Askari Sailing: Epi - Epicentre of fun!

'Uhuru Rally' Beach BBQ

22nd June to 27th June 2023

It was really nice to come back to a place we had a bit of a sense of. We were getting a bit low on veg so on Friday morning we took a walk out on the road towards the area where we knew many islanders had their gardens, we spoke to a few ladies who had veg but they were a little shy and maybe I asked the wrong questions….. Then we came across a gathering that turned out to be a funeral, however William was keen to chat and when we said we were looking for veg, he insisted that we come with him to his garden. It turned out that we had met William’s older brother, Willy, on our first visit as he sells food on the airport road. The family all lived in the same strip of land and William’s house was set back and we collected his daughter, Sila and her friend, the machete and headed off up through other family plots to the area where the gardens were. William had worked in New Zealand and was keen to share stories, so we enjoyed a great time learning about his family, his passion for growing veg and a bit of history. Once we had gathered a mountain of capsicums, bok choy, island cabbage, cucumbers, pamplemouse, etc, William made us a bag from a leaf they grow just for this purpose and then we headed down, but not before calling in on his nephew Wilson. They had been out fishing together the previous night and Wilson’s wife was cooking up the catch – so we sat and chatted while sharing some fish – how generous. We headed back but not before inviting William and his family to come out to Askari for lunch on Sunday – it was the least we could do.

Off to William's Garden

Loaded up by the little helpers

Sila and her little friend grew in confidence

Making a bag

Shopping Vanuatu style

Fish for lunch at Wilson's house

Sharing lunch

We had arranged to have dinner that evening at Benny’s. Benny and her husband Kenneth run a small guest house and restaurant just near the beach and we had heard the food was pretty good. Unfortunatly Benny was in Vila but the girls still cooked up a great dinner for us and we had a fire and fairy lights on the beach with Kenneth and the kids.

Beach dinner at Benny's

Cutie having a bath at Keneth & Benny's

The next day was light winds so we headed in the dinghy to explore Leman island in search of Max, who is building a new canoe to take to the Melanesian Art Festival next month. The island is immaculate and has a small school and a church, we met a guy who took us to Max’s house; we found the canoe and met his wife but he was actually at the garden on the mainland – still a cool adventure and we took the opportunity to go snorkleling and check out any potential dive sites.

New Canoe being built by Max

Exploring Lamen Island

Sunday – was lunch for the Jimmy family, Emma sadly didn’t come but William brought Sila and his grandson Wilson, who lives with them. I had cooked a simple meal but did test out some spicy home-made hummus on them, I don’t think they liked it but ate all the beef stir fry and rice. We had chocolate cake too and by the time this was offered, word had got out and two gangs of kids paddled out to Askari – Wilson and Sila showed them around Askari proudly. It turned out to be such a fun afternoon.

Fun for Sila and Wilson on Askari

Lunch served

Lots of kids aboard

A bit busy on the back of Askari

Monday, the ‘rally’ arrived…. We had planned to catch up with Uhuru, Isis and Gecko here for a bit of a bbq. So after enjoying a quiet bay for days we had heaps of company – such fun. Jamie and Jin went off in search of a BBQ spot while we went for a hike. They found the most perfect spot and the family that owned the beach also joined us for such a fun night of fabulous food, drinks and laughter. They were all heading to Pentecost to see the Land Diving so we decided to get back to Malekula as there is so much to see there. We parted from the group again and sailed back to Malekula on 27^th June.