Ureparapara - (as seen from) Vanua Lava

We spent a day in an open boat circling the island of Vanua Lava. Evidence of vulcanism is everywhere in the Banks group of islands, but the site of Ureparapara in the distance was probably the most compelling.... The island of Ureparapara is an immense caldera which, some time in the past exploded, cutting a huge channel in one side.

The result is a ring-shaped island with a vast deep-water harbour in the middle of it and eight hundred metre cliffs rising on every side.

I have made a vow to myself to visit it next time I'm in Torba province.

July, 2004

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