Mark & Di's Coral Sea Cruz: Port Vila & Efate

Miss Amanda has joined us on Mustang Sally for a couple of weeks of cruising around the island of Efate. The first day was one of rest and recovery as Amanda’s flight didn’t arrive into PV until 2am in the morning and naturally there was also the compulsory sarong shopping. Saturday and we hit the mean streets of Port Vila to stock Sally for the next couple of weeks on the pick.

A hard arvo at Iririki Island

Our first stop was off Hideaway Island in Mele Bay which is about 5NM from Vila. Being Sunday there was plenty going on at the Beach Bar so naturally we had to go and check out what all the excitement was about as well as enjoying a few cleansing ales. As the anchorage was a bit rollie and the winds were forecast to build we figured it was a good time to move on so we rounded Devil’s point and headed up into Havannah Harbour. We now know why it is called Devils point as it is very bumpy with plenty of overfalls but the seas soon settled down once we were around and into the more protected waters of the harbour.

Our first stop was in Ai Creek which is a pretty little anchorage (in fact all the anchorages in Havannah Harbour are pretty stunning. We were met by a dug out and we bought a lovely hand of banana’s, which are now ripening in our recently hung fruit netting out the back, This was the first time we have ever traded for $$$$. Havannah harbour is a real area of development with plenty of nice resorts for a drink / meal and also quite a number of flashy houses on the shore line – not a bad spot to have some holiday digs.

Our first stop was at the Wahoo Bar for a spot of lunch on Monday. Mark decided to indulge in the coconut crab which provided much entertainment for Amanda and I as well as the staff. It took at least 1 hour, 4 stubbies of Tusker and some guidelines from our waiter on how to attack the beast before it was finally subdued and consumed

After a couple of nights at Ai Creek it was up anchor again to our next anchorage of Matupa Bay – another tough trip of around 5NM.

Wreck at Matupa Bay

New BON MARCHE

This anchorage is just around the corner from “The Havannah” – which we found out is a pretty swanky couples resort when we went for a walk up there for coffee. On the way we went through a nice village which had plenty of road side market stalls and also a stall of WWII memorabilia. We had only been wandering around for a bit and before we knew it we had Ernest showing all around the place which was pretty neat. After coffee and on our way back to Sal we were joined by a number of local kids who were on their way home from school for a spot of lunch – think we provided some excellent entertainment. Just near our anchorage on the main drag we were also greeted by some entrepreneurial locals who were in the process of making their local market stall into the new Bon Marche! They had some great produce and we now have a big bag on lovely home grown tomatoes and some spring onions.

The Havannah !!

It is now Friday and we have again moved a bit further into the harbour and are now anchored in Sunae Bay which is as far as we can go. We have already been for a walk to the local village and have eyed off a few nice bommies for a snorkel tomorrow.
We are planning to back into the Yachting World wharf on Monday as we have booked an Around the Island tour for Tuesday How bizarre - this was the only day free for the island tour as there are cruise ships in pretty much in port on every other day!