Monday 5 September Anatom, Vanuatu

Vanuatu, formerly named New Hebrides by Captain Cook, was an Anglo-French administration until 1980 when they gained independence. There is now a close tie with the Australia government. During WW2 the Americans established large bases as staging bases for the Solomons campaign. The Solomons to the north and New Guinea to the west suffered under Japanese occupation but never did more damage than kill a cow on the one bombing raid on the New Hebrides capital. The influences we are expecting to see on the traditional kastom life will be the church missionaries of the 19th century and the dominance of French and English plantation owners from the same time through to 30 years ago. We've read that the capital, Port Vila is the 'most beautiful capital city in the South Pacific' which will be a contrast to the islands away to the north and south where the traditional lifestyle is dominant. It is on the island of Pentecost where the young men throw themselves off precarious platforms with one leg tied to a length vine stopping them crushing their skulls in the dirt below. The original bungee jumpers.
We've come into Anatom (French name) or Aneityum (local) island and the village of Analgawat. Beginning this year it was added as an official clear in port and the most convenient for sail boats being closest to Fiji and from here we can sail north in the SE trades and visit the rest of the country. The customs agent is the very friendly and accommodating Colin who paddles out in his yellow outrigger canoe to see you. Today we were fortunate because the immigration officer had come from Vila to clear in the cruise ship due in Wednesday. The quarantine man flies in tomorrow. Paper work, and lots of it, a legacy of the British administration, done we were free to go to town.
It's a good size anchorage to the north is the main island and the village and to the south is a small island known as Mystery Island. Local folklore attests Queen Elizabeth gave it it's name when she visited on Royal Yacht Britannia in 1975. She briefly visited the village and then went for a swim off the waters of the island that she thought looked like Mystery Island. The name stuck. Today there is an airstrip left by USAF in WW2 and a cruise ship village of stalls to entertain the 1,000 passengers who arrive from New Caledonia once a week to spend a few hours on a desert island. It is postcard pretty white beaches and palm trees with clear blue water.

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