Onwards to Vanuatu and a Volcano

We cleared out with customs at Lautuka Fiji and they said we had 2 hours to leave. So we left immedialtly for Port Resoulution, named after captain cooks ship, on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. It is a 460 mile crossing or about 4 days. We had a great sail almost all the way and just motored for a few hours at the end. Out came the mosquito nets even though we did not see any, just some flies, because these islands are known to have malaria and we did not want to take any drugs for it. We then talked to another cruiser about the check in procedure.

From Port Resolution the next morning we got a ride in the back of a pickup truck to Lenakel on the other side of the island where customs and immigration is but no good anchorage. It is a two hour ride one way and there was eight of us in the back of the truck with mostly locals and a couple more yachties up front. It was a super ride through time seeing the tiny villages living in the past with cell phones. Many of them have no way to charge their phones so bring them out to the yachts to get them charged.

That afternoon just before dark we got a ride up to Mt. Yasur which is an active volcano and the only one in the world you can get close to. This is also the main draw of visitors to this island .
We got up there a half hour before dark and did the 10 minute hike to the crater rim and could see a lot of smoke and steam, and then a loud explosion and chunks of lava would fly into the air.
As it got dark it was like fireworks you could see every few minutes when it exploded a huge fire show and lots of lava rocks flung into the air. It is also a bit dangerous as every couple of days there was a big enough eruption to fling volcanic rocks up above the crater rim and land in the area where people are standing, and some of the rocks are as big as a chair. The guide heaved one of the trail we were walking up and says that must have come down this morning. If this was in Canada you would not be allowed withing 20 miles of this volcano. Will try to load a video clip here of the volcano.
The locals come out to our boat to sell or trade fruit and veggies to us every day. Another day we were invited up to watch a fire walker do his thing. He invited us to try it but we declined.
The people in the villages are very friendly and the children seem very happy and are often singing. The stop here on Tanna island has been one of the best we have had since leaving home.
Soon it was time to leave and next stop being Port Villa on Efate island, still part of Vanuatu. This was an overnight sail with the wind more on the beam making for a nice sail. This is a bigger town and more commercialized here and more tourist activity here. Lots of Austrilians and French people. There is a great fruit and veggy market here to keep Dorothy happy.
We will stay here about another week and then head over to New Caledonia our last stop before Australia.
Info:
We anchored in 18ft at 19 31.454 S 169 29.752 E. It is a bouncy anchorage, I notice nobody stayed more that a few days here, just long enough to see volcano and the local sights. Most of info is in above write up. No facilitys here at all, just bush and a tiny village. You need to get a ride to other side of island for stores. You can get a beer at a very basic so called yacht club, by the anchorage.
Land your dinghy to your left when facing into anchorage, the far left small beach gives access to the village there and the guys who organize your trip to town and customs or the volcano.