|  MALAKULA & MESCALINE ISLANDS |
Malakula is very mountainous indented with many coves and bays. The Mescaline Islands are a cluster of small islands surrounded by reefs and mangroves.
Although the skies were grey and it was rainy, it was a boisterous sail for much of the way and we were happy to anchor in the remote sheltered bay of Awei in the Mescalyne Island Group.
AWEI ISLAND |
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Sept 24, 2005 Greeted by dugout canoes Almost as soon as we arrived we were visited by a number of dugout canoes who paddled out to welcome us. Among them was Morris (son of the chief) with his wife and children who offered us fruit from the plantation. Then Chief Manse appeared (along with his dogs swimming behind) to invite us to the village the following morning for Sunday School. | ||
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Guests of Honor in the
Village At 8:30 am we trekked to the village thru coconut trees and plantations, along the beach, and onward, meandering by the mangroves. We finally found a little traditional village comprising of a family of 15. Chief Manse introduced us to his family and took us to his thatched roof house to wait for the Presbyterian Minister that was coming from another village. |
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| I distributed lollies to the local children but it was the women and men that got the biggest thrill out of receiving the candy! | The children get their baths before Sunday School | |
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A large group arrived in dugout canoes with the Minister, part of the youth group for the Church. We visited with all the locals and walked around the village before the Service started. |
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The congregation gave us a warm welcome and the singing and prayer began. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, with kids coming and going, woman breastfeeding and babies being juggled from child to grandma to mom and back to child. We noticed that the chief was having trouble reading the prayers with his broken glasses. I gave him a pair of my reading glasses later. After we were put at the head of the reception line to shake hands with everyone. |
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Traditional LapLap Feast After church the village insisted we join them for their Sunday Feast. The women unwrapped banana leaves that had been roasting in the ground. Inside were all forms of manioc, taro, banana, cabbage, whole fish (head included), pieces of mollusks and who knows what else. We all sat on mats and ate with our fingers. Everyone was watching to see how we liked the food and I had to curtail my laughter as Gord choked down a snail (it kept coming back up and he made several attempts at swallowing to finally keep it down!) while politely repeating Good....Good... |
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| The trick was to not think about what you were eating, like in "Fear
Factor." We left the village for our hike back to the boat, laden with fruit and veggies. | This woman from the neighboring village took a shine to Gord and flirted with him! | ||||
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Magic Rocks Took the dinghy to beach to find the renown Magic Rocks, white quartz-like crystallized stones found in only one location in Vanuatu. The villagers believe that if you strike the rocks together at night, a blue flash will appear and it will bring storms and rain to ward off their enemies. Unfortunately we tried it that evening and were so mesmerized by the blue flash that we repeatedly struck the rocks together. |
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| That night we had a thunder/lightening storm and it rained all the next day! | ||
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Across the Island We walked along the shoreline and found a trail thru banana and coconut plantations to the other side of the island. There was a beautiful stretch of beach with breaking surf and open ocean. We walked along the length of the sandy shore collecting some of the best and most unique shells I've gathered to date. |
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We returned to the boat as a turtle swam by. We were soon
visited by a sailing dugout who informed us of the custom
dancing on another nearby island. Since Freefall
and Endless had arrived in the anchorage, we
all made arrangements to go the following day. |
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