Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu. Saturday 27 September 2014

Tashi Delek
Mike & Carol Kefford
Sat 27 Sep 2014 05:05

19:1.4s 169:29.7e

 

After exchanging emails with Vanuatu Customs and Immigration we were given permission to make landfall in Port Resolution named after Captain Cooks ship that arrived here a few years ahead of us.

 

We had made the three day crossing with Moana Roa, Tulu and Knot Crazy which was fun.  We had started with Beluga Free as well however they had had to turn back on the first day with an auto pilot problem.

 

Vanuatu is our last country before the passage to Australia and from the very start we loved it and were sorry that our time was so limited.  Customs came to the boat to clear us in but we needed to go to the main town, two hours away, to check in with immigration.  Drew and family on Knot Crazy had arranged with Wirri and Stanley who run the Yacht Club that they would drive us and the Moana Roas coming back via the volcano.  What a ride.

 

The yacht club is tiny, remote and beautiful with a handful of huts for backpackers….

 

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The view is terrific….

 

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Downtown in two pick-up trucks meant that most passengers were effectively cargo in the back and grateful to have brought their own cushions.

 

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We tried to make sense of the notices and signs in the local language, pidgin …..

 

 

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‘Pablik Woks Dipatmen’   - this one is easy – Public Works Department.  Some are more difficult….

 

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Market day so we stocked up on veg.  Note the way the carrots are displayed.

 

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We needed some sweet potatoes for the passages ahead.  They are so long lasting as to be virtually immortal just kept in a basket in the dark.  However they only had ‘catering packs’, huge quantities in palm leaf baskets.  We splashed out and then distributed the contents to the other yachts and the villagers back in Port Resolution.

 

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But the main reason for being there was checking in at immigration which turned out to be a hoot with much banter between the immigration officer and the various skippers culminating in a cheeky grin and wink to Carol.

 

 

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Local lunch of chicken, sauce and cassava/tapioca/manioc.

 

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