The exclusive Vanuatu retreat which is rowing its own boat
“Havannah Boat House is all about slanted light through woven and wooden walls. Expansive decks and pristine blue water. A personalised menu with wines to match. Showering under the stars and sleeping under sweeping ceiling fans. Barefoot luxury. Not a resort, a private estate.” ~ Havannah Boat House owner Miranda Hodge.
The setting sun is slicing a sliver of silver down the spine of the jetty as the final mosquito buzz of a boat retreats into the night.
Clad in black, we four women huddle around a women’s circle of candles, coral and shells to celebrate the divine feminine and pay homage to our inner child who has delivered us this far on our life journey and deposited us into the South Pacific.
We are connecting deeply within ourselves, and Mother Vanuatu, home to centuries of stories which are intricately woven like pandanus baskets which collect our food and cemented in the crockery created by the estate’s in-house potter.
I am on a three-day experiential retreat celebrating women’s wellbeing at Havanah Boat House on Efate’s west coast, 45 minutes from the colour and chaos of the country’s capital, Port Vila.
And it is a barefoot, sometimes prickly, discovery of self and soul.
“The next three days are going to be tough and they are going to be wonderful,” Havannah Boat House General Manager and Wellness Guru Chanelle Bjornum says of this particular vegetarian, alcohol-free retreat in which we are encouraged to discard old habits.
“We live in a masculine world and we are very good at being men but not always good at honouring the feminine within.
“We dress in black at the start of the retreat and at white at the end. It’s about moving from the darkness into the light. I always find a lot of beauty in the dark, deep and scary parts.
“That’s when you see people at their most true, raw and real. We don’t always get that opportunity to see that without feeling shame or that it is wrong.”
Stripped bare of my crutches and splayed open to the universe, back in my room with its deep concrete outdoor bath, fairy lights and palm trees which stretch to the stars, I slumber like the dead.
Early morning and the timber shutters yawn wide open to a view framed by my traditional Natangura roof of the Havannah Harbour. Fittingly, this is the calm, protected side of Efate Island.
From the plump four-poster bed of my pool access villa, I tear the leaves of the island’s ubiquitous lime tree to release its scent and flavour and steep it in boiled water.
Over the next three days we will rise to participate in yin yoga and yoga nidra before breakfasting on the likes of fresh coconut juice, eggs, acai bowls and seasonal, sustainable fruit and vegetables sourced from the local markets.
Sustenance here is prepared by Resident Chef Charles Viaesgone who earned his apron working on P&O cruise ships for almost 10 years and at most of the major resorts in Vanuatu.
Sated, we clamber aboard one of those buzzing mosquitoes and across the harbour to Lelepa Island – home to sacred caves and coral beaches upon which locals establish a makeshift market of wood carvings, shell earrings and woven mats.
Our boat sputters indignantly over to nearby Mawa Island where we feast on beach barbecued vegetarian skewers dipped in Viaesgone’s special mayonnaise infused with herbs plucked from the retreat’s gardens.
I snorkel straight off the beach plunging into a riot of reef and tropical fish which embrace these warm waters as much as I do.
Later that afternoon, and back in the Boat House, my massage smells of rose, lavender and learning to let go.
Vegetarian lasagne and traditional lap lap steamed and smoked under hot coals is served for dinner, on crockery created by Resident Potter Brent Malessas – the only professional Ni-Vanuatu potter in the country.
On this retreat you’ll dine in three delicious destinations around the property – at the Havannah Boat House Residence Pool Deck, the Beach Nakamal, and the Boat House Forest replete with flickering forest candles.
During this stay we’ll amble the short distance on the property to The Making Place where Malessas will demonstrate his traditional Kastom skills used to craft the resort’s stunning collection.
“Don’t quit your daydream,” the sign on this potter’s wall states, emphatically, as Malessas works the wheel and creates another masterpiece from clay imported from Australia for its higher quality.
“For me I feel like I’m so proud when I make something and I see the finished product,” Malessas says.
“Learning pottery is a mindset. Once you know how to balance everything it is like riding a bike.”
Owner Hodge has selected her artisan staff with care. Like housekeeper and master weaver Nelly Maika, who learned her craft from her father.
Here, Maika’s deft digits will demonstrate how to weave a traditional head dress used in Kastom ceremonies and whose workmanship is evident all around the resort from the woven light fittings to the placemats.
Hodge, a stylist from Adelaide, originally built Havannah Boat House as a home in which her family could live – her daughter’s original “tree house” is just off the main pool villa – but decided it was too beautiful not to share.
When not used for retreats, the entire property can be rented exclusively for up to 15 guests.
And not only does it radiate beauty but resilience. Within a month of its completion in 2016, Category 6 Cyclone Pam devastated Vanuatu, but Havannah Boat House survived relatively unscathed.
Beyond the traditional Tam Tam or totems which guard the property, Havannah Boat House is all macrame hammocks strung between palm trees, hanging fairy lights, gentle sea breezes and stunning sunsets.
It’s tic-tac-toe games of flat stones, potted frangipani tees, manicured lawns and embracing the imperfect, unmanicured thoughts, deep within.
It’s yoga gongs and lavender sprays, flip flops on crunchy coral and seeking solutions in silence. Crackling flames, volcanic stones and a bush knife which clangs like a symbol against a fresh coconut.
“Havannah Boat House is about holding on to that magic within you,” Bjornum says.
And with that, we exit back into the real world, potted frangipani buds ready to bloom.
