Most important thing for the day was visiting the chief and asking permission to anchor and visit their village. Unlike in Fiji there is not need to make an offering.
The villagers were friendly and when asking to meet the chief we learned he was not feeling well. We asked for the head man, were told they would find someone. Nicholas arrived shortly and explained he was our tour guide. He is in charge of the protected marine reserve in front of the village on Nguna island. We learned from him that we had anchored in the reserve marine park reserve which is marked by two floats – one white float near long boat moorings and black float towards the west end. Oops, we felt bad and sent an update to RocketGuide.
He gave us the highlight tour of the village. There is a volcano hike, however it requires Nicholas walking with you to a second village and then a guide from that village to take you to the top. It is about 3km and takes an hour each way. We did not do this hike since it required so much effort, and like was expensive too. The cost for anchoring is 500 vatu and the tour was 1,000 vatu. It was kind of a bummer to not be allowed to explore the village without a guide but it is what it is.
In the afternoon we headed for the pass as the peak tidal flow. Jumping in the water, we found no coral for fish just a sandy bottom which we sped over at 2+ knots. Reaching the end of the pass, we swam the shore. Reaching the edge of the village we reached the reef and followed it back to where Sky Pond was anchored. There was really only one small section that I would call good but still completely worth getting in the water and fun to get some exercise. We checked on the anchor and found it well set in sand, happy to see that it was not on coral.
A nice dinner and a movie before I headed to my bunk. Again there was a steady slap as the small waves hit the side of the hull.
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