After our visit to Santo, we were emboldened to explore a third island, so we took a plane from Efate to Tanna. Tanna is an island that is best known for Mount Yasur, it’s volcano. It also features in ‘Tanna’, a wonderful film which showcases its traditional culture and beliefs. Having seen the film, we wanted to find out more.

We were picked up from the airport by Tom, the owner of our guest house. As we clambered into his battered crew cab, I had an intimation that this was going to be a rather different kind of trip. Our guest house, Hidden Treasure, is situated on the West Coast, right on the beach. Next door live Tom and his extended family. Several traditional huts are clustered round an open fire where they cook their meals.

Tom has built five wooden huts for tourists, although at the moment we are the only ones here. The hut itself is very pretty. Inside, its basic – cold showers, no air con – but there are nets on the windows, the bed is comfy and there’s a mosquito net over the bed. Outside, there’s a balcony where we can sit and watch the waves crash on the shore.

As soon as we arrived, we set out to explore the vicinity. The coastline is rugged, with a network of rock pools running out to meet the reef. It’s challenging to get in the water, but once you’re past the sharp rocks, you can jump over the edge of the reef. The water is beautifully clear and the coral is abundant and colourful.  Getting out the water is a challenge as the waves break on the reef  – you have to pick your moment and watch your feet. Ten minutes walk further north takes you onto a beautiful white sand beach. It’s holiday time and the local children are off school, so instead they take their long bamboo fishing rods to the edge of the reef or dive in with snorkels and masks, hoping to spear a fish. Tom says he goes out after dark with snorkel, mask and torch to catch lobster.

Later, Tom offered to take us for a drive down South and tell us about John Frum. Tanna is a place full of magical, mysterious beliefs which are passed down from generation to generation.  John Frum is one of the so called ‘Cargo Cults’ which have sprung up over the years to worship individuals as Gods. I thought the John Frum cult was in the past but according to Tom, there are still a central core of believers on the South of the island. Making sense of the story is difficult and perhaps it depends who you speak to, so I can only pass on Tom’s version of it.

According to Tom, John Frum appeared out of nowhere in 1936 on Mount Tukosmera, the highest hill on the island. He came in a boat. He was dressed in black shoes, black trousers, a white shirt and tie – in other words, conventional Western dress. I asked Tom if he was English or American, to which Tom said ‘perhaps – I do not know.’ In any event, he spoke in English but was also able to converse with locals in their language. He continued to visit the island until war came, sometimes by boat, sometimes by plane and then he stopped coming – Tom said that he went to join the war. He didn’t come back after that but his followers waited for him, preparing for the day when he would return.

John Frum made pronouncements which later came to pass. For example, he predicted that the island would prosper and new roads would be built. This has been fulfilled in the form of a new road which is currently being built by the Chinese. He also predicted that the hill that he was standing on would one day be flattened at the top – this has also happened as part of the road building scheme.  He also predicted that the town of Lenakel would expand beyond the airport to a certain point – at this certain point, a new resort has recently been built – preventing expansion beyond where John Frum predicted.

The chiefs all made different requests of John Frum – one asked for education for his children. Tom knows his descendents. They are a highly educated bunch, who have gone to school and even to university. Another asked for a way to keep his food from going bad. He was the first person on the island to get a refrigerator.  Another asked for eternal life. This was the only wish that was not granted. John Frum apologised and said that it was not in his power to grant it.

We went to the memorial to John Frum which stands on top of Mount Tukosmera with amazing views of the coast. Tom said that there was an English sign on the memorial, but it had blown away, leaving only the Bislama sign. (Bonus points for anyone who can translate it!) By this time, it was pouring with rain so we didn’t stop for long.

Tom is a Christian, but from what he said, he and other islanders are not entirely sceptical about John Frum’s powers, either. I asked him about Tanna’s Prince Phillip cult, which I’d heard about before I came. ‘Oh, that lot,’ he said scathingly. ‘They believe that Prince Phillip’s parents come from Tanna, you know. I told them it was rubbish – I’ve googled it and he comes from Greece – but they don’t believe me. What can you do!?’