A Day on the Volcano

Day 21 of the return trip

 

When the ferry boat arrived at the dock, it was clear why they weren't able to collect us on the previous days. The surge in the 'harbour' was bad, even in the favourable conditions that the new day had brought. The original harbour had offered much better protection, but was entirely filled up when the (still currently active) volcano erupted in 1961. The new harbour consists of 2 straight breakwaters constructed of locally made dollices (sp?), which offer minimal protection from any kind of northerly swell.

 

We were led up to the administration building where we presented our ship's papers and received that coveted Tristan da Cunha passport stamp. Each one perfectly in the middle of a fresh page of passport. After receiving the hugs and best wishes that our families had managed to send to the island via one of the Admin office ladies, we were lead to the supermarket by Dawn - the island's tourism officer.

 

The supermarket on the island is just a bit bigger than your average corner shop. But it had everything we needed - MATCHES, Clean Green, Sunlight soap, etc. Due to Cape Town being the closest port, most of the shop's shelves were filled with some good homely South African things. No Chakalaka or Zoo Biscuits though. At the back of the shop was a little store selling curios and a lot of really nice handmade woollen items.

 

From the supermarket, Dawn took us to the Tourist Centre/Post Office, where we could put our bags down, have a little bite to eat, and put our frozen goods from the shop in the freezer.

 

From there we split up. And this is where things get interesting. We went off as three groups: Myself and Gina; Ric and Dave; and Raf on his unit.

Here's what each person has to say:

 

Raf: (who decided to narrate in third-person) After a brief stop at Tristan da Cunha's very own internet cafe (a concrete block attached to the towns police station) for some admin, Raf made his way through the town to find Ric and Dave making their way up the 1960's volcanic eruption site on the island. Following that, he went on his own mission to explore the west side of the island and to summit a hill that he had previously singled out from the anchorage. Hopping over a few streams, climbing several fences and pushing his way through many a cow, brave young Chancho made his way to the top, breathing out of his ass, yet took the time to appreciate the view and snap a couple shots. With only a few minutes to spare until rendezvous with the group he raced back to town to meet the others, stopping only at a conveniently unlocked bathroom with a tiny basin to which he took full advantage of.

 

Ric: (now in first-person)

Stepping onto land after a long ocean voyage is a magical experience, add to it the magic of the land being a fabled volcano, all of my being was tingling with excitement. In those first few minutes everything was happening at warp speed, there was so much to take in that it all had to be so quick, all the mannerisms and behaviours of these mysterious people on this overwhelming back drop. On the walk up the steep road from the harbour time finally settled down a little and the reality of Tristan da Cunha started to take over.

The volcano is ridiculous, it is so massive and ruggered that every-time you look up you are surprised at just how tall the cliffs are and how black the tristanite is. After clearing customs and getting a very rare stamp in the passport we quickly headed to the shop before spending a few hours exploring. I had no money and there is no way of getting money, so I spent the time at the shop speaking to a few of the locals and finding out a little about life on the Island and the 7 surnames. Once we were done at the shop it was time to really explore, we looked to the volcano and headed straight for the sight of the eruption. On the way there the town's doctor stopped to chat a little and gave us directions and a bit of advice. Heading to the volcano we passed around the top of the village and then round the green pastures to the east, the greeness of the grass only out done by the drama of the landscape massive gullies and striations criss-crossing the land (hopefully the photos will do it some justice). Hiking up the volcano was a really cool experience the primal untouched land and the awesomeness of the geothermal vents - then you looked up and saw the beauty of the town and the green hills just yonder. After the volcano I made my way west towards the green hills, to see if I could get to the potato patches, but due to a classic time mix-up, I didnt quite get to the potato patches before having to return to town. When I realised I still had an hour I wondered around town for a bit , visiting a few of the historical sites and then heading back towards the potato patches but I realised I wouldn't make it there so I enjoyed the journey.

I meandered along the edge of the cliff which must be at least 200m tall looking down at the rocks below and admiring just how far from the rest of the world these people live. After a little while enjoying the green hills and the mooing cows Gina and Bren appeared in a white Jeep with Iain the town's doctor, it was time to reunite with the rest of the team for our last hour on the island before our adventure home continued.

 

Dave:

Secretly, this island stopover was a glaring incentive when Bren invited me on this trip. Not only did we get to visit the island, but we did so on the most glorious of days. Once our immigration formalities had been completed, I made a B-line straight for the site of the most recent volcanic eruption on the island, that of 1961.

As a geology student, it was the most fascinating morning of exploration and discovery. Walking through the lava flows Ric D and I both commented how the scenery resembled that of Mordor - rich, black jagged, unforgiving pinnacles of volcanic glass. I'm sure the 200 odd pictures on my camera will do that justice. As we started climbing the mound I started noticing all those volcanic rocks and features I had only learnt about. The most interesting was pumice - a volcanic rock perforated with gas bubbles allowing it to float - literally.  We also stumbled across some geothermal vents - holes in the ground leaking out hot (50 degree) air. It was only towards to summit that I actually took the time to look up from the ground and admire the view, and what an impressive site. Afterwards, I continued my unabated rock collecting mission alone, venturing through the town and along the coast. Looking down from the steep cliffs I could see shoals of fish cruising through the kelp beds. once I had rendezvoused with the others, we were hosted by the islands docter for a Castle beer and locally baked bread. I returned to the boat with my pockets bulging with rocks, a handful in my hand and a few stashed in other peoples bags - souvenirs for the NMMU geology department ouens. All in all, it was a fascinating visit, and well worth the 2 nights spent bobbing about at anchorage waiting in anticipation.

 

Gina:

There's much to be said about a volcanic island. So lush and beautiful. A wide awakening to the fact that the only thing little about this island is the population.

Everything else is quite expansive with space and size as the mountain looms over you. When walking around it honestly felt like I'd stepped out of reality and into a dreamy meadow. It was such a treat too having a supermarket loaded with treats from home as the closest port is Cape Town! Liquorice and Top Deck!!! Having a personal tour by the Doctor of the Island with Bren was something else as we were invited into the history of the Island by someone who knew more of what we were wanting to know as he too had the outside perspective once. A friendly man, not that hospitality is anything to come by on Tristan. The smiles, waves and friendly good mornings were not hard to come by when running into a local and it made life just too enjoyable to see other people around. They must have thought we were another bunch of crazy though, travelling around on such a small boat at this time of year.

Having the grass between our toes again was something quite fantastic as Bren and I took our shoes off to walk along the path to the potato patches. I think it's about then that a local drove past and thought we might be out of our minds. So much is taken for grated with the simplicities of life - walking, grass under your feet, a friendly smile, hospitality of a kind stranger.

 

 

Bren:

The settlement of Edinburgh is very quaint to say the least. A handful of hovels in a group, cows and sheep wandering all around, chicken coups and potato patches. Then there's the colossal volcano on whose doorstep they perch. It looks a bit like Middle Earth, but with the Shire and Mordor right next to one another. It would have suited Frodo well, he could just simply have walked into Mordor.

It's all very green and pretty. I'm sure they pay for it in kak weather like the brits do. But not on our visit. They say that we saw the best weather the island has ever had.

Gina and I split from the others and set off towards the potato patches to the west of the town. We kicked our shoes off and left them next to a rock so we could enjoy the soft green grass under our feet. It was like walking through a post-card - green landscape with volcanic rocks scattered everywhere, sheep getting lost on the volcano.

They boast the World's Most Remote Everything here. The world's most remote population, bus-stop, hospital, golf course, post-office, potato patch, you name it.

Walking was like a new experience. We stumbled into doors, tripped on our own feet, and had to fight the urge to hold on to something while we re-learned walking on solid ground.

We had walked for about an hour when Iain (one of the resident doctors on a 6 month stint from the other Edinburgh) stopped in a Land Rover, and offered us a quick guided tour of the West side of the island. It was great. Though he was also an outsider of sorts he was able to answer a lot of our questions, and even invited us to his house for drinks and some fresh bread afterwards.

That's where we met up with Ric and Dave

 

And the story continues...

 

After Iain's, we rushed to the Supermarket and Tourist Centre for some last- minute purchases. Just before we hopped onto the rubber-duck to get carted back to Ciao Bella, Iain brought us a box of Kreef (crayfish) - the island's speciality, fresh from the factory - for us to enjoy on the boat. What a true gent.

 

Back on the boat, we had a bit of tidying to do before we could leave. The anchor line had put itself around the back of the keel, so out came the wetsuit (not the speedo this time) and Capitao got in the water to make right.

 

Just in case you thought it couldn't get any better, the kreef that we got from Iain went STRAIGHT into the pressure cooker, and was served hot with black pepper and fresh squeezed lemon juice. Ric jokes that we polished off the crayfish while we were still close enough to hear voices from the island.

 

As we motored away, the sun said cheers, and  the lights of the little town lit up under the shadow of the volcano before becoming a fading loom on the horizon.