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The Banks and Torres Islands
Team 3 was about to start.We had finally loaded all the equipment and a new team of people (four nurses) on board the yacht.This time the plane was on time, always a bonus.We up anchored at 5.30pm and headed out.I had cooked tea for our crew and we ate while motoring down the channel.We had before us a 19 hour sail across to Meri Lava, the most north eastern Island in the Banks group.This was the first time we had been to Meri Lava so we weren't sure what to expect.The wind was strong as we left the shelter of the channel so I simply packed everything down to stop it flying around in the fairly rough conditions.The dishes could wait.We were making good time as we sailed along but about 4 hours into the trip we came under the shadow of Ambae and the wind dropped out completely.This is common in Vanuatu where the mountainous islands can have a pronounced effect on local weather conditions.
There is good and bad in everything, we had to motor but at least the swell had died down a bit. By now everyone except Tony and I were asleep.We took turns on watch through the night and by morning the wind had returned and the sea had grown to 2 or 3 metres but Meri Lava was in sight, a cone of volcanic rock jutting up from the sea floor.We could only wonder why anyone would choose to live here.
Angel made much better time than we did (as usual) and dropped anchor at about 8.00am whereas we didn't get there till about 11.00am.We anchored in front of the rocks with anchors painted on them.(See Photo)This is the only anchorage on the whole island, a small patch of sand and silt that builds up after rain and then gradually drifts into the depths in the dry times.
The path from the small beach is much too steep to carry the gear up so we unloaded everyone and the gear onto the lava flow which extends out into the water.Just had to watch the swell and then at just the right moment - JUMP! The crew then had to carry everything up the hill to set up the clinic in the huge Anglican church.The path was very steep - almost like steps all the way up.Some of it, half way up to the village, was across patches of lava flow and it was very slippery especially after rain.
The land on this island is so steep that when the villagers grow melons, pumpkins or anything round, they literally build small platforms under each fruit as they form so that they don't roll down the hill and into the salt water.
Part way up, right next to the path was the cemetery and here there was the grave of a missionary who died in 1910. His epitaph was a simple "Me mate". What was the character of this man who, in a world so different to ours, was somehow able to find this island and live amongst the locals in such a way that he came to be simply "Me mate". The loneliness, the deprivations, the lack of every comfort that we think we so desperately need. 100 years after his death his life still challenges those with time to stop and consider!
I stayed on the boat so I could tidy up and maybe catch up on some sleep.No such luck.The local kids swam out to the boat and kept me company for the day. Also I wasn't happy the anchor was holding properly so I was busy keeping a lookout.Sure enough we were creeping closer to the rocks all the time.I tried calling Tony on the VHF but no one was answering so eventually I had to up anchor and re-anchor the boat by myself.The anchor seemed to be holding OK after that, but we continued to go round and round - we seemed to be just where the wind gusting over the mountain caught us.But there were no options for better anchorages!
The people were very pleased to have us there and on the second day we took the puppets up because the school kids were coming to see the dentist and get their needles (stik merisin).They loved the show and we ended up doing it twice so everyone got to see it.
That night Tony and I were awakened by the anchor alarm going off. Yes we were drifting again.We let out more chain and thankfully that held us till morning.
We were up early again to head off to Merig, a small isolated island with only a couple of families living there.We anchored as close as we dared in the swell and the two male nurses swam to shore to see if anyone needed medical help.Brian just motored around while waiting - he nosed the boat close into the rocks and two nurses from his boat also swam ashore.They only really needed to restock the panadol so Brian motored close enough to throw the medicine to shore where it was caught by willing hands.(See photo - if it was Tony driving our boat I would have been a nervous wreck - we told Brian he was nuts and when we showed him the photo he said it was trick photography and that he wasn't really that close but no one agreed with him - I think he was much closer than he thought) .Then when everything was ready they threw the surplus pills back and one willing man swam out to Angel with a palm basket full of small land crabs as a 'thank you' for coming.All the nurses eventually swam back to the boats and we were off to Losalava on Gaua.That was a 'house call' with a difference!
We reached Losalava at about lunchtime so we took the gear ashore and started to spread the word that we had arrived.Henry (the acting health manager) had been trying to contact them since Wednesday with no success.Communication is still our biggest problem.Many people had mobile phones but to get signal they had to go to a small clearing on top of one hill and stand in the middle of the road. Everytime we drove over that hill we would call out "Phones ready -go!" We have learned to laugh at everything.
We had an easy afternoon since no one was expecting us, however we checked the current patient at the clinic - a young lad 15 years oldwho had a bush knife cut to the leg and only came to the clinic after it was badly infected.This boy was to provide us with the most serious emergency of this season. (See separate story about this boy.)
The next two days were the weekend which meant only afternoon clinics.On Saturday morning some of the team went to the SDA church but we were invited to a welcome ceremony conducted by one of the village chiefs.(There are lots of people with lots of chiefs around here at the moment because the whole population from the western side of the island has been evacuated to the east side when the volcano erupted last year spoiling the water supply and covering their gardens with ash).The village women had made flower leis for each of us and we were welcomed with a song and dance followed by some famous Gaua water music.Water music is quite fascinating.The women and girls stand in thigh deep water and beat the water with cupped hands and it is amazing the sound they get.It resembles the bongo drums a little but with much more variety.
On Sunday morning we went to the little AOG church at Aver Bay with three of the nurses from the team.Here Tony had the opportunity to preach his first sermon in Bislama.It went really well and some of the nurses expressed surprise at how well he spoke.Our Bislama is definitely improving.
We ran the clinic for the villagers both afternoons but the dentist and the immunisation team were the busiest. Then we spent the next three days going to different schools on the Island.The first day we hired a truck and most of the team went to the one the furthest distance away. It had a filter problem and slowed to a crawl as we went across each hill eventually grinding to a halt. After much conversation and fiddling with taps it started again and we thankfully trundled on.
The second day we put fuel into a local taxi boat and he took half the team to the second school while some of the immunisation nurses stayed to get a head start on the third school which was very big, 300 students.We were supposed to be back to do the all the other checks in the afternoon but our 'stik' nurse -( immunisation nurse) took ages.I was very cross with him. Although he was supposedly in charge he didn't seem to be confident in what he was doing and he hadn't brought enough serum with him for all the babies that came.It was just a matter of putting in a couple more vials but he had no idea and wouldn't ask. He was supposed to be in charge of the team as well as all the immunisation. We were so late back Tony was starting to get worried and about to come looking for us when he spotted us in the distance.Now we were a day behind schedule.
We decided to send Angel on to the next Island Vanua Lava, so they could stick all the piccaninnies at some of the small villages and pass the word that clinics would be held at Vureas Bay the next day. So they up anchored and sailed away.
We stayed and finished up at the third school then headed out to meet them.On the way I managed to hook a nice barracuda but only managed to land his head - a much bigger fish had two goes at him.All was not lost though, I also hooked a nice 50cm Trevally on the hand line and landed all of him.I have never had other fish taking fish off the line like they have this year.Maybe I just caught more fish.
Vureas Bay - I was quite disappointed with the attitude of the people here.The clinic was a good ½ hour walk/climb up a steep hill and no one was prepared to help carry any of the gear.This village has a long history of input by PYM (and other yachties) and have been given much but I think they have been spoiled, they expect everything handed to them without anything in return, not even a little bit of help.Many of the villagers came to the clinic but they brought nothing, not even a banana.We were lucky to get lunch which was supplied by the resident nurse.On the way back down at the end of the day one of the village men overtook us - didn't help us in any way, then turned up at our boat with Brian expecting Tony to solder up a solar panel connection.After this was done - Tony had more grace than me at this point - he hit me up for some fish. I was most cross.We made it clear that if the attitude persists then there are plenty of other villages who would appreciate our help next time.
The next stop was Waterfall Bay a gorgeous place with a twin waterfall, and abundance of fresh water.What a difference in attitude.They had everything ready and all the people were there waiting for us. We had a great time here.We did the clinic in the morning then had the rest of the day off.We used the time to catch up on some washing and had a good swim in the waterfall.Sarah caught up with her friend Janet that she met in 2007, and went swimming out in the waterfall and up onto the rocks in the middle.
Ambek - Again we were welcomed here and everyone was waiting for us.Here we managed to catch up with Patrick and Sarah - Tony's 'brother' from 2007. He was the one that gave us the dead chicken, unlike Keith who gave us a live one.He was a little bit sad this time because one of his grandchildren had just been stillborn. But people here are resilient and complaining achieves nothing so life just goes on.
It was here that Tony had a thought that we should turn left and head straight to Torres instead of finishing the Banks islands. He was very concerned that we would be leaving Brian and Jan with the most remote area to be done when we had to pull out of team 4 so Tony could go back to Oz to do some work. It would especially be a problem as Brian was fighting a chronic staf infection and would have to hand steer for the whole trip since Angel's autopilot was dead.After some discussion it was decided to go to the next village and call the Health office and get approval for the change.
Vatop - This village is always very friendly and welcoming.Rose who we met in 2007 no longer has her kindy since she had a bub of her own, but we gave all the things we had taken for her to the school teacher who has included the kindy kids in the school.She has a good system. She is the only teacher and heaps of kids so all the big ones come at 7.30 and stay till lunch and all the little ones come in the afternoon.She was very happy with the things we left with her.Thanks John for what you donated, there is one school that is very appreciative.
Walking out into the water on the point at low tide we were able to get mobile phone contact. We were given the go ahead for the change of plans so at about 9p.m. we up anchored and headed for Hiu with the breeze on our tails. We were behind Angel and just on dusk got hit by a storm front with gusts over 30 knots. We radioed Brian to let him know it was coming and he just managed to get his large drifter down before the wind, rain and lightning hit. Thankfully no damage!
The Island of Hiu is the northernmost island in Vanuatu.We arrived at about 8.00 a.m. after being welcomed by a huge pod of spinner dolphins and were thankful to reach a relatively calm anchorage. Everyone was surprised to see us because they were expecting us in a couple of weeks, but there aren't many people on Hiu so word was quickly spread and everyone was able to take advantage of the opportunity.We met some of the folks we had met in 2007 but unfortunately we couldn't stay long.By about 1.30 p.m. we had packed up and were off again. We were moving fast!
The next stop was Metoma, another small island with only one family.On the way Brian spotted a loose signalling device floating off to starboard.We veered in that direction and sure enough we saw it too.We went up close and the boys (Willie and Clayton) managed to pick it up and bring it on board.It was pretty big and had Japanese writing on it so we think it must have come loose from one of their long liners.The float was about 2 foot tall and 1 foot across and the aerial was about 7 foot long.The locals use the stainless steel battery case from these to crush Kava.Enquiries in Australia later revealed it was a signal float used on the end of long lines and was worth about $5,000 when new. Second hand it would probably fetch $1000. Oh well, the boys now have a very expensive (and flashy) kava crusher!
Metoma - Once again we anchored as close as we could get and Brian on Angel let down his dinghy and took the main medical team ashore while Jan just kept Angel steady.They weren't gone long and soon we were off again this time to the nicest anchorage in Torres.It is a small bay on the back side of Tegua Island.No one lives there. We all turned in early for one of the best sleeps in a while.
Next morning we beat around to the other side of the island and anchored in a swelly bay.We had not been here before but Brian had, and he led the way.Getting to the beach was a bit of a challenge because there was a small reef surrounding the whole edge of the bay.Not so good with a soft bottom dinghy.Never mind, we managed and when we went ashore guess what - we found a HF radio that actually worked so we were able to talk to the next island and let them know we were coming. We held the clinic in the sitting area of the village and everyone came. Tony and Brian were in demand to check some of the connections in the Radio house and then to check a 4 month old outboard motor which wouldn't go.They were able to tell what the problem was but unable to fix it without a new part.They could only tell them to contact Vila without delay (The message could take quite a while to reach Vila) so it could be fixed under warranty.The people here live and work in almost total isolation from the remainder of the country and what is really sad is that no one in government seems to care. Once again we were finished by lunchtime so we pulled up the anchor again and left for the next Island.
We arrived at Loh at about 2 p.m.There were supposed to be eight strong men to meet us and help us with the gear because it was a half hour walk across to the other side of the island where the clinic is, but they weren't there, so Tony and our guys carried most of the gear across with the help of some kids.Tony ended up with a pretty sore back because he carried the 2kva generator!Once again this island has the biggest population and the only airport in the area so they get regular visitors and a little more attention although that doesn't always help.
The main microwave link for the phone system is on this island and it had stopped working some months before. A quick inspection revealed that the batteries had all exploded and dried out. Of course new batteries could be flown in but as several months had elapsed it obviously wasn't a priority for the government owned phone company.
We set up in the clinic and worked the afternoon.They had a patient at the clinic here also.A young fellow named Samuel who had a bush knife wound on his leg similar to James, only this one was at the back of his leg and had severed the Achilles tendon.The nurse here had tried to stitch the ligament that was cut but was unsure he had done it right so had called Dr Mark, the volunteer flying doctor based on Gaua, to come and check it.
Dr Mark Turnbull is an Australian Seventh Day Adventist that flies all over the northern islands in his light plane attending to medical emergencies. He is supported by donations only, no government help, but his service is so widely respected that the villagers on various islands have hacked landing strips out of the bush just so he can land his plane when needed. We meet some amazing people in this business!
We heard later that Dr Mark actually had to find the tendon again and restitch it because it had come unstitched or wasn't stitched properly in the first place. He also set the foot in plaster so it wouldn't move until healed.We gave another of the sets of crutches donated by the Tin Can Bay Coast guard to the clinic here and the first person to use them was Samuel. The Coast Guard's reach extends way beyond the coast of Oz!
Next day we did a couple of hours at the clinic then moved to the school about half way back.Thankfully there was some help this time.We finished up at about 2.30 p.m. but decided to stay another night because the next island has no anchorage at all, just a shallower spot between reefs. Being that it was the last night we would be in Torres, Tony decided to go ashore with the boys and try some Kava for the first time.(See separate blog)
Toga - the last of the Torres Islands.I stayed on board most of the day cooking and packing down because we would be leaving as soon as the clinics were finished.The village here is where we met Freddy and Freda in 2007.They are twins who were born deaf. I think Freda also has some mental disability but Freddy is as sharp as a tack.He made up some sign language to communicate and the whole village knows it and can 'talk' to him.Well they are about 18 years old now and have grown really responsible, especially Freddy.He helps in the garden and around the house wherever he can.He is still sharp and notices everything.He noticed Sarah was standing in the shade under a coconut tree and he got her attention and told her to stand under a different tree in case a coconut fell down on her, all with signs and grunts.About 3.00 p.m. Tony came and got me to go ashore because my 'sister' Joanne (the twin's mother) wanted to see me.I didn't realise I had a sister but I won't forget again.I took a small bag of clothes for her and the kids and she was so delighted to see me again she presented me with a live chicken so I could have fresh meat when I next wanted it.Not sure where on the boat I was supposed to kill and dress it so it stayed happily in its bag.I ended up giving it to one of the Ni-van nurses when we got back to Santo.
When the clinics finished for the day we did a people swap with Angel and got ready to head back to Santo.
We headed out into two and a half metre swells with the wind hard on the nose.We tacked throughout the night bashing into the swell and by morning had only got about half way down Gaua - we were hoping to be at the bottom end.As the morning wore on the wind and waves dropped out completely. That was a relief as some of the crew were looking and feeling pretty seedy.
We had a lovely motor for the rest of the day in a flat sea. A small pod of about six pilot whales came and joined us for about ¾ of an hour.They were really lovely. Pilot whales are about 2 to 3 times bigger than a dolphin with a rounded head rather than a nose or 'beak'.They played on the bow for a while then swam alongside.They would swim off and then come back again. When we went inside the boat we could hear them making whale noises like you hear on the nature shows - just amazing.
Santo is quite a large island. We drew abeam of the northernmost point at about 5 p.m. but then the wind returned right on our nose and it was 11.30 p.m. before we got to the bottom end where we were able to slip in through a channel and anchor for the rest of the night. We tucked in behind one of the islands close by Oyster Island where Sarah and I would spend the time while Tony went to Oz.
We were up early next morning and able to sneak across the reef on the high tide and drop anchor behind Oyster island. We unloaded most of our passengers and the boat became very quiet for the first time in three weeks.It seemed like a lot longer because we had fitted so much into that short time.
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