make sure that Saoirse is spotlessly clean and that I consume or discard any food products that are on their death list. And eat a large slice of humble pie in preparation for the inspection.
As much as I’m always excited about moving on to explore a new place, I have to say that I will miss Vanuatu. More than most places. It’s by far the least developed country that I’ve sailed to, particularly some of the more remote islands. It’s poor, for sure, but everyone we met was so welcoming and happy to see us and I always felt safe despite the massive gap between haves and have-nots. Not once did anyone ask for money or gifts before being offered something. We made sure that we bought whatever products or services that were offered and gave away things like food that we can’t bring to Australia, school supplies and fishing gear. And here I really have to give a shout out to my friends on Samadhi as they had a stock of give-aways that never seemed to drain. By now, I think that half of Vanuatu will be walking around in Bungy Jump Holland T-shirts!
Speaking of bungy jumping, this half-suicidal past time was invented in Vanuatu. And Steef on Samadhi was one of the first people to bring this stupidity to Europe and make a business out of it. The story has it that a young lady on Pentecost Island was trying to escape from a young man’s unwanted attention and climbed up a tree. When the young man followed her she tied vines from the tree around her ankles and jumped from the top and survived the fall. The persuing man was less fortunate. Over time this stunt has been taken over by men that jump from wooden towers on the island. They call it land diving as there is a lot less flexing in a vine than in a rubber cord. At the time of our visit there was no flexing at all in the vines as they were dry and we were all spared from watching young men plunging to their potential deaths. Much to Steef’s disappointment as he was only too keen to have a go with vines rather than a the rubber cord that he is used to. We did however settle for something that they called a swing in Port Vila. Something that I’m sure I wouldn’t have agreed to if I knew that it started with a seventy meter free fall!
They also have dugongs in Vanuatu. I had never heard of these creatures before I saw one in a bay next to Saoirse. I wouldn’t have believed that they existed had I not seen it with my own eyes. I understand that they are related to the manatees but these guys are much larger and have a mermaid’s tail. They look like something that a six year old kid invented as a primary school project. I saw several at surface level as they came up to breathe but never managed to capture one with my GoPro as they always got away before I got in the water.
So as I reluctantly move on from what has probably been my most memorable experience on this circumnavigation, I remind myself of that Vanuatu can expect several tropical cyclones every year and that this is not a place to be at the wrong time of year. And that there are so many more places to explore further west. Australia first, then Indonesia.
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