Tanna - Stowaways
Pacific Bliss
Colin Price
Tue 25 Jun 2013 09:08
Stowaways to Tanna
With not
much of the 'promised' rest from our captain we were swiftly moved along to the
next Island. The Children as ever could have stayed there for much longer.
'Mystery island' was rather reminiscent of the 70's hit TV program Fantasy
Island, Cosmo taking the place of the dwarf, only less helpful.
Not wanting
to subject the kids to another passage, we made the 50nm over night. Whilst
exhausted from the previous nights anchor watch sound effects, our gentle
nocturnal gib sail to Tanna was rather pleasant. Thanks Neptune we needed
that.
Colin was
the first to see the first glows of Mount Yasur, the most accessible 'live'
volcano in the world. We have been anticipating reaching this destination
for 5 years now. By the time the children were up we could see huge plumes
of smoke billowing into the early morning sky. By night fall on our first
night in Port Resolution here on Tanna the entire crew had adjourned to the
cockpit to watch, in awe, the mounting and ebbing red glow of the volcano, v.
cool.
Port
Resolution, named after captain Cooks 2nd boat to cross these waters, docked
here nearly three hundred years ago. On first impressions not much has really
changed.
Anyway we
needed to focus on the increasing itch action going on with the children, in
particular Cosmo. A lovely friend had given me the heads-up nit
alert, but having lived Nit free for the past 3 years and being a little
preoccupied with departures I was not particularly vigilant and had long
forgotten the rapidity of their reproduction. Well by the time I got round
to it Cosmo had a flipping stow away city on board his bonce. It's going
to take a lot of combing before we rid him, and now us, of the mothers of all
mothers now impregnating his follicles. So we have finally found a
negative about Nelson's inhabitance!. However having arrived here we find
ourselves in good company the entire population of the village appears to spend
a good deal of time with nails embedded in scalp and given the thick frizzy
nature of the manes here riding the issue must be near on impossible, suspect it
just might be an on going issue for the next 6 months.
We have all
rather rapidly become accustomed to Western culture again. Anatom was
rather wealthy and sanitized, but a step into a less visited village and it
really is like going back in time. We, just right now, need to acclimatize
ourselves. Again we're finding the people incredibly gentle, smiley and
super polite. It feels like it's time for the west to relearn what life is
all about, you'd never see so many smiley faces walking around a village
in the UK.
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