During morning coffee, we noticed one of the boats hauling their anchor and then realized that at supply ship on a mooring (that we thought looked sketchy) was dragging towards them. Huh. A bit later we noticed the dragging was continuing. Coming back from the village SV Blue Beryl stopped by the supply ship to make sure they were aware. Yet the dragging continued. They got closer and closer and finally we lifted our anchor. They finally released the now relocated mooring ball leaving it in the middle of the anchorage and motored back to where they spent the night. We scratched our heads at why they didn’t drag the mooring back and more importantly why they were tied to a mooring that was clearly too small for their boat.
Drama behind us, Roxy and I jumped in the dinghy to meet Douglas the villager we met yesterday, leaving Carl to keep an eye on things. Huge bummer that he could not join us. Soon we were getting a tour of Douglas’s workshop (he is a welder by trade) and met his wife Florida just before heading up the hillside to their farm. His oldest Jack (8 or 9 years old) join too carrying his own machete. Not long we came to cocoa trees. Off went Jack to get a ripe fruit and handed it to his dad who cut it open and gave us the try. Unprocessed you don’t eat the seeds that are used to make chocolate but rather suck on the slightly slimy fibrous material around them. It was okay but nothing to write home about.
Reaching the farm we climbed through barbwire (to keep the cows out) and soon the veggie picking began. A Sandalwood tree they planted for the oils was pointed out. In the nexy section they harvested a cucumber, gorgeous lettuce, and some green bell peppers. We went past a large tomato patch that had marigolds planted up wind which keeps the insects from damaging the tomatoes. Very smart.
We skipped on the taro leaves but did take some of the Vanuatuan cabbage. Jack was off looking for bananas and hacked off a bunch which fell on the ground. Oops. Still, we took twenty or so that had been broken off and Douglas carried the rest home for his family. It was an impressive farm with more variety than we have ever seen on other islands. Next, we gathered a few pamplemousse (we of course HAD to enjoy one on the spot). Nearby was fresh ginger and turmeric that we dug up. Our last stop was to dig up two different kinds of sweet potato. Florida and Douglas claim they have a much better flavor than the kind you can get in Fiji. We are excited to try them.
Leaving the farm we went by the pig pin (the pig was out free ranging) but there were a lot of chickens roaming around. Heading back a different way we had a great view of the anchorage and bay before a steep descent back to their home. With many thank you and our gushing at the amazing tour and produce, we exchanged three T-shirts for our fresh veggies and said our goodbyes. What an incredible experience.
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