We had a night there and went ashore so Courtney could interview Arthur for her school work. The rest of the crew on the island had gone away so Arthur was pleased for the company and seemed very disappointed that we would only stay one night. No talk of park fees.We left late in the afternoon for the overnight trip. In a very relaxed mood we intended to sail the whole way and take as long as it takes. Well, after a night of sitting still in the middle of the sea, then creeping along most of the next day, the motor finally came on and we got in late the next afternoon. Bobbing around going nowhere gets frustrating even when you're not in a hurry.
Back at Vanga again we found that the new Teachers College was to open in a few days time and there would be a celebration. The new principal of the college, John was in a flap over the preparations and seemed very happy to have us around. Another newcomer to Vanga was Andrea, a volunteer from Australia, who was great company and showed herself as a great teacher and motivator to the Rural Training Centre. She took the girls snorkelling and made sure we were well stocked with vegetables. We shared many meals with her and generally enjoyed her company.
One day the girls noticed a mast going past. A call on the radio raised Toeti, a steel sloop being delivered from Micronesia to initially Australia and then to NZ. They were bound for Gizo but decided to stop for the night and visit us. They had no fridge and we had no beer, so we pooled our resources and had a good chat over a few cold beers.
The day of the Teachers College opening was a great day out. It started with the official guests being welcomed. This reminded me of a welcome in a NZ Maori Village, except it seemed more comical with the guys dressed in traditional outfits and spears but very animated and funny in there movements and challenges.
They followed the crowd as we made our way up to the college and had the girls in stiches as they darted back and forward challenging people, then running away as if they were scared. We assembled at the college and listened to the speeches of how the European Union had been forthcoming in funding to provide a college to train teachers. These teacher then will go out to the rural training centres that teach basic village life-improvement skills.After the speeches we had a feast in the same fashion as the ones we'd had at Rendova Harbour. The grounds were then cleared for the entertainment. Over a dozen different groups did dances and songs to display aspects of their culture from all over the Solomon Islands. A very enjoyable day.
From Vanga we made our final run to Gizo. Surprises were still in order as not only was Toeti anchored but another boat, Goldenrod, with Robert and Annabelle from the USA aboard. We basically had two things to do in Gizo, go for a dive and check out with Immigration. We did the dive and went to Grand Central Station which was a good wall dive but disappointing as far as the seeing lots of fish. The timing of the tide was wrong and a bit of a stuff up really. The next dive was on the Toa Maru, the large Japanese freighter scuttled during WWII. This was great and really interesting seeing a huge ship underwater.
On one of last days in Gizo we visited with Robert & Annabelle from Goldenrod. We found that they had being going around New Georgia for two months at the same time as us but in the opposite direction. All the time they had been there they had not seen another boat. A sad note was that their new 15hp outboard was pinched in Gizo. Months later it was recovered.
We checked out and waved them goodbye. It was a three day run across the Solomon Sea to the Louisiades. The first day gave us very light winds but consistent and we glided along at five knots. The next day was a mix of everything with the most memorable thing being a line of squalls that stretched across the horizon andsteadily advanced on us, blowing quite hard when it hit. We reefed down and then laid hove-to for a while it rained so hard we couldn't hear each other talk. The final day saw the wind slowly come around til it was right on the nose and we ended up motoring up to the passage into the main lagoon and on to Pana Numara.
A few miles out from anchoring we put the lure out to catch a fish and almost straight away had Spanish Mackerel on board - too easy. Nine months earlier we first landed in PNG at this island and it was nice to return. We met up with a few of the locals and settled in for a rest of a few days. Dennis & Barbara came in from another island and we had a little reunion. After a few days we pushed a little west to Panasia Island. This is a must see island in this area and we missed it the first time around. The high bluff cliffs and lovely beaches make this uninhabited island picture postcard stuff.We had a lovely time here for a few days. Only had local visitors one day and we made them very happy by giving them most of our trading bag away. A mixture of goodies that we had left over after nine months of trading with locals. A beach BBQ one evening with Dennis & Barbara and a day out on the beach on the other side of the island capped off a truly memorable stay with lots of reflection on how the cruise of PNG and the Solomons had gone.
Raising the anchor for the last time in PNG it got stuck! First time ever! After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, it wouldn't budge. So in 11 metres of water the mask and flippers were donned and, with a lot of luck, I was able to dive down and free the chain from a low coral head.
So we sailed out of Panasia and headed for Cairns, Australia - 500 miles away.
No comments:
Post a Comment