Saturday March 21st, 2026 Queen Anne, Luganville, Vanuatu
- Neil Wylie
- Feb 11
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 25
We were originally supposed to visit Port Vila on Efate Island the capital of Vanuatu today, but a few days ago the captain announced that, due to storm damage, we were diverting to Luganville on Espiritu Santo Island further to the north. Knowing virtually nothing about Vanuatu, other than it was host to the US reality TV show Survivor for a number of years, the change in port meant little to us.
Perhaps the biggest change to the nation of Vanuatu, or New Hebrides as it was called then, occurred during World War 2 when the US arrived to quickly establish military bases in preparation for the battle of Guadalcanal and the invasion of Japan; huge airfields and small towns were created practically overnight. The biggest military base in the South Pacific was on Espiritu Santo. I’m always amazed when I hear stories of what was achieved by the US Seabees during wartime and can’t help but contrast it to the rate of progress of construction projects nowadays; near where we live the government has been adding a third lane to the freeway for the past 40 years, it was only recently completed just before we left on this trip – I could go on, but best not to.
As if often the case for small island places, we were greeted on the dock by a wonderful group of singers and musicians performing local songs. Their instruments consisted of sets of long bamboo tubes which they whacked with, what looked like, kitchen spatulas – it was brilliant. In fact it turned out to be the best thing about this visit.
This was perhaps the worst port visit we’ve ever experienced. The biggest attraction for those who come to this tiny island is to go diving on the wrecks located off the coast especially the SS President Coolidge and Million Dollar Point, the place where the departing US military dumped millions of dollars’ worth of equipment into the ocean rather than haul it back home. – those were the days.
We could have opted to take a taxi ride around the island, offered from one of the many aggressive drivers who surrounded us as we left the port, but instead decided to walk the short distance into the town of Luganville. As usual in these latitudes the weather was very hot and humid, what should have been an easy walk turned into a bit of a hike. When we got to the town we wished we hadn’t bothered, never have I seen a more uninviting place. The one main street was unusually wide for such a small town, it turns out that the US general in charge during the war dictated that the street should be wide enough to accommodate 4 tanks side by side. The shops and businesses lining the main street looked like they were one notch up from abandoned buildings. Taxis and pick-up trucks filled with menacing looking youths reminiscent of some African war zone, trolled the street. Hot sweaty and a bit intimidated, we finally found a coffee shop that had good reviews online and stumbled in. Attar café was located in an old shop with a lean-to attached to the front, no air-conditioning. The iced lattes were cold, that’s about the best thing I can say about them – after waiting about 30 minutes for them to be made, Sandra reminded me we were on “island time” in an effort to calm me down, it didn’t work.
The most exciting event of the day happened when we were back on board the ship and safely ensconced in the library which has the most comfortable seats on board. Around 2:20PM we felt a fairly violent shaking and at first thought nothing of it as the ship often shakes a bit, but as the shaking continued Sandra thought it might be an earthquake. Sure enough we did have a 5.4 magnitude earthquake just a few miles offshore, this was followed about an hour later by a 4.5 magnitude aftershock – just to remind us of home.
Talking to a friend later in the day, we were glad not to have taken the taxi tour as he reported being “extorted” by locals demanding “entry fees” on the small roads leading to the main island viewpoints. What a place.
Comments