Port Resolution, Tanna

Wildfox
Anthony Swanston
Wed 17 Sep 2014 22:56
I arrive at Port Resolution at 1600 on 13th September and get my anchor down. A bit rolly but there is no other choice here. Next morning Stanley, organiser for cruisers, happens by in his dugout outrigger canoe. "Are you fishing?" I ask. "No, just paddling". That is Vanuatu for you. Walking through the village the Presbyterian Church is in full swing, a woman I have never met gives me a pomegranate and I meet a beautiful young girl from Chile who is on one of the other boats and is on her way to do washing with some of the village women. The village is pristine. There is the Port Resolution Yacht Club, but in reality it is a restaurant designed to attract cruisers. The chef drives the jeep to the volcano and then cooks you dinner.

A 189 foot superyacht (Mondango) arrives and customs, immigration and bio security come over from Lenakel a 3 hour bumpy ride away. There are no roads on these islands, just bumpy mud tracks. Such service when you are rich! Next day we go to Yasur volcano which Captain Cook called the Lighthouse of the Pacific. It has been erupting for 800 years. Nowhere else in the world would you be allowed to walk to the edge of an active volcano and look down at the lava bubbling up and frequently exploding in a burst of fireworks. Occasionally Yasur becomes too active and the authorities close it. But reluctantly because they do like to get their fee for entry...

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