Asanvari Bay - Maewo (27th August)

Mustang Sally Cruising
Mark Lawrence & Dianne Jackson
Mon 26 Aug 2013 20:23
Mustang Sally is still at the same spot in Asanvari Bay although we are now
perched on the mooring rather than being on anchor.
It is such a nice spot here and the weather has been great so figured we
might as well stop for a bit.
On Saturday we tackled the walk to the Taboo Bat Cave which is up there
with the rope assisted walk we did to the Goat House at Lord Howe Island.
It all started off nicely enough with a few climbs through the
jungle. As we climbed higher and went further inland the ground got
decidedly wetter and more slippery. Luckily our guide Barry was great and
made sure that I kept my footing most of the time. After a couple of
hours we made it to the Bat Cave which doesn’t look like that much from the
outside but is pretty amazing once you enter. To start with it is a very
dark entrance over some rough terrain but the cave opens up to a huge cavern and
we eventually make it through to the other end which is open to the sky.
The other thing in the cave is lots of bats which are pretty creepy as they fly
past you within a few centimetres – luckily they were only little bats and not
big scary ones.
The walk back, although predominantly down hill didn’t seem much easier
especially when Barry took the short cut which was pretty much straight down
hill. By the time we made it back the boat the first stop was a swim in
the water to cool down and give our jelly legs a chance to recover before
spending a quiet afternoon recovering on board. Needless to stay we both
slept very well!
We had another boat from Aussie join us in the bay on Monday. Believe
it or not it is the sister ship to Future Shock (Elliott 56 race boat). It
used to be called “Rager” and has done numerous races including several Sydney
to Hobart’s etc. It has now been dumbed down a bit these days for cruising
but still draws over 4mts and has carbon sails so not what you would normally
think of as a standard cruiser. Anyhow there is a really nice family on
board who love their fishing so seem to provide the village with at least 1 fish
per day which is making everyone happy. They also do some surfing behind
their dinghy which has also been quite a hit with the local lads!
As we were not that sure of how much trading would be done during this trip
we stocked up with lots of clothes and school stuff before we left home but have
really not found many places that want to trade for anything but Vatu so we
still have most of this on board so decided to give the remainder of our school
supplies to the local primary school and hopefully they can find a good home for
it. We now just have to find a good home for some clothes and fishing gear
but sure we will find a good home somewhere.
This morning we are heading ashore to do another load of washing in the
waterfall and pick up the obligatory 10lts of water. We have also arranged
to have dinner at Erica’s place this evening which should be a nice treat.
Tomorrow we are on the move again to Lolowai Bay at Ambae.
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