Espiritu Santo
Kokamo's Pacifc Meanderings
Tom and Rachel
Wed 29 Sep 2010 22:18
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Kokamo is in Luganville at 15:31.368S
167:09.924E
For the last few days we have been on
the island of Espiritu Santo, catching up on the odd job on the boat,
reprovisioning and taking advantage of some of the more touristy activities
on offer here.
We made it inland for the first time
in ages on the 'Millenium Cave Tour' which took us past the old American
airstrip, left over from the 2nd world war, and up into the bush for a
walk through amazingly green jungle and to explore a huge cave 800m long and 60m
high which you can walk all the way through, waist deep in water in
places. After stumbling out of the darkness back into the
sunshine our guides took us down the canyon and into a deep gorge
where we swam back down the river. Cool and refreshing!
The last few days have been big ones
for me - not only have I faced my fear and gone diving but I also went
kitesurfing again! Having freaked out a little bit about scuba diving
whilst we were in Tonga I was pretty nervous about going again but Tom and
I finally got round to giving it another shot and where better than the world
famous sites in Santo. The wreck of the majestic President Coollidge
(passager liner turned troop carrier) lies just off the coast and was our first
dive. I have to say I was more concerned about the fact that my depth
gauge wasn't working and remembering how to control my buoyancy and to keep
breathing(!) so the shere scale of the wreck was slightly lost on me
and I only started to relax and be able to look at it in the last few minutes.
The best part was probably our safety stop at 5m where our dive guide suddenly
produced a load of bread from his pocket so we could feed the fish which
came swarming around us - really fun until one of the little blighters nibbled
me! I was somewhat more at ease for our second dive of the day over
Million Dollar Point - the American junk yard where they tipped all their
equipment and vehicles into the sea when they left after the war. A vast
quantity of stuff but it is hard to distinguish individual things from the
tangle of metal and tyres - perhaps we should have just gone for some
nice coral instead!
We were about to move anchorages
yesterday when the breeze suddenly blew up and the spit just here looked
like a good spot for kite surfing so we dropped the hook again and rushed
ashore with all the kit. Having not had a go for a while I was a bit shaky
but did manage to get in a small session before the breeze died. I can now
just about stay standing up when I gybe but only in one direction! I still
had to be rescued in the end but at least it wasn't a complete
disaster!
Hoping to set sail for Ambae
tomorrow.
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