Sailed up to Epi Island - 72 miles with a force 5 or 6 on the beam - wonderful. The villages and people are unbelievable, and unforgettable. You would think they had never seen or met foreigners before - in some cases maybe they haven't. When we take the dingy ashore we're met by scores of children, most of them completely naked, and so enchanting. They hold our hands and pat our arms, and always ask us our names. My video camera is a source of wonder to them, but the Polaroid camera is clearly magic - they find it hard to believe, and fall about with laughter as the image appears. The villages are remarkably primitive - no roads, no power, sometimes no matches. But they give us paw-paws and limes, and want to share their simple things with us.

The snorkelling in Lamen Bay on Epi Island revealed the most fantastic corals I've ever seen, and of course, wonderful fish. They also have dugongs there, although we didn't see one.

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