Part three - The village officially welcome World ARC crews
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Sat 12 Jul 2014 05:27
Waiting at the dinghy landing area
After this we were treated to a show of local traditional dancing by the men and some of the village. One of the best things about being part of the ARC is times like this when a whole village comes out to welcome us into their community. We have really felt as though we have become part of Tanna for the last few days. It is a small place, easy to get to know people and they all remember your names.
Traditional dancing and songs were performed for us.
After the dancing we were led back to the yacht club for more speeches, dancing, singing and the gift exchange between the villagers and the boat crews.
Walking up to the yacht club.
As this is a regular event, the ARC organisers contact the village chief ahead of time and ask what items we should bring, so that our gifts can be of most use to them. The village Chief, Werry, who also runs the yacht club, is the only person with access to wifi in the village. That said he has to drive 3 hours to Lenekal to get his messages, so contact is sporadic to say the least, and responses can often be delayed! We had been asked for bedding, towels, kitchen knives, and basically anything else we could spare from the boats. We have been collecting all our worn out clothes since we left Antigua and had a bin bag full of things that, although we wouldn't wear, would be very gratefully received. Also, as we are leaving the boat in Australia for 3 months, we have to get rid of all our dried food so we don't get bugs etc, so we cleared out all except what we thought we would need over the next few weeks.
Modelling our new hats
When we arrived at the yacht club, we were all given handwoven hats and a small coconut full of coconut water to drink through a grass straw. I don't really like coconut water, but the small coconuts are much sweeter and tastier. After listening to the school children sing for a while, we had the official part of the day. Branches of kava were exchanged between the ARC and the village and then all the boat crews laid out their offerings in a pile on the grass. In exchange, we were all given two large baskets of fruit, and hand woven baskets. The baskets contained papaya, lemons, bananas, passion fruits, so much that we will not need to buy any more between now and leaving Port Vila for the sail to Australia.
Me with Tracy from Folie a Deux
Exchange of kava
Our gifts from the villagers
Ivan and I loaded down with baskets of fruit and vegetables.
The local school children who sang for us.
In the evening a huge buffet was laid on for us at the yacht club. Local women has spent all day preparing a meal for us which was delightful. We spent the evening sitting chatting on the grass, eating and drinking wine and listening to the village choir singing. After the food it was time to dance it off again, with music provided by local musicians. It was a wonderful end to a fantastic stay. This is a very special place which we and the rest of the boat crews will never forget. We have made lots of new friends and had many memorable experiences. The people here are so generous and were willing to share everything they have with us. We were all touched by the welcome and the hospitality we have been shown. This is one place we are definitely looking forward to coming back to and one of the best stop overs we have had since the start of the ARC and probably ever. We have sailed 28,000 miles for a welcome like this and it is was worth every one of them. Recently, we have been missing home more and looking forward to coming back to England to see family and friends again. The welcome in Tanna has left us restored and revitalised for our final sail into Australia.
A much better view of the beach in Tanna, sunshine makes such a difference!
Sent from my iPad