Events of Sunday 16th February 2020
After a short Sunday Morning Service by Reverend Sarah Clare (wife of speaker Roy Clare), there was a further lecture:-
10:30 Colin Munro:Lunch was served from 11:30 and around noon we arrived at the island called Tanna. Together with over 100 other islands, Tanna forms the independent nation of Vanuatu, which was formerly known as New Hebrides and with significant French influence. Vanuatu immigration officials came on board to ‘clear’ the ship and passengers but, unlike the Australian Immigration at Norfolk Island, they did not require face-to-face checks with passengers.
‘Vanuatu – The New Hebrides in the modern age’
The ship anchored a few hundred yards off a village called Waisisi where we could see numerous small fibreglass boats hauled up on the steep beach.
Fishing boats lined up on the beach (Tanna, Vanuatu).
We were warned it would be a wet landing over the stern of the Zodiacs by a method we’d not seen before. The Zodiac driver slowly approached a group of island men standing waist-deep in the sea. The shouting, laughing men grabbed the ropes around the Zodiac and turned the Zodiac around so that the stern was nearer the shore. With a lot of good-natured shouting and heaving they then hauled the Zodiac until the stern was beached. Holding the craft in position, the men helped the passengers scramble out of the boat into the shallows into the fine, black sand of this volcanic island.
Wet Landing from the Zodiac on Tanna (Tanna, Vanuatu).
We were directed to simple benches around a clearing in the trees where we waited until the Zodiacs had landed all the passengers from the ship.
Passengers waiting on benches around a clearing in the trees (Tanna, Vanuatu).
Then a group of local women in grass skirts and simple feather headdresses sang and danced for us. Finally, men in skirts made out of leaves with headdresses also made from leaves danced in a rather uncertain manner. But the friendliness of all the locals was infectious.
Local women sang and danced for us (Tanna, Vanuatu).
The men danced in a rather uncertain manner (Tanna, Vanuatu).
Having signed a very comprehensive waiver on the ship, we were to be taken closer to Tanna’s volcano called Mount Yasur. We were divided between a series of four wheel drive pick-ups where one lucky traveller rode in each cab with the driver and around half-a-dozen guests, together with one or two locals as guides, attempted to perch around the low walls of the load space on four planks balanced precariously on 'rounds' cut from tree trunks placed in the four corners.
Transfer by pick-up to Mount Yazur (Tanna, Vanuatu).
There followed a rather nightmare journey in convoy over a series of dirt roads frequently deeply channelled by rainwater.
Transfer by a convoy of pick-ups to Mount Yazur (Tanna, Vanuatu).
"... dirt roads frequently deeply channelled by rainwater" (Tanna, Vanuatu).
As we neared the volcano we traversed a lunar landscape of grey volcanic ash and forded a broad stream before pulling up at the foot of a hill. There were sounds like thunder but I realized it was the noise of the volcano ejecting gas and dust.
Ash plain, Mount Yazur (Tanna, Vanuatu).
Transfer by a convoy of pick-ups to Mount Yazur (Tanna, Vanuatu).
We were all relieved to clamber down from our uncomfortable positions in the trucks but the uneven steps with rather flimsy handrails leading up the hill which we now faced were not very appealing, either. I considered staying near the pick-up but the thought “I may never pass this way again” encouraged me to attempt the ascent and, with some help from a local headman and a schoolgirl, I made it to the top of the steps.
The steps to Mount Yazur.
Smoke rising from the crater rim, Mount Yazur (Tanna, Vanuatu).
The thunderous noise here was much louder and from time to time small lumps of volcanic matter could be seen in the rising smoke and dust. The volcano guides issued visitors with simple face masks, because the smell of gas was quite powerful. One path led to the right up a slight rise to a second ‘viewpoint’, another led left via steep steps to a higher viewpoint. I made it to the right ‘viewpoint’. I was assured that at night you can see the red glow and even molten lava but, in the day, there’s nothing to see other than issuing smoke. I found the noise and the evil-smelling gas sufficiently impressive. I was worried that the friendly headman, despite also having a mask, was coughing badly but he insisted he was fine.
Smoke rising from the crater, Mount Yazur (Tanna, Vanuatu).
The Head Man, Volcano Guide and Driver, Mount Yazur (Tanna, Vanuatu).
I very gingerly descended the steps to the line of waiting pick-ups and prepared for another battering in the back of the truck but another guest who had riden to the volcano in the cab insisted I take her place on the return and I gratefully accepted. I hope that by the time we were back at the Zodiac landing place she had not regretted her generosity but I was very appreciative of the gesture. We retraced our original route and I marvelled at the green oasis of the Yazur View Lodge, not far from the active Mount Yazur volcano. We arrived back at the black sand beach and the ladies of the village sang ‘good bye’ to us as the Zodiacs transferred us to the ship.
Yazur View Lodge (Tanna, Vanuatu).
The ladies of the village sang ‘good bye’ (Tanna, Vanuatu).
I will always remember the friendliness of the people of Tanna.
Related posts on this website
This is the fifth post in the series labelled 'Tropic of Capricorn’. The first post is here.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link will display the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Tropic of Capricorn reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Tropic of Capricorn reports
My pictures
This blog post was first published on the ship via a satellite link with limited capacity so pictures were added later. Pictures in this post can be viewed uncropped, where necessary, by clicking on the image. To view all my pictures taken on Tanna, see other resolutions or download, select from the album below:-
Tanna, Vanuatu
[Link to pictures added 5-Mar-2020: Minor edits, pictures embedded 11-Apr-2020]
