The Island of TANNA
I have no idea where to start... how about I miss being clean haha :-)
It's been an incredible week travelling with Sky's The Limit, totally off the grid. We are staying with Tom and Margaret on the Rocky Ridge Bungalows and they make us breakfast 7:30 am and most days we've been getting started at 8:30am and moving slowly until sunset. Moving slowly I say because it's 90% humidity and 85 degrees F on a decent day. The breakfasts are yummy with all fresh cut fruit (pineapple, mango, banana, papaya, oranges...) and fresh baked bread from the local 'bakery'. You have no idea how much we are camping here!!! It's so crazy! As some of you well know, I've never been a camper or fond of bugs, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it all just in time to leave. However the flies are relentless!!!! Driven' me BONKERS!!!!! From sunrise to sunset... I can't count how often I've swatted at my head... usually hitting myself!
The first day was the BEST!!! Snorkelling in the am in the Blue Hole which is the reef in front of the resort was an excellent way to start the day. By 2 pm we packed our bags and headed to the Yasur Volcano. I wasn't too bothered but when we got close to the Volcano and heard and felt it blow, I changed my tune quickly. We started by driving to the bottom and took out snowboards and 'sand sledding' down 1/10th of the volcano! Levi stood up all the way down but I wasn't about to try that!! So I sat on the back of the board, mounted the small GoPro camera on the front, lifted up my feet and pushed off. The thing about Volcanic ash is... the rocks get so HOT they melt and when I was going down on my butt, I got a million and one little fibreglass splinters my yoga pants!!! After that I had wished I would have tried standing up! A few runs later... we packed up the boards and headed for the top to catch sunset.
Now let's chat about the Volcano... it's the world's most accessible active Volcano in the world. The locals who own it, run it on a scale of 1 to 4. 1 and 2 you can 'safely' climb to the top rim and look around for a short while, level 3 everyone on the Volcano is fair game, and level 4 the entire island of Tanna is a gonner! We were there at level 1, ... or so they said. The feeling of standing on the rim of an active volcano is intense, did I not stress it's ACTIVE... billowing ash, rocks and airborne lava chunks every 4-5 minutes. Our guide advised us to stay a maximum of 10 minutes as the wind was blowing in the wrong direction so it was dangerous. We stayed for about 15-20 minutes, which felt more like a lifetime! I kept asking Levi and Joni 'Can we go!!!!?', 'Are we done!!!!???'. I really wanted the classic post card pic of the lava spurting over my head, but at the time of actually being there, I could care LESS!! So needless to say, I didn't get the shot and that was alright with me. The thunder of the hot steam blowing out along with the sight of molten hot red lava is indescribable! You just have to go feel the fear of Mother nature for yourself. What intimidated me the most is knowing I could actually be taken out by a rock the size of a refrigerator at any moment. That was a very unsettling feeling. I am glad I have a few home made video's to hear the sound of my voice. I don't think I've ever heard myself tremble in such a way that was so full of excitement, terror and pure joy! It was the most alive I've ever felt, probably because it was the closest to death I've ever been. Most thrilling events are based on tantalizing the senses, and this one hit all 5, plus one... God! One thing I particularly enjoyed was feeling the earth tremble beneath my feet in such a way that my clothes shook. That was really cool! ... At this point, you might be asking yourself, " Did anyone ever die on the Volcano?" and the answer is YES! Decapitated, loosing limbs, and even scalps ripped off from falling onto lava rock. These were all stories I had heard before going... so you can see how I was in such an adrenaline state. They say you shouldn't run when a big one blows, instead, stay still and watch for falling rocks. Well easier said than done. Levi and I had looked at each other thinking we'd like to go because filming just wrapped, then suddenly a big one blew!!! And we saw the black smoke rise full of little and big rocks so I ran for it.... like RAN!!!!! No messing around. And as I was moving towards the path that lead to the car, I could have been in a hundred yard race, I kept looking back thinking and wondering, 'is a big rock headed my way'? You're never supposed to turn your back to the volcano, especially when it blows. I seriously thought my legs would move me faster than the time it would take for the falling rocks to catch up to me, but I was wrong. So Wrong! Thank goodness there were no big ones in the group. It was more like a sprinkle of rain, but instead of rain, Rocks!! They in-beaded themselves into my skull and fused to my hair. Fun experience getting them out. I could go on and on about Yasur. When you're that big, they call you Mr.
We quickly headed towards the trucks, jumped in and started the trek home. On our way back, we switched cars to save one driver, Dr. David, some time on his journey home. Levi and I jumped into the second vehicle and once again we were on our way down the bumpy road. I particluarly enjoyed the foggy windows, no A/C or vented air, lack of lights and broken seat belts in this new truck. Not a good combo. Bouncing along the road, there were many moments where the driver would wipe the window with his hand, so he could see a little better. We were passing other trucks, people walking, kava bars, and my favourite... Wild Horses. At one point, it appeared like there was a group of people on the side of the road and as we barrelled towards them, it became clear it was two horses stopped at a 90 degree angle, completely blocking the road. The driver slammed on his breaks and boy did we ever slide ... we came within 2 feet of taking out the side of that wild horse! Wow... that was a close one...
Are we there yet!? ....
