We arrived at Port Vila on Efate Island on the morning of August 4, 2004, after an overnight sail from Tanna. It was a beautiful night with an almost full moon and good wind. Port Vila has a very protected area between Iririki Island and Efate Island called Paray Bay. Its a narrow spot that has been filled with mooring balls as the depth in the anchorage is over 100 feet in most places. There's an overhead exposed electrical cable that you must pass under to enter the bay. The lines have been raised and are now probably close to 90 feet above sea level at low tide. But, it looks a lot closer when you're going under it. Final Straw's mast is about 72 feet high, so, we were able to get under with no problem.
Port Vila is the capital and largest city in Vanuatu. There were a several good restaurants, including Jill's American Cafe. Jill came to Vanuatu several years ago from California. She serves cheeseburgers, hot dogs, Mexican food, etc. It was a very popular place with yachties and tourists. Port Vila also had a large fresh market where locals brought their vegetables, fruits, seafood and trinkets to sell. It addition, there is an excellent commercial supermarket (we rated it an 8 out of 10 when compared to New Zealand). This was an unexpected surprise. But, it reflected the demand from the international community that resides in this mostly undeveloped country. Vanuatu (used to be called New Hebrides) became an independent nation in 1980 after years as a condominium government under joint French and British rule. Today, they receive foreign aid from Australia, New Zealand, British, French and the Chinese. The US has a large Peace Corps contingent that is making an excellent contribution to the people on the remote islands. We met several of the workers on our travels and we were quite impressed with their commitment and programs.
Shortly after we arrived at Efate, we decided to arrange for an all day tour around the island. We visited some beautiful spots including the famous Cascading waterfalls, a national treasure. The government has done a good job keeping the area clean and groomed. In the photo above, Dave (from Mobisle) and I are getting ready to go swimming in the pool at the base of the largest part of the cascading falls. Its a beautiful spot and represents the quintessential idea of what you find in the South Pacific.
As we drove around the island, we came across a native built museum that highlighted World War II relics. Efate and the island of Espiritu Santo housed major US military bases during the Great War. The US Navy kept the fleet at Havannah Harbour, a natural deep water bay that is well hidden. Here, they staged for the battles at Guadalcanal and the Solomons as well as the major turning point, theBattle of the Coral Sea. There were many interesting sites to see in this area. The engine, pictured above, is from a Corsair that ran out of fuel returning to an airfield on the northeast side of Efate. It landed in the mangroves where this photo was taken. Several years ago, the pilot. who survived the crash, came back to Vanuatu and sat in the cockpit of his old fighter plane. Vanuatu is also where the legendary Pappy Boynton and the Black Sheep Squadron's Corsairs were stationed.
Right behind our mooring, on Iririki Island, there was a nice resort. We walked around their small island and enjoyed cocktails, lunch and dinner on their deck by the swimming pool overlooking the harbor at Port Vila. They have a nice website that describes more about the place and Vanuatu. Click here if you're interested in seeing more.
There was a lot to do in Port Vila and on Efate. We enjoyed being there and having the freedom to get to many modern conveniences just a short walk away. But, after a few weeks, we decided we'd better see more. The Survivor TV program, the most popular reality show in the United States, had been taping the Survivor Vanuatu while we were there. In fact, the night we arrived in Tanna, they filmed a segment at Mount Yasser, which was closed to others that night. The Survivor camps, themselves, were located on the northwest side of Efate. Havannah Harbour and surrounding Moso and Lelepa Islands were closed to all us yachties so they could give the appearance of a secluded location for the television program. It wouldn't be too neat if we went sailing by while they were out trying to find food, etc. But, by the second week of August, the filming was complete and the TV crew and survivors went home. The Havannah Harbour area was open again. So, we set sail on August 18th bound for northern Efate and Havannah Harbour.
Click here to go on to Havannah Harbour, Lelepa and Moso Islands.
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