Tribewanted: Vorovoro

With Ben and Giles having set themselves a challenge of running the four peaks I thought I’d give myself the challenge of doing the walk. Our journey started from the showers rounding this grassy/gravel bend that led to a rock face that jutted out of the mountain. Then it was onwards and upwards to Peak One. All you had to do was manoeuvre your way up the rock and this took the form of hoisting yourself up till you reached this grassy patch known as Peak One; well not quite just a little further to the actual first peak. From here there was a chance to catch your breath, grab a slug of water you are gasping for and line up for the perfect group photo. From here it is possible to catch a glimpse of the village and admire breathtaking views of the most westerly part of the Island.

From here it is a descent the way you come which means scaling the rock bum side down; but don’t worry Dan was our man there to help to make sure you didn’t succumb to that twisted ankle which would mean the trek would have to be aborted before it really got under way. It is then a long hike up this gradual ascent to peak two by which time I am sweating like a pig and questioning my fitness skills as I am totally out of breath. Once again we stop short of peak two before we are driven on by Dave who believes we are still ‘meters’ short of Peak Two and believe you me it couldn’t come too soon. As soon as it does I am not budging as I tuck into my water bottle for a well earned drink! I am in good company as the others feel the same as…soon we are to be joined by Paul our chief who is on hand to help us tribies mount our way onwards and upwards to Peak Three but first we’re on the slippery slope towards Tanoa Beach and I do mean slippery with a capital S as we have to leg it down through the woods which basically means maneouvering your way through an assault course swinging round trees like monkeys and sliding down a 1 in 45 gradient slope of gravel like children on weekend camp! We then walk on some coral and brave a tangley wooded area to reach the top of the ridge and onto Peak Three.

Once at the top of the ridge Paul is on hand to give us a quick 2-minute lesson on how to approach the top of Peak Three; this entails doing a bit of rock climbing (not for the faint hearted) as there are pot holes with which to place your hands and feet. I am one of the first to try out this rock climbing saga and it is no mean feat at all. Soon we all make it to the top where Dave is selected to take group photos with various cameras mine included. Then it is a 3 minute silence to respect our ancestors before I grab the final moment of magic to take in those splendid views of the Island that are clearly visible from the various peaks. As always going up means going down and soon we have a juggling act on our hands, well feet actually, as we have to step over rocks to ascend down and hang onto trees for dear life whilst sliding down this gravel side of the mountain that takes no prisoners god forbid if you fall!

Soon we are all holed up further along Tanoa Beach and it is soon time to meet-our-ancestors whom we pay our respects to and another photo opportunity beckons, before we carry our bags and do without sunglasses to scale our way up this wooded area that takes us to the top of Peak Four. Here we have a good old rest before heading back down (after viewing the village that Lena and I waded across to.)towards our village through the mangroves. The route seems familiar, well it would be as I did this section of the walk on Saturday. We follow the path with the sea on one side and mangroves on the other before we turn off. No at this point the option is to turn right and do a ‘bonus peak’ as Amy wonderfully put it, to the most easterly point of the Island where it is possible to view a stunning sunset on a clear warm night. However, only Amy, Dan, Dave, Jay and myself take this added-on-extra as the others head back towards camp. We can actually see some of the others head back along the beach and before long we are doing the same.

Once back at camp its time for us to sit back and enjoy some of my homemade lemonade and reflect on what has been a truly physically demanding yet awesome walk!