Mystery Island - 2 January

We have been very lucky so far, as the seas have been very calm. We arrived near Mystery Island this morning and I awoke to the sounds of the tenders being lowered about 7.30. We had booked our breakfast for 9 am but it didnt arrive til almost 10, by which time I was showered and ready to get stuckinto the day. Got a phone call in the cabin from Carmen who I gather is from Guest Services. She had called me yesterday to advise that our complaints of no power in the cabin had been referred to her. She advised that she was following it up and would let me know when there was a resolution. Her call today was to thank me for my patience and apologise again for the inconvenience. As a form of apology she wanted to know if Julie and I would accept $150 future credits. Not sure when or if I'll cruise with Princess again, but took up her offer. We had booked a tour that required us to be in a meeting place at 12.15, so we went downstairs for coffee and there were people everywhere. They were all waiting for tenders to take them to the island.

I failed to see the attraction if they simply wanted to swim as it took hours for some of them to get ashore, just to walk through sand to get to the pristine water. There were at least 3 perfectly good swimming poolson the ship, with poolside wait service and no sand! Anyhow, I came back to the cabin to read while Julie worked on a jigsaw puzzle. Time to go to our meeting point and we were soon called to board a tender that meant a 10 minute ride to Mystery Island.

We were then met by a fellow who took the12 of us to a small outboard boat that would take us to Aneityum Island for our 2 hour cultural tour of the village there.

Mystery Island is tiny and remote, hard to reach except via cruise ships, which means that the island has remained virtually untouched. This small uninhabited usland is one of the most southern of the Vanuatu group and was once used as a World War II landing strip for allied forces.It would take only 40 minutes to do a stroll around the entire island! Our Island however is much larger and currently is home to about 1900 native Islanders. There is no electricity, no roads as such and for the most part the indigenous population are determined to live as their ancestors did. There are 3 clans as such, each with their own chief. There are 3 primary schools where English, French or a pidgin English is taught and spoken. The tour eas excellent and I am in awe of the locals determination to remain as true as possible to their original culture which they can trace back to at least 3000 years. It really is paradise but I have absolutely no desire to live there.

As we are to enter the actual village, ourguide tells us that we need a leader to take us in. She asked for a volunteer and no one stepped forward. After an awkward silence I finally say that I'll do it so am provided with the peace plant to offer to the Chief. As we approach the entrance 3 warriors with spears run up to us and I'm second guessing my preparedness to lead this mob! Anyway I tell the Chief that we come in peace and offer him the plant. Must have done okay as he welcomed us in and we were shown to one of the huts where we were given a lot of information on how they rely on weaving baskets and mates not just for survival but for bartering as they are a cashless society amongst themselves and island neighbours.

We then had explained to us how they hunt and grow their food. We even had one of the warriors show us how they light fire from wood and bark without a flint, but laughed that it was much easier these days to use matches.

We then were shown food preparation and got to taste a range of fruits. Two delightful young lads were happy to have their photos taken by a totem. I tried to chat with them but they only spoke French and my high school French was on no use. Eventually I worked out that the older boy was 9 and the younger one 5. They were such nice kids who took their job very seriously!

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