August 7th Sunday

Port Resolution Bay, Tanna Island, Vanuatu We
have been on the island of Tanna for the
past few days and the wind has been blowing
hard. The anchorage is one of the few good
ones in Vanuatu and we have been safe. We
visited the village itself which was quite
small and traditional and also the "Port
Resolution Yacht Club" The constuction of the
native dwellings are a little different from
Fiji but are along the same lines. There  is no
infrastructure or significant tourism here
only a few eco-resorts dotted around the island.
Port Resolution is named for one of Captain Cook's
ships. He was here in this very same spot in 1780.
The main attraction on the island is Mt Yasur one
of the few active volcanoes that one can get close
to in the world and we really were able to get close!
The tour started at about 1600H in an open Toyota
pick up truck. The roads are almost non existent,
just tracks really,  and full of huge holes and ruts.
The journey to the volcano is about 20 Km. and it
took over an hour due to the terrain. The scenery was
impressive though, through rain forest and hills with
banyan and pandanus trees. On approaching the volcano,
the land changed from lushgreen to a sterile ash field
where only a few stunted and scraggly palm trees grew.
You could already  see smoke and hear the rumbling of
the volcano from 2 Kms.
At the volcano itself was a rickety trail which guided
us up to the caldera and we were able to walk around it
to get to within 100 meters of the crater itself. I have
certainly seen nothing like this before. The volcano was
indeed quite active and two large vents intermittently
exploded spewing molten rock and smoke and steam 300
meters into the air. The noise and rumbling was
incredible and Idoubt that we could have got this close
to nature's violenceanywhere in the US. There were no
guard rails, no mindersno ticket booths or concession
stands just us and the mountain. We spent a couple of
hours and got some good photos and then took the truck
ride back to the boat which was again an experience in
the pitch dark. We have spent the last couple of days
just lazing around and walking on a  pristine beach
just past the village. The weather has settled down
today and we will leave for the Island of
Efate and Port Vila today. It's about 130 miles and
we should get in early on Monday morning. Photos of
Tanna and Aneityum to follow when I get some internet.