Back to the past!

Blog Posting from Resolution Bay, Vanuatu via Ham Radio

As I type this, we are a million miles away and two hundred years in the past. We arrived into Port Resolution on the island called Tanna. This is the bay that Captain Cook sailed into on his ship Resolution - hence the name of the bay.

It is doubtful that much has changed from his landing, except cannibalism is no longer practiced. Hard to believe that the last record of cannibalism was as recently as 1982 - the year of birth of our oldest son Ryan. Who would imagine that in our lifetime these practices still existed?

As this blog post is being sent from our Ham Radio, we cannot send pictures, so I will save most of the commentary from this week when I am able to get an internet connection - which is likely a couple of weeks away. The pictures will tell the story.

Peter is in his glory on this primitive island, where men are supreme and women are simply necessary to do the cleaning, cooking and breeding. Yesterday we witnessed a wedding feast that involved the whole community. All the women in the village prepare the pig (that was given by the bride's family) and the yams and taro root. They worked together all morning with the kids helping out (Oma will have a heart attack when she sees the pictures of the kids chopping with big knives).

Peter was officially hosted in the men's Kava hut, called a Namaka (women prohibited) while I shared the meal with the women and children. Peter says it was an incredible experience being in a straw hut with over 40 men with a fire blazing and the kava ceremony taking place. Unlike other Kava we have experienced, this was truly the real deal. Peter's host Tom presented him to the group and for the evening he provided the Kava. Get ready for this - the Kava is not ground like in Fiji or Tonga. It is chewed by the host. Once it is chewed up, it is spit into a cloth sleeve with water added and then it is squeezed in to a coconut shell. This gets gulped down all at once, except for the last drops which you leave in your mouth and then spit out on the floor in a dramatic gesture.

Peter, of course, being the gracious guest drank four bowlfuls, which totally impressed the locals, as two bowls is usually enough to cause the naturally narcotic root to cause a serious buzz. One man had only one bowl and he was carried out of the Namaka. The village all think he is some kind of superman after witnessing his "strength" during the Kava ceremony. Suffice to say when Peter rendezvoused with me he was feeling no pain. It was pitch dark and we actually rowed the dinghy out past the reefs, as Peter didn't trust himself to navigate with the engine on.

As I'm typing this we have two of Peter's newfound friends on board for coffee/cookies and an exchange of goods. Peter is quite enjoying the role of "king of the castle" while I make the coffee and serve the food. I am down below so not to interrupt the men talking with insignificant female stuff. I keep catching Peter smirking at me, but I know he appreciates me saving "face" for him, by not being my normal feminist self, which wouldn't be understood here, especially with his elevated status from the Kava hut.

The weather this week has been terrible. Winds have been constant - over 25 knots and today they are forecast to reach 40 knots. It has rained on and off with 100% cloud cover. All the cruising boats are hunkered down wherever they are and just waiting this weather out.

During this magical week, we also met with an Australian group of 16 student architects and engineers who are working on creating a locally-owned tourist establishment that is self-sustaining and duplicatable. They invited us to join them for dinner and we have enjoyed getting to know them and also watch the project unfold. Unfortunately for them they are camping on the beach and are literally water-logged and windblown.

The two Professors are coming onboard this afternoon for happy hour. One of them is hoping to free up his time to make the crossing with Peter from New Caledonia to Australia (departing approximately late August - mid-September) Peter would also welcome another crew member, so if you are interested send an email and I'll get it when we are in internet range.

On a different note, we received an email earlier this week from our friends on Helena who are still at the bay in Anatom, where we were. Glenda asked if we had noticed all the men carrying machetes and the women long knives. We had, but just thought that was their culture. As it turns out, one of the men murdered his girlfriend (while we were there) and dumped her body in the river. He cut out her heart! This is considered black magic and it is assumed that he ate her heart. Now every day when dusk approaches, the women and children have to remain in their huts with a few men left to keep guard of the village, and the other men are going out nightly to try and find him in the bush. In hindsight, we are glad it was too rainy and muddy for us to trek out to the waterfall in the woods.

So sorry - so much for my short posting! The weather seems to have finally laid down a bit, so we are planning on leaving at sunup tomorrow morning. We have loved being accepted and welcomed here in "the twilight zone"…seeing the volcano (wow), hiking through the island, watching an authentic half-naked dance, sharing the wedding feast, visiting the school with our supplies, and being invited into the community and the homes (all straw huts with no electricity or running water). Lesly, my dear friend - you would be horrified!

We feel so incredibly grateful to experience such a richness of life and truly happy villagers, especially in the most primitive and basic forms. Throughout our six years cruising the South Pacific, we have learned so much from those that have so little. What makes people the happiest has nothing to doing with amassing material things and making more money. Once you have water, food, clothing and shelter then having love, family, a sense of purpose and contributing to the greater good, is what can truly fulfill people. Yikes….sounding pretty philosophical there!

Time for us to head over to Tom's village so that he can walk us through his garden for him to share his bounty with us, in appreciation for the batteries, shoes and other extras we had on board that we were happy to give to him and his family. It will be hard to say our goodbyes, but we are excited to explore the next island.

Until next Friday….go with the flow!