Leap Into A Petacost Playground

Ben Bohane visits the infamous Nangol land-diving ceremony but finds there is plenty else to do on this tranquil island, so stay a few days.

It is little Ernestino’s first season of jumping and his proud father is there to guide him.

This is an old tradition passed from father to son and now Ernestino, just 8 years old, is stepping up and taking the “leap of faith” this year. His father, Joanes Asal, is known to be one of the most experienced of Pentecost islands’ “land divers”, a man who has leaped “hundreds” of times before he says with a big smile beaming out of a grey beard. This season, however, he is concentrating on teaching his son all about the kastom that inspired bungy jumping and is now famous all over the world.

They jump every Saturday during the months of April, May and June at Ransuksuk, and on this Thursday before the next jump, I trek up to Ranmil, their village high above the gentle sloping hill where an elaborate wooden tower with fastened vines stands as an annual monument to their culture of storytelling and courage.

Higher up on a mountain ridge we move along a steep jungle path and I see the forest floor covered with ripe pample mousse (grapefruit) and mandarins, shaken down from trees during the recent cyclone. With such rich soils and abundant gardens, they don’t need to worry too much about the occasional storms - they are well used to mother nature’s bounty and her occasional blast. Further on I see chunks of white kava spread out on a bamboo table, drying in the sun. It’s another day of cobalt-blue sky and the view from here over the southern part of the island where it meets beach and sea is stunning.