Mustang Sally is still at the same spot in Asanvari Bay although we are now perched on the mooring rather than being on anchor.

It is such a nice spot here and the weather has been great so figured we might as well stop for a bit.

 

On Saturday we tackled the walk to the Taboo Bat Cave which is up there with the rope assisted walk we did to the Goat House at Lord Howe Island.

It all started off nicely enough with a few climbs through the jungle.  As we climbed higher and went further inland the ground got decidedly wetter and more slippery.  Luckily our guide Barry was great and made sure that I kept my footing most of the time.   After a couple of hours we made it to the Bat Cave which doesn’t look like that much from the outside but is pretty amazing once you enter.  To start with it is a very dark entrance over some rough terrain but the cave opens up to a huge cavern and we eventually make it through to the other end which is open to the sky.  The other thing in the cave is lots of bats which are pretty creepy as they fly past you within a few centimetres – luckily they were only little bats and not big scary ones.

 

The walk back, although predominantly down hill didn’t seem much easier especially when Barry took the short cut which was pretty much straight down hill.  By the time we made it back the boat the first stop was a swim in the water to cool down and give our jelly legs a chance to recover before spending a quiet afternoon recovering on board.  Needless to stay we both slept very well!

 

We had another boat from Aussie join us in the bay on Monday.  Believe it or not it is the sister ship to Future Shock (Elliott 56 race boat).  It used to be called “Rager” and has done numerous races including several Sydney to Hobart’s etc.  It has now been dumbed down a bit these days for cruising but still draws over 4mts and has carbon sails so not what you would normally think of as a standard cruiser.  Anyhow there is a really nice family on board who love their fishing so seem to provide the village with at least 1 fish per day which is making everyone happy.  They also do some surfing behind their dinghy which has also been quite a hit with the local lads!

 

As we were not that sure of how much trading would be done during this trip we stocked up with lots of clothes and school stuff before we left home but have really not found many places that want to trade for anything but Vatu so we still have most of this on board so decided to give the remainder of our school supplies to the local primary school and hopefully they can find a good home for it.  We now just have to find a good home for some clothes and fishing gear but sure we will find a good home somewhere.

 

This morning we are heading ashore to do another load of washing in the waterfall and pick up the obligatory 10lts of water.  We have also arranged to have dinner at Erica’s place this evening which should be a nice treat.  Tomorrow we are on the move again to Lolowai Bay at Ambae.