Vanuatu
We hadn't planned to visit Vanuatu - cyclone season was on its way, and we were keen to get to Australia
Nauplios decided differently however. On the way from Fiji to Vanuatu, our auto pilot started leaking fluid. There was a chance we could lose the autopilot if we didnt do something about it.
In actual fact, on these long passages, we rarely use the auto pilot, instead using the wind vane, which steers us using the power of (obviously) the wind and the sea, but if the sea gets big/rough, the wind pilot struggles to hold the course and we always need the auto pilot to be available.
Hand steering with only two people on board isnt an option
Vanuatu - a collection of 80 islands located in the South Pacific (between Fiji and Australia)
There is evidence of the Melanesians arriving here from throughout the Pacific from around 3000 years ago
As usual, us Brits couldn't keep our nose out, and the intrepid Captain James Cook (from Yorkshire - no less!) arrived in the late 1700's to apparently "discover" the islands.
Later on, the islands became a joint British - French colony - known as the New Hebrides.
We arrived on the island, during the celebrations to commemorate the signing of the countries independence from France and the UK in 1980
Vanuatu has over 100 distinct languages and various customs, but in the main, is known for traditional practices around community life.
Agriculture and farming is their number one (or as they say in Vanuatan language - namba wan) industry, with tourism coming in second
We were here for a few weeks - interestingly our spare part for the auto pilot took 2 days to arrive from France (via Australia) then 2 weeks in Vanuatu waiting for it to clear customs.... It was fun though
We picked up a mooring buoy in Port Vila next to the Yachting world Marina - it was easy, Rosalyn is very helpful, the merket is amazing, and so is the Bon Marche supermarket up the hill.....
