Over a 250,000 Pacific Islanders call NZ home. I'm embarrassed to say it, but I don't know much about the countries and the cultures they come from. So I am off on a voyage of discovery across the Pacific. UPBEAT MUSIC Captions by June Yeow. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2014 CHEERFUL UKULELE MUSIC For several decades, Vanuatu was in the unusual position of being ruled by both France and Britain until it gained independence in 1980. With 83 islands, 113 languages and two-thirds of the population surviving on only what they can grow, you might think the place would be a hot bed of social unrest. But the only time we ever really ever hear about Vanuatu is when it consistently tops the world's happiness stakes. So the question is, what on earth is going on here? What seems to be going on today is a Mother's Day celebration, Set to the jaunty sound of a string band. This musical style is influenced by bluegrass music played by American soldiers during World War II. There's dancing, eating, and a liberal dousing of mothers in talcum powder, a traditional blessing in Vanuatu. BAND PLAYS REGGAE-STYLE MUSIC Why are string bands so popular? Why are string bands so popular? In Vanuatu, string bands and reggae is some of the most popular. And do you play, like, in kava bars? And do you play, like, in kava bars? Yes. Because that is excellent music to drink kava to. When the string band is playing, do they also drink kava? < Yeah. < Yeah. Yes. Does the music get slower as the night goes on? BOTH LAUGH BAND CONTINUES PLAYING MUSIC ENDS, PEOPLE CLAP With the sound of the string band ringing in my ears and the scent of talcum powder stinging my nostrils, I'm off to Tanna, Vanuatu's southernmost island. WHISTLING MUSIC Hello, Radar. Hello, Radar. How are you? Welcome. Welcome. Excellent. We have a drive ahead? Yes, an hour and a half. Yes, an hour and a half. An hour and a half. (CHUCKLES) You sort of get the sense flying in, you know, and all you can see is bush, that no one lives here. From the plane, you can't see the village? No. Thought it looked uninhabited, but it's packed with people. Yes. A population of 20,000 people living on this island. Yes. Friendly people; nice people; happy people. Why do you think Vanuatu is considered to be one of the happiest places in the world? I think it's to do with culture ` the way the system we live to` living in a mini system. Custom is so rich here, you can feel it. You can see it by the people as well. Yeah. Yeah. Each village chief is just the same level as every people. He doesn't` He doesn't own much big land, and he doesn't have a nice house, big gardens. Everybody is the same. Everybody is the same. So very much equality. Everybody is the same. So very much equality. His role is` Yes. Yes, everyone. One of the most fascinating things about Tanna is its unique religious groups, including the followers of John Frum. MEN CHANT, DANCE This is Orari village, where the worship of John Frum began in the 1930s. He appeared as a spirit and then later as a person. His father seen John in his dream, and then he start to appear to him, saying to his father, 'You come to volcano ash plain, and then I will appear as a person to you.' John Frum promised a new age of prosperity if his followers rejected Western ways and returned to customary life. (SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE) (SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE) Come back. Come back to your roots; come back to your custom. Like this tree ` its roots, stumba. Mm-hm. This island still has the spirit of custom-living and still controls the life of the people here. Their colonial rule has banned the religion and imprisoned some followers, including Chief Isaac's father. But when American troops arrived in 1942, the John Frum believers were freed and allowed once again to practise their religion. They promptly adopted the symbols of the American Armed Forces into their religious imagery and ceremonies. Tell them that you are now free ` I'm releasing you, and I'm giving you these flags. All red. all red. All red flags. The John Frum movement remains today a colourful and complex mixture of traditional custom, Christianity and the cargo cult phenomenon. UPBEAT MUSIC Many of its followers believe that John Frum will one day return, bearing wealth or cargo for all. In the meantime, like every other religion in the world which believes its prophets will return, they wait,... and dance. Another remarkable feature of Orari village is that it sits just beneath Mt Yasur, an active volcano. RELAXING MUSIC What kind of stories and traditions do people tell about the volcano? The volcano is the father, the friend, the God. It's the gateway to heaven, where you come and get power and courage. How many times have you been up there? Uh, a hundred times? And I still love it, and I'm still scared. ASH BILLOWS Days like this ` if something happens, like, if the wind changes, if the wind change and the volcano doesn't like it, suddenly it will give you... (IMITATES EXPLOSION) big blow. big blow. VOLCANO RUMBLES Hear that? Hear that? Some`Sometimes people run, and it's dangerous to run Dangerous to run? Dangerous to run? Dangerous to run. What should you do instead? What should you do instead? You should stand ` stand and watch where the lava is flowing. If it's coming straight to you then you take a step slowly to avoid it. < Right. < Right. Because you can get killed, you know. Some of these are very sharp. When you die, your` your spirit will come here, and this big fire will taste your faith. So here, Heaven is considered to be under the ground? Under the ground. Under the ground. Underneath. Under the ground. Underneath. That's right. Yes. I think you should go up there in the evening and have some time with the volcano. Ask him for power and courage to be able to travel to the next journey. VOLCANO RUMBLES (SCREAMS, LAUGHS) That is mortifying. And what's most terrifying about it is it looks so delicate and so beautiful, and yet a single piece of that molten rock could crush my skull like an egg and then cause a very strong burning sensation. What remained of my life would be the smell of my own flesh, like pork, gently roasting under magma. Look like a sort of a` a wonderful fireworks display at a provincial A & P showgrounds for Guy Fawkes; something that Kim Dotcom might shout the people of Auckland. But that's nature. VOLCANO HISSES 1 I'm flying to Pentecost Island. At 500km2, it's home to around 12,000 people, six languages, some fairly rough roads and only a handful of vehicles. Hello! Most here are subsistence farmers who make small amounts of cash from selling crops to Port Vila, and from tourists, coming to witness the island's world famous Nanggol, or land diving ritual. ALL YELL Associated with men's coming of age and successful yam harvests, for three months in the middle of each year, men from Pentecost regularly hurl themselves off wooden towers, with only vines tied to their ankles to break their fall. Doesn't matter how many photographs or much television you've seen of land diving ` I tell you what, coming around the corner and seeing that platform, that is quite something. That does not look safe in the slightest. Tradition has it that women were the original jumpers, which is ironic, because it is now forbidden for women to even watch the construction of the towers. These structures are built entirely of natural products. There's not a single nail in sight. Jeepers. I asked that gentleman if there's a specialist who built the platforms. He said no. Every diver builds his own platform. That way he's responsible for his own death. FUNKY MUSIC How long does it take to build? We take two weeks. It's only a small one. Doesn't look very small. Doesn't look very small. BOTH LAUGH Are you jumping tomorrow? Are you jumping tomorrow? No. No. Are you jumping tomorrow? No. No. Too sensible? BOTH LAUGH Have you jumped before? Have you jumped before? No. No? No? I build, but I never jump. Oh, very very wise. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) And so tomorrow how many people will jump? Maybe somewhere around 11? Tomorrow we will see. Yeah. Because there's another one, last one. Right up there. Right up there. Right up there. The best thing about this for us is when your back is sore, then you have to take a jump to stretch your body, and you feel good. Right. > Right. > Yeah. (LAUGHS) Not sure that ACC would recommend that as a, uh, as a thing to do. Not sure that ACC would recommend that as a, uh, as a thing to do. BOTH LAUGH The men will work until sunset to finish the tower before clambering back down. The next time they will descend, it will be quite a different story. Hello. Hello. < Hello. People here live very simply in small, isolated villages. Most people have no electricity, but yet they still find a way to charge their phones. It rains a lot in Pentecost, so locals have constructed this massive naturally irrigated taro field, through which I have to wade in order to help out with a spot of freshwater-prawn fishing. Handy little prawn farm, apparently, just in here. We will begin to capture them as soon as we have diverted the water. With the water redirected, the river begins to drain out, which should make catching lunch relatively simple. FUNKY MUSIC I think that is officially the biggest prawn I've caught. 'It's also the only prawn I've ever caught.' Right. Well, I never. > When work is finished and the sun goes down, the men of Pentecost gather to talk and drink kava. The kava from Pentecost is reputed to be amongst the strongest there is, which explains why it's the islands biggest export. After considerable research, I can certainly state it's pretty strong. Bravo. The effects of kava include mild euphoria and relaxation ` the perfect tonic for men a little nervous about hurling themselves off a giant wooden tower tomorrow. WOMAN SPEAKS IN LOCAL LANGUAGE The last thing to be done on the morning of the land dive is to strip back the ends of the vines that will be tied to the jumpers' ankles. Looks dangerous. Looks dangerous. Yeah. Sometimes we have very bad injuries. About five` five years ago, we just have one of our guys die on this one` Oh! Oh! ...down here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now tourists come in, and it's scheduled` like, you know, the planes come in, and the tourists turn up, watch it, fly home again. Yes, the land dive now is famous in the world. We don't keep it just because tourists. We want to keep it because our custom. Did you used to jump? Yes, I used to jump before, in 1970s and 1980s, but now I'm afraid to jump. When you're finished jumping and you've landed and you're safe, it must feel good? Oh yes. When, uh, you land well and nothing` you don't have an injury or anything, you're the best. You say, 'Oh, I'm glad today I'm free.' You're never tempted to do just one more? Maybe next year. I don't know this year. That seems wise. BOTH LAUGH PEOPLE SING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE There's a young fella standing up there. Not sure if it's his first jump or not, but he is looking` He is not looking as if he's going to go. And it's great there's no, sort of, um, no humiliation if they don't actually do it. Or that's what they say. I don't know what happens in the village. Maybe they mock him incessantly for weeks on end. Everyone's got to start somewhere. And it looks as if he has decided that today, yup, not the day for him. Going back down. It's probably one of the most dangerous cultural spectacles I've ever had the privilege to witness. And I very much hope that nothing goes wrong. PEOPLE SING, WHOOP SINGING CONTINUES BRANCH CRACKS SINGING CONTINUES SINGING, PERCUSSIVE DRUMMING CONTINUES 1 1 Apart from a slightly sprained ankle, there were thankfully no injuries. Astounding. Far out. The capital, Port Vila, is very different from the rest of Vanuatu. There are resorts, odd tourist activities, and traffic not seen elsewhere in the country. You're good. Before independence in 1980, the French and the British ruled the islands together in an unusual dual-power arrangement called the condominium. Possibly the best or indeed the worst example of this is said to be with the traffic police. Both regimes would send uniformed traffic cops to the same intersection. They would go upon their business independent of each other, and if you wanted to proceed, you'd have to choose which one to disobey. Little wonder the locals referred to it not as the condominium but as the pandemonium. It must have been absolutely brilliant. CARS HONK To find out a little more about the condominium, I'm off to visit expat NZer Cornelia Wyllie. She's lived here since before independence And runs a commercial flower-growing operation in her botanical garden. How did it work? You know, two different sets of laws, two governments, two bureaucracies? It was competition. It was always competition. It was like the British were on Ifira Island, and so the British had an island, so they were one up on the French. But the French then decided they would build the official residence a little bit higher. Independence seemed to sort of come relatively easily in some way. There wasn't a sort of big conflict or anything like that. No, I think it surprised people that it did actually become independent. And it's still a young nation that stumbles along. And it's still a young nation that stumbles along. How did you end up here? It's a love story. It's a love story. It always is. It is a love story. I followed, uh, my husband up here. I finally caught him. Um, when I arrived in Vanuatu, it was called New Hebrides back in those days, and I was his... concubine, because that's what it` was the official designation for me. (LAUGHS) an unmarried chaser of men? (LAUGHS) an unmarried chaser of men? Exactly. (LAUGHS) Yeah, that's basically it. Yes. Summed up well. The one thing that's been a bit hard to get a sense of in some ways is what it's like for women here. Women are property. You belong to somebody. I belonged to my husband. And it's very very hard to come out from that shadow. And` Is that in some ways the downside to custom? That, sort of, belief in tradition continuing? Yes. The men do the initial back-breaking work, but after that, it's all women's work. The women do the planting, the women do the harvesting, they do the preparation, so life in the village is very very regimented. Travelling around, you do get an incredible sense of just how strong that custom is, how proud they are of it. And to come in and go, 'Well, this bit's good, this bit's not so good,' probably quite difficult. probably quite difficult. Quite difficult. Because my experience has been sitting in the afternoon drinking kava with men in the kava house. Right, and women don't drink kava. No, and I did note that they were nowhere to be seen. No, and I did note that they were nowhere to be seen. Mm. And then dinner would turn up. And then dinner would turn up. Yes. Guess who did that. I did have a bit` I did have a bit of an idea. People, though, you know, they do seem pretty happy. The welcome is warm, the smiles are genuine ` 'Come to Vanuatu ` the happiest place in the world'. Unless you're a women and you have to do all of the work. Unless you're a women and you have to do all of the work. Yes. What was the, sort of, motivation behind this? Labour of love with a long-term vision, uh, and somebody said, 'Enough oohing and start doing'. I certainly couldn't create a garden like this in three years in NZ. Because this is ridiculous ` three years ` and you get the sense here that if you were to lie down and have a long nap after perhaps some kava, you would wake up and vegetation would have grown over you. Definitely. Stick something into the ground ` a stick. You can even put your tripod in; you might get a second camera. you might get a second camera. (LAUGHS) That'd be great! A CAPPELLA SINGING I thought this was a, uh, a flower, but it's actually a pink banana. Man, tiny banana. The other difference being... is that it has seeds. This is the greatest banana discovery I've made in my lifetime. Banana-tastic! I've seen the influence the American Armed Forces had on Vanuatu's string-band music and the John Frum religion. But the other thing they left behind after World War II was an estimated 9 million tons of equipment and munitions. Erick, how did all of this begin? Well, these, uh, war defects ` we just got them from the dumping site. Ex-US Marine dumping sight. And so they basically just dumped all of this stuff and left it there? Yeah, when the war ended and they were ready to go back, they just dumped them and buried them in the dumping site. they just dumped them and buried them in the dumping site. < Jeepers. Yeah, we don't know why they just dumped them and didn't give them to the locals. (LAUGHS) Very typical. There's a lot of this stuff all through Vanuatu? Uh, yeah, many bombs and bullets around the area, especially in Efate and Santo, where they're still lying. Some are still alive in the bush. where they're still lying. Some are still alive in the bush. Right. Is that quite dangerous? Oh yes, still dangerous. Some years ago, we have some Australian engineers came to blow up some of these big bombs around Havannah Harbour. We have the Corsair planes that crashed into water ` we have three Corsair planes and maybe were flying too low ` they crashed on the water. So they're still fully intact under the water ` 2m under the water. The planes that crashed ` did the pilots live or die? He lived. Swam across to the mangroves and walked to the airstrip. My father was one of the locals who first ran out to the pilot and walk him back to the land. And the pilot who crashed came back? Uh, he came back in '91 with his son. Son could've looked at that and gone, 'It could've all ended there.' Son could've looked at that and gone, 'It could've all ended there.' Yup. During the war, Vanuatu was attacked by the Japanese only once, and the only casualty was a cow called Bessie. CHEERFUL UKULELE MUSIC Vanuatu is one of the poorest places I've been in the Pacific, but the warmth of the welcomes and the strength of their culture or custom makes it seem one of the richest. Perhaps it's that, along with a soil that seems so fertile it will grow almost anything. It's the reason they top those happiness surveys. People here do seem particularly happy. Tank yu tumas, Vanuatu. Tata. Tata. Tata. Ta-ta. There are banyan trees all throughout the Pacific, but this one is a beauty. I'm going to climb it. Plant some of these in school playgrounds, and you wouldn't need to invest in a jungle gym again. Of course, what I haven't figured out is how I'm going to, uh, get back down again. Worry about that later.