Sunday 16th  June, Loltong Pentecote, Vanuatu  15:32.7S  168:08.8E 

Today’s Blog by Lenie (Time zone BST +10.00; UTC +11.00)

Halo  - gudmoning!

Yu save toktok long englis? Nem blong mi Lenie. Mi stap in England. Mi no brekem leg blong mi! Mi mak blog blong Serendipity.

Tamalie’s wife who refused to consummate her marriage and ran away, with her husband in hot pursuit. Endeavouring to escape from him, she climbed to the top of a banyan tree, then threw herself into the void when her husband tried to grab her. Tamalie followed her down, but killed himself on landing, whereas she got up unscathed, having tied herself to vines by her feet.

Every year when the yams are ripe for the picking, the men build a huge tower made of vines and timber around a tall tree with its branches lopped off. These towers can reach up to 35 meters. Ever since that day it has been a man’s prerogative to jump from the platforms in memory of Tamalie. This custom is believed to enhance the next year’s crop of yam.

To see this custom is quite spectacular. We saw children jumping from the lower platforms as an entry into adulthood. >From what I was told, this custom has its casualties. (The first two jumpers seemed to have crash landings and definitely walked away limping. Clever the women opted out on this one).

As jumpers got higher up the tower, the dives got quite spectacular! In comparison, the modern equivalent of bungy-jumping seems a doddle. And you won’t catch me doing either of them!

In the background you see the men dancing on the left and all the women dancing on the right, all in traditional (un)dress.

After the event we walked back to the shore and made our way to the boat. We decided to sail further north on the island of Pentecost to Loltong.

The Loltong anchorage is beautiful. We were quite looking forward to checking out the local yacht club and the village today but unfortunately the weather was very wet. We did venture out as soon as there was a break in the weather.

The yacht ‘clubhouse’ must be the envy of many:

We were greeted by Matthew who is the nephew of chief Richard. He showed us around the village and encouraged us to meet people in the community house, where the women were busy preparing food. The men were all relaxing in a corner. Matthew gave permission to take photos and the people seem to like it, especially when you showed them the results.

We went on to the house of Chief Richard, an elderly man who is now almost housebound. We also met his wife Marie and a nephew. They proudly showed us some family portraits. We were told that we were very welcome and he thanked us for visiting.

The village of Loltong is divided in two parts, one half is protestant and speaks English, the other half is catholic and speaks French. There are two separate schools and separate churches – and separate Chiefs. However, Matthew assured us that this was not a problem. All villagers were related and all lived as one community.

I think the children in the village were testimony to this. There were lots of children playing games together, volleyball, football and games on the beach. It was a joy to hear the laughter of the children and it was a privilege to be shown around the village.

We were told about the presence of dugongs in the bay. Not to miss an opportunity, we all went for a swim and a snorkel, but, as  you may have guessed: No Dugong!

Tomorrow we will depart for Santo. Sooner than we had planned but we will have to go by what weather dictates. If we want to get there  by midweek under sail, tomorrow is our only chance. Next blog will be from ‘civilisation’: we are hoping to stock up on a few items.

All well on board!

Tankyu tata!!!   Lenie xxx