Tag Archives: waterfall

Pentecost an Island full of Surprises

Leave a reply

We visit the island of Pentecost primarily for the Naghol (land diving).  But there are so many other wonderful reasons to visit this beautiful island barely touched by modern civilization. 

While walking along the beach we came across a man assembling a canoe for his nephew, Sampson.  It took him 3 days to hand carve the canoe and then he brought it to the beach to lash the rope and alma to the canoe.  The super cool thing was he took what looked like a twig with a pointed end and hammered it (with a rock) into the wooden alma.  I could not believe how easily it went in and stuck forming an “X” to hold the long stick to the alma. 

Elleen, our spokesperson in Wali Bay also introduced us to some local weavers who showed us how they expertly weave these beautiful hand bags.   The dye (middle bottom photo) some of the strands with color (left bottom) to eventually make the stunning bag (top right).  They sell for $1000VT ($10 usd).  The only problem is that the dye rubs off on your clothes…

A few of my favorite local photos.  The top right are men from the Ratap Kastom village (and a friend from another boat). Top left is a dancer from the Bunlop Kastom village and the bottom is a man from Londot village – all on southern Pentecost. 

And then here is my tribe of girls that followed me around each day.  I gave them sparkly nail polish and big heart rings.

Home Bay

Homo Bay is the main bay cruisers anchor at when they want to go see the Ratap Kastom Village Naghol.  The bay was beautiful as the clouds danced around the edges of the mountains.

Find Homo Bay on No Foreign Land.

The Bonfire

After the Naghol, we were all way too excited to go back to our boats.  So, we decided to have a beach BBQ and we invited a few of the locals.  It just happened to be the most perfect evening with clear skies peppered with the constellations.

My Pentecost tribe of women, made me a sand gift out of white rocks.

Waterfalls: Maduit Waterfall

After the Naghol ceremony, we head for Waterfall Bay which is a short 8nm north from Wali Bay.  There were so many cows lounging on the beach – it made for such a funny  photo.  Our friends on Moana (Rena, Chris, and Helena) came with us.

This beautiful bay is known for two very distinct waterfalls.  The Maduit waterfall which can be seen from the anchorage and the Rell Cave Waterfall. 

Two rivers flow gently into the anchorage making a very refreshing fresh water plunge. 

Maduit Waterfall

Pentecost is a bit of a rainy island so it is no surprise that they have lots of waterfalls.  We decide to hike to Maduit waterfall first as we can easily see it from the anchorage.  On the way to the main road we stumble across Glen who generously offers to be our guide.  It is a good thing that he came along as the trail was a little tricky to find.  But once you find the entrance, the rest of the trail is easily followed. 

You’d think the water would be freezing, but it wasn’t. It did take your breath away as you jumped in, but then you quickly got used to it.  Bottom right is our guide, Glen.  We ended up paying him $1000VT ($10 USD) for the 2 hours he spent with the 5 of us.  He did not ask for the money, we offered it to him and took it gratefully. 

The two pools at the bottom of the falls made the most wonderful bubble bath!

It was a truly refreshing afternoon at a stunning waterfall.  Super easy access and beautiful.

Rell Cave Waterfall

The next waterfall was much harder to find.  We searched all over the internet trying to find a location or a person who might guide us to this cave waterfall.  We asked several locals and they had no idea what we were talking about.  So, we went back to research some more. 

Finally, Matt found a document from 2015 that had a short mention of this waterfall.  Sweet as!  We contacted the person and his phone still worked.  He told us to contact his wife, Venneth at Noda Guesthouse or call her +678.594.3287.  She was so nice.  She walked us to the next village, introduced us to Michael who became our guide for the day.

It was a super muddy, slippery path that we would have never found on our own.  You truly need a guide to show you this spectacular waterfall inside a hidden cave!  We walked into the forest, up a hill and into more forest.  Finally we came to the mouth of the cave.

You walk down a very shallow river, then you crawl under the opening of stalactites to get to the waterfall cave.

It was obviously very dark and super hard to hold my iPhone, without dropping it and the flash light while balancing on the slipper rocks. but here you go.  The waterfall was probably 3-4 meters tall as it originated behind the stalactite. 

Of course we had to get wet and man it came down with a lot more force than we anticipated.  We had lots of company with little bats.

We did the Rell Cave Waterfall with our friends from Trinity, Kirsten and Stephan.  Here is a photo of their trimaran and Sugar Shack at anchor in Waterfall Bay.

Super fun bay with lots to see and do. But alas it was time to move to our next adventure.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred during the end of June.  I hope you caught our 2 part series on land-diving.  If not, be sure to visit here and here.

A Massive Waterfall Hike

Leave a reply

Anatom / Aneityum Island is pretty darn remote and there is not much to do besides enjoy the beauty it has to offer.  So, when another cruiser mentioned an all-day hike to a beautiful waterfall we were all in!

Unfortunately, I had a massive leg infection and I was told by my doctor friend (Rena on the boat “Moana”) that I need to sit this one out.  I was heartbroken, but I made them tell me every single detail so I could share it with you!

Rena, her daughter Helena, and Matt left around 0730 and walked up the one main logging road (the logging company that used to deforest the island built the road).  They met their guide Elisha and his brother John at the last village at the end of the logging road.  This is about a 45 minute walk from the beach.

This is where Elisha and his family live which is a really beautiful home!  He has an immaculate and flourishing garden with both flora and vegetables!

Rena is like me, she loves flowers!  Anatom is super lush and covered in over 80 types of orchids.  I am so grateful to her for taking so many beautiful flower shots!

Here are a few more shots of his very extensive garden.  He even has an old piece of equipment from the logging days.  Matt said it was an old bulldozer.

And the Hike Begins

The beginning of the hike, well after they made it up the hill to the last village, was pretty easy.  They walked along a wide road until it turned into a dirt road.  Most of the river crossings had “bridges” and the trail was obvious.

Then the trail became more in the moderate to advanced level where you crawl under fallen trees, cross low rising rivers, and trapse through the forest.

At this point, Elisha decided to start handing out pieces of sugar cane.  He had been carrying it with his machete and cut it up for each person.  This kept everyone hydrated and sugared up.

Then the challenging part begins.  Elisha had to use his machete a lot to clear the path that was severely overgrown.  Not a lot of locals come up this path and very few tourists make it up this far.  

Lots more challenging and difficult.  Now, you are balancing on very wet, slippery rocks/boulders to cross the river and or go up the river.  It made for slow progress, but the water was crystal clear and very refreshing.

The Reward

After 4-hours, the group made it up to the beautiful waterfall.  Pictures don’t do it justice, but everyone was in awe of her beauty.

It did not take long for everyone to jump in and cool off after the long hike.

Then it was time to get some lunch.  Elisha and John caught crawfish / prawns in the fresh river!  They caught the larger ones under the rocks and the smaller ones in the falls.  They simply scooped their hands up the falling water and put them in a bamboo shoot.

Then they made a small fire, steamed them, and served them up for lunch.

On the way back, which took 2.5 hours, they stopped at Elisha and John’s village to load up on fruits!  Elisha literally climbed up the trees (barefoot) to shake down the pomplemouse, passionfruit, and bananas.

He also showed off his new vanilla plantation.  We all scored with the fruit!

The Results

  • Distance:  12 miles / 20 km
  • Elevation:  1200′ from sea level
  • 8hr and 29min moving time

This shows their track into the interior of the island.

And then they were blessed with an amazing sunset.

I sure missed out on an epic adventure.  I hope I did it justice for you all.  Elisha said that they were the 2nd group to do this hike since covid.  Not surprising since the cruise ship people who visit aren’t really going to go on an all-day hike and the villagers have other things to do.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred in mid-June.  Don’t miss out on our last blog to the very famous Mystery Island.

Great Barrier Island

Leave a reply

We are free!!!  Oh my goodness after almost 3 months in the marina we finally break ourselves free to do some sailing around New Zealand.  We’ve been tied to the dock doing boat projects and meeting with different vendors and have not had a moment to go sailing until now.  We decide to head to Great Barrier island first and if time and weather permits, Mercury Island.

It is a slow motor down the Whangarei River.  We request permission to have the Te Matau a Pohe “Hook Bridge” open so we may pass under.  Still an amazing thing to see!

It is a beautiful day, albeit light wind on the nose.  We raise the main sail and continue on a motor sail as we don’t even have enough wind for the jib.  We pass by the Hen and Chickens Islands.  I just love their names.

Kaikoura Potato Bay

We approached Great Barrier Island and made the last minute decision to go to Smokehouse Bay which is supposed to be a nice boatie/cruiser bay.  However, when we approached we saw that there were close to 30 boats anchored there – so we stopped short and anchored in Kaikoura Bay also known as Potato Bay.  We had this beautiful bay all to ourselves.

We were expecting some ugly winds so we moved the following morning to a new bay.

Wairahi Bay

There were still a lot of boats at Smokehouse Bay so we decided to go to a bay just past it (still in Great Barrier Island).  We arrived to Wairahi Bay with 3 other boats.  Perfect!  From here we can easily visit the other bays within the western side of Great Barrier Island. We hang out in this anchorage for over  a week.  Several other boats joined us in this anchorage, but it is big enough to not feel crowded.

First, we explore the river that feeds into Wairahi Bay.  Matt took the SUP up the river during high and low tide so that he felt comfortable taking the dinghy with me.  It is so cool to be surrounded by hillsides, overhanging trees, and hidden houses. 

I spotted at least 5 hidden “baches” (summer houses) in the trees.

Smokehouse Bay

About 1 mile down from our anchorage is a popular spot called Smokehouse Bay.  It is a place created for locals and cruisers/boaties.  This as the anchorage that was incredibly busy when we first arrived. However, the weather changed which made this a very uncomfortable anchorage so everyone cleared out when we visited.  This is a shot during low tide (top) and high tide (bottom).

The facilities in this bay were provided by the late Eric Webster and his many friends.  Locals and cruisers maintain the property and equipment.  The Weber family placed Smokehouse Bay under the protection of the Queen National Trust as an open space covenant for the public whilst remaining in private ownership.

A massive rain storm destroyed Smokehouse Bay in November 2005.  Everything was covered in mud and debris and it took over a year to rebuild the facilities.

What can you enjoy at Smokehouse Bay?

  • Pizza Oven
  • Smokehouse (perfect for smoking fresh catch)
  • Grills
  • Laundry hand crank basins and clothes lines
  • (2) showers including 1 that offers hot water from a wood burning stove
  • Free book trade library
  • Toilets
  • Outdoor seating area around a bonfire
  • Great hikes on the 5 hectres (50 acres)

We enjoyed the entire bay to ourselves because it was inclement weather and all the boats left for a more protected anchorage.  We hiked to the summit and had excellent views of the bay.

Port Fitzroy

The most populated bay in Great Barrier Island is Port Fitzroy.  It is where you can get fuel and some supplies.  Super cute little town with a market, library, visitor center, and burger joint.  The town is the top photo.

There are two great hikes in this bay.  One starts from the center of town and leads you to a beautiful waterfall and the other is across the bay and leads you to a spectacular crows-nest view.

We decide to do the waterfall hike first, since we were already in town and it is only a 40minute hike to the falls.  But it is straight up.   First, you clean your shoes with a spray and scrub…then off you go down the path.

About 40-minutes, 300+ stairs, and 1.5 miles  later we arrive at the triple waterfall.

We take a moment to enjoy the beauty around us, dip our toes in (its freezing), and head back.

Next we take our dinghy across the bay and leave it at the dock (red arrow).  We then hike to the valley (green arrow on right), up to the peak and back down to the dock.  Super good hike.

At the top of the peak is a swing bridge that leads you to a 600-year old Kauri tree.  Once at the tree, you can climb up to the crows-nest to get a spectacular view of the bay.

As we make our way back down the hill we take a turn off to Sunset Rock.  I bet this would be wonderful to watch the sunset…

All in all we hiked 10.5 kilometers or 6.5 miles.  We were a bit bushed when we got back to the boat.

Historic Floods

We ended up spending a little more time in Great Barrier due to bad weather.  Lucky for us we were tucked away in the perfect anchorage for inclement weather.  Evidently this is a once in 50 year flood and yet it happened twice within a week!

Everything was flooded including the airport, grocery stores, and busses!

And of course the streets and highways.

We weather the second storm at a different bay called Karaka Bay at Great Barrier.   This was the calm before the storm.

Some more beautiful photos from Karaka Bay

I just love the stunning motus, rock formations, and islands.

Our friends captured us heading up the river, n our way back to the marina.

Events from this blog occurred in late January 2023.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  Don’t miss our last blog where we explore the Lost Springs.