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We've certainly had an eventful two days. Yesterday we departed Dillon's Bay at daybreak for our sail to Tanna Island. With the wind, waves and current on the nose, we motored the first leg then got some reprieve from the current and swell in the shadow of Tanna Island, which allowed us to motor-sail. We knew it would be slow going, so we'd planned to only go as far as Lomanloma Bay on the northwest corner of Tanna Island. However, with the southeast to northwest orientation of the island, the swell was basically coming up both the leeward and windward sides, making Lomanloma Bay a less than desirable choice. With that and enough daylight remaining we altered course for Waisisi Bay. We were rewarded with two separate whale sightings for our trouble.

It was dusk by the time we anchored. We'd no sooner settled down with our sundowners when we heard some giggling. On further investigation we encountered a group of children who had paddled out to Paw Paw in their dugout canoes. We felt so bad that we had no sweets onboard to give them, but then Elaine remembered we had packets of Ginger Snap biscuits. The delight on their little faces at receiving two biscuits each was priceless. Of course, it didn't take long for word to spread and, just as darkness fell, two more children, who couldn't have been older than five years old, paddled out for their biscuits. In many ways, it broke our hearts, but we later learnt that yachts rarely visit Waisisi Bay, so the entire experience was new for these children.

This morning we discovered the reason yachts seldom stop at Waisisi Bay. Every inch of Paw Paw was covered in a thick layer of ash. Knowing it would take us the best part of the day to clean the mess, we decided to get an early start and motored the last 6NM to Port Resolution, our intended destination on Tanna Island and the single reason we had sailed to Vanuatu to begin with - Mount Yasur, an active volcano that we could visit. En route to Port Resolution we had another sighting of whales, but this time it was a female and her calf, breaching beautifully as they approached us. It was the start of the most spectacular day.

Of course, there's always the "piper to pay" and a significant leak in our portside water heater was our payment. It drained about a quarter of a tank of our much needed freshwater into the bilge before we heard the bilge pumps activate. Once that issue was isolated, we tackled our mess on deck. After trying to sweep it up, then trying to wash it off with buckets, we were getting nowhere. It was time to bring out the "big guns" - Our 8000 gallons / 30000 litres per hour emergency pump with a 3 inch firehose attached. While we hate to give Paw Paw a saltwater washdown, we had no choice in this regard and the pump worked wonders. We then spent some time giving the stainless steel, hatches, etc a freshwater wipe and, fortunately, mother nature helped o ut later in the day with a decent amount of rain.

By then we were scrambling to get ready for our trip to Mount Yasur, only to discover our transportation was running late, so we ended up with an hour to spare. With that we enjoyed a walk around the very pretty gardens and grounds of the Port Resolution "Yacht Club", as well as a chat to Scott off Morning Light who was also joining the excursion. After a very bumpy ride, fortunately in the comfort of a 4-wheel drive supercab, we arrived at the entrance to the operations, but by now the similarities between Costa Rica and much of Vanuatu had definitely surfaced. The roads are essentially mud tracks. The vegetation is thick and lush, but seeing steam coming out of the mountain side as we approached the volcano was incredible.

After paying our entrance fee, we were escorted to the staging area, where we meet our guides, heard the story of the legend, received our garlands as a welcome gift and witnessed th e traditional ceremony, which included the presentation of "kava" to the chief, receiving his blessing for a safe adventure and some traditional custom dancing and singing. The latter was very different to what we had seen elsewhere in the South Pacific Islands. It resembled African dancing in many ways with regard to its simplicity and pounding of the feet.

Nothing really prepared us for the experience that awaited us though. It was beyond what we had ever imagined. We were both simply in awe of what we were witnessing. The Yasur volcano is one of the most accessible volcanoes in the world. The 4-wheel drive vehicles took us to within 200m of the crater, following which we hiked the remainder of the way to the rim. Standing on the ledge, where, in one direction you would slide straight into the molten rock and the other, straight down the outer cliffs, was rather unsettling, but seeing the magma explosions as the sunset was beyond words.

Mount Yasur is steeped in legend: "Once upon a time, the volcano-man, Yasur, found refuge with two old woman on Tanna Island. He liked it there and decided to stay forever, swallowing up the house and its occupants and that is where the two craters stem from, one for each of Yasur's victims". Most local people, however, believe it is the "House of the Spirits" and, to be honest, we can relate to the latter. The noise and rumblings sounded really angry and menacing. With smoke and steam pouring out, the magma explosions sent pieces of molten rock the size of cars flying skyward.

To be that close to an active volcano will truly remain one of our most memorable experiences and has made every inch of ocean that we have crossed thus far, worthwhile. It certainly stands out with our diving in Bonaire, Elaine's dive with the Dolphins in Curacao, visiting the historic St Pierre on Martinique destroyed by Mount Pelee, visiting the devastation of Plymouth on Montserrat caused by Mount Soufriere, the hundreds of dolphins that came to frolick in Paw Paw's bows on our sail to Colombia, our trip up the Chargres River to the Embera Indian village in Panama, our snorkel excursions in the Galapagos, our snorkel at the "Aquarium" in the Rangiroa atoll of the Tuamotus, feeding the sting rays in Moorea, seeing the manta rays in Boro Boro, the isolation of Surwarrow, the To Sua Ocean Trench and snorkeling the crater of the underwater volcano in Samoa, the humpback whales in Tonga and the mud pools and hot springs in Fiji. An experience of a lifetime for which we are immensely grateful!

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