Wild cattle country, a short drive from Vila
G'day, I'm Emma. I run Wild Cat Farm, a working cattle farm we're building from scratch on old wartime ground at Port Havannah. I speak English, French and Bislama, so say hello in whichever suits. About 200 head, a few horses, some goats with opinions, and a quarry opening soon.
Wild Cat is selling its last 29 commercial titles at Port Havannah, on the Efate Ring Road and around the new marina. See the land
Why "Wild Cat"?
In the Second World War, Port Havannah was a US Navy base with a seaplane base, a fleet anchorage and a fighter strip, on land that's now part of the farm. Wildcat fighter squadrons were on Efate in 1942, Wildcats were repaired and parked at the strip in 1943, and the field was reportedly named after a Wildcat pilot. We named the place after them.
Our story
Wild Cat Ltd is owned by the Thompson Family Trust. We've been at Port Havannah since 2000, and the farm has been built up from bush, one fence line at a time.
The farm is still in its early days. During COVID we joined the Department of Livestock's restocking programme, which lent us 16 head: 14 heifers and two young bulls. We've since returned the same number to the programme. Since then we've bought 30 heifers from David Russet and another 30 from Kris and Beth Russet.
The land rises in natural terraces from the harbour to 330 metres, with views across to Malekula. As our property sales go through, we put the money back into the farm. Next up is a CAT 336 excavator and a workshop, so we can build roads and get to every part of the place.
I manage it day to day. I'm still learning plenty, mostly from the cattle, who are patient teachers until they're not. The plan is a good herd, honest beef, a quarry that supplies local builders, and a few things for visitors that you won't find anywhere else on Efate.
Long before the airstrip
About 3,000 years ago the Lapita people, the first to settle these islands, lived along this shore and on Moso Island across the harbour. Over the years the kids of our stockman have turned up pieces of Lapita pottery on the farm.
Efate's best-known Lapita find is Teouma, on the south coast, the oldest cemetery known in the Pacific. Havannah has never been properly studied. Recent laser (LIDAR) mapping shows what look like man-made mounds linked across the area, a story still to be told.
We leave finds where they are. Please don't dig or collect on the farm.
Macleod's house, 1886
Long before the war, Havannah was a trading harbour. Captain Donald Macleod, a trader from Nova Scotia who came to the New Hebrides by way of New Zealand, built his house and store here in the 1880s. He later sold them to the CCNH, the French company that was buying up land across the islands.
This photo shows the house in 1886. We'd like to bring the spot back to life as Macleod's Café.
Source: Katherine Cawsey, The Making of a Rebel: Captain Donald Macleod of the New Hebrides (University of the South Pacific, 1998).
The Havannah airstrip
- May 1942
- Navy Seabees land on Efate and build a seaplane base in Havannah Harbour. By 1 June, Catalina flying boats are bombing Guadalcanal from here. The harbour becomes a fleet anchorage.
- Aug 1942
- Wildcat squadrons VMF-212 and VMF-223 are on Efate. The carrier Long Island stops at Efate on the way to Guadalcanal and VMF-223 swaps pilots with VMF-212. On 20 August VMF-223's Wildcats become the first fighters at Henderson Field.
- Late 1942
- Seabees build the fighter strip on the north shore at the head of the harbour: in the end a 4,000-foot gravel runway, 43 aircraft revetments and a camp for 53 officers and 850 men.
- 1943
- The Oakland Tribune reports (2 November 1943) that a flying field on Havannah Harbor has been named Taylor Field, after 2nd Lt Lawrence C. Taylor. He was a Wildcat pilot with VMF-212, the squadron based on Efate, flying with VMF-223 at Guadalcanal when he was lost in action on 24 August 1942. It was reportedly this strip.
- Jan–Jul 1943
- The escort carrier USS Chenango anchors in Havannah Harbour between operations. In July her Wildcat squadron, VGF-28, has its planes repaired and parked "at the fighter strip", its mechanics going ashore by boat each day.
- Aug 1943
- Navy records list 19 F4F-4 Wildcats with Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 12 on Efate. Chenango photographs the fighter strip.
- Nov–Dec 1943
- Marine squadron VMF-221, which flew Wildcats at Guadalcanal, is based at the strip, now with Corsairs. CASU 12 photographs the airfield, and Admiral Halsey visits the seaplane base.
- 1944
- Carrier Aircraft Service Units 15 and 40 run an engine overhaul hangar, shops and the radio tower beside the strip, servicing visiting carrier squadrons.
- 1944–45
- The Navy approves abandoning the strip.
- What we know
- Wildcat squadrons were on Efate in 1942–43, a Wildcat squadron's planes were repaired and parked at the fighter strip in 1943, and the field was reportedly named after a Wildcat pilot. We're still looking for the record that names the strip in black and white.
- Today
- The strip is overgrown, on land that's now part of the farm. We're bringing the site back to life.
Sources: Port Havannah archive research by the Thompson family (US National Archives and Navy records); I. Robert Miller, My Life in the Navy (Naval Historical Foundation); US Navy, Chenango ship history; US Navy, Location of US Naval Aircraft, 24 Aug 1943; Pacific Wrecks, Havannah Harbor Airfield; Pacific Wrecks, VMF-221; VMF-212; Missing Marines, Lawrence C. Taylor; South Pacific WWII Museum, Efate airfields study (Taylor Field); Building the Navy's Bases in World War II; Port Havannah. Know more, or have photos from the war years? Tell us.
Who was Taylor?
Lawrence Coburn "Red" Taylor was born in Santa Ana, California, on 12 May 1920 and grew up in Oakland. He left university at Berkeley to join the Marines in January 1941, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 1 December 1941, a week before Pearl Harbor.
He flew Wildcats with VMF-212, the Marine fighter squadron based on Efate. In August 1942 eight of its pilots were sent to Guadalcanal to fly with VMF-223 at Henderson Field. Taylor arrived on 20 August.
On 24 August 1942, during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, his engine wouldn't start when the squadron scrambled. He fixed it, took off alone, and helped shoot down a Japanese bomber before a Zero shot his Wildcat down. No parachute was seen, and he was never found. He was 22.
He was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart, and is remembered at the Manila American Cemetery. The Navy named a destroyer escort, USS Lawrence C. Taylor, after him. His hometown paper, the Oakland Tribune, reported in November 1943 that a field on Havannah Harbor had been named Taylor Field, reportedly the strip on our farm.
Sources: Missing Marines; Pacific Wrecks, Wildcat 02084; Oakland Tribune, 2 Nov 1943, via the South Pacific WWII Museum.
USMC · VMF-212, flying with VMF-223
Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, Bureau No. 02084
Missing in action, 24 August 1942, Eastern Solomons
Silver Star · Purple Heart
Then and now
The strip in 1943 and 1944
US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics photographs, 1943–44, photographed by the Thompson family at the National Archives and credited by negative number.
Bullocks
Buy a whole bullock, priced on its live weight. You tell us what you're after, we weigh it, and we do the custom kill here on the farm.
How it works
Send an order below: rough size, how many and when you want it.
We confirm the animal, the price per kg and the date by WhatsApp, and agree the deposit.
We weigh it live on the day. You pay live weight × the price per kg.
We kill and dress it here on the farm on the day you booked.
You collect from the farm the same day. Bring a chiller or cool boxes with ice: the meat needs to be kept cold.
Prices
Priced per kg of live weight, depending on the animal's type and size. Message us for this month's prices. Prices include VAT.
A 400 kg live bullock usually gives roughly half its weight as carcass, and less again as packed meat.
Custom kill is for the buyer's own use. Once you collect, keeping the meat cold and safe is up to you.
Coming: our own approved abattoir on the farm, then a Farmer's Freezer: our beef, cut and packed, sold at the farm gate. Farm to plate for the locals.
Quarry products
Crushed limestone from Port Havannah, for driveways, roads, slabs and fill. The quarry is opening soon: ask for a quote now and we'll come back to you with prices and dates.
Pickup or delivery
Load out at the quarry with your own truck, or tell us where you need it and we'll quote delivery.
Not sure what you need?
Tell us the job (a driveway, a house slab, a road) and roughly how big, and we'll work out the product and the amount.
The animals
Some of them work, some of them think they're in charge. Meet the crew.
The herd
About 200 head on the farm's paddocks, plus a small mob of goats with opinions.
Sol
Emma's horse, and the best seat on the farm for checking cattle.
Pepper
Emma's new pup and the newest member of the crew. Still learning which end of a cow to watch.
Work with us
We need people who turn up, look after animals and machines, and don't mind dust. Locals first.
We're always keen to hear from good people for stock work, fencing and general farm work, and machine operators for the quarry when it opens. Apply below and we'll be in touch when there's a place.
Coming soon
We're opening up parts of the land for visitors. No dates yet. Register and you'll hear first.
Farmer's Freezer
Farm to plate for the locals: a self-serve freezer at the farm, stocked with our own beef, cut, packed and priced. Tap your card, take what you need. First we need the abattoir, the buildings and the approvals, so it's a way off yet, but that's where we're heading.
Macleod's Café
On the site of Captain Donald Macleod's trading house, photographed here in 1886 (photo courtesy of Stuart Bedford).
Reef snorkelling trails
Marked trails over the reef off our shore in Havannah Harbour.
Mega Zipline
A big zipline across the farm, with views over Havannah Harbour.
Spring-fed swimming holes
Cold, clear and well away from the crowds.
Can't wait? Our neighbours at Vanuatu Jungle Zipline are open now.
Commercial land for sale
Wild Cat has 29 commercial titles left at Port Havannah: road-front lots on the Efate Ring Road and lots around the Port Havannah Marina.
Leasehold titles. The full site plan, lot list, prices and how to buy are on the Port Havannah website, which has the enquiry form and the buyer's pack.
See lots and prices at porthavannah.vu
Shops, workshops, a depot or a business on the main road: a few minutes from the farm, the quarry and the harbour.
Contact
Call, WhatsApp or email. We're often out in the paddock, so WhatsApp is quickest. English, French or Bislama.
| Phone | +678 555 4942 |
|---|---|
| +678 555 4942 | |
| emmakatethompson00@gmail.com | |
| Where | Port Havannah, north-west Efate. Open in Google Maps |
Visits by arrangement only. It's a working farm, with cattle, machines and a quarry.