Tanna is a lushly vegetated island with some of the largest banyan trees on the planet. There are coffee plantations, plains where wild horses run with their foals, mountains, hot springs and waterfalls. Life here is like stepping back in time to an uncomplicated and carefree world.
The two hour road journey from the airport across the island to our accommodation traversed a twisting and turning route that barely qualified for the title of a track. With some of the group in the double cab compartment, and luggage and the overflow in the back of two utes, our drivers expertly negotiated the deeply eroded road surfaces as we climbed from the warm coastal area over a mountain range with its noticeably cooler climate before descending to Friendly Bungalows, an establishment typical of the many village operated accommodation establishments on Tanna. The proprietor Mary greeted our arrival and showed us to our bush construction bungalows narrowly separated from the crashing Pacific Ocean by a few short metres of black volcanic sand.
Presiding over all of this is fuming, furious Mt Yasur, the world’s most accessible volcano. Our late afternoon expedition to the volcano was not disappointing. Travel saw all of us again precariously perched on and in two 4WD utes. On the way to Mt Yasur our mini expedition crossed an alien-like landscape formed by ash-laden volcanic smoke smothering the vegetation.
The spectacle viewed from the crater rim as darkness fell was nothing short of awesome. Two vents seemingly took turns to spit rockets of red-molten rock and smoke. Then without warning there would be a gasp and an explosion as Yasar exhaled lumps of red-hot magma skywards in a fountain of fire against the darkening sky. This powerful display of nature was worth walking the earth to see…it's definitely unforgettable…!
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