Bula from Fiji
Sincerely sorry to hear NZ is experiencing stormy, wintery conditions. May not pay to read on if you can't show any sympathy for the heat we are encountering at the moment!!
Continuing from last time……….
We continued to make our way north through the islands to Vava'u, which is the northern most group. We had stopped here before when we were making our maiden voyage from the US. It is a popular cruising ground for yachties and charter yachts. Unfortunately the weather was again not 'playing the game', so for the second time we were restricted in what and where we could go.
So many beautiful islands we just couldn't get to because of strong trade winds and rain…rain…rain. But being who we are we just made the best of it…..eating at the Yacht Club and restaurants, meeting new friends and catching up with old friends, the odd game of cards playing both new games and old and generally making good use of every dry patch of weather that came along.
One advantage of being in these warmer climates is that when you get wet walking in the rain it never takes long to dry out again!!! But on the boat things were all feeling damp, mold was appearing on the walls and in wardrobes and Sascha couldn't believe what could grow on her leather belt and bag!! On fine days the boat's cockpit and sides resembled a Chinese laundry.
Timmy left us in Vava'u having decided to return to NZ to put down some roots for a while and maybe try a career in a new direction – well, that was the plan when he left but possibly subject to change.
We picked a great weather window to Fiji and had a lovely sail up to Vanua Levu in the north of Fiji. On the way the fishing was great -5 strikes –threw back the huge tuna and barracuda and kept the mahimahi. We have spent most of the time, so far, moored in the harbour at Savusavu, the port of entry. It has a strong sailing community and we have had a great time. Cruiser's curry night on Thursday nights at a local restaurant give you a great three course meal for NZ$9 or a two course lunch any day for NZ$4. At the supermarket another cruiser got a piece of local frozen fish, enough for two, and it cost NZ$1.90. Amazing.
If we had to name a country as the friendliest people in the world -we'd give it to Fiji. In the islands or the towns the people seem just so happy to chat and help us. We have had invitations into homes just as a result of conversations while buying something in a shop. We've even had the local tailors make Daryl a shirt and a couple of cool dresses for me, really just for the fun of it.
But things do move slowly here. We ordered the fuel truck, who booked us for 10am Thursday. He arrived 4pm Friday. We went to check out on Friday only to find that customs had put last years date on our cruising permit (two weeks ago), so we can't leave until they fix it in Suva. The rules have changed for those cruisers wanting a a cruising permit for the more isolated Lau Island group. One yacht has spent 3 months and $5000 and still hasn't got through the red tape. Consequently we didn't even start the process.
There are so many other beautiful places to see here, we will focus on those. Fiji's political situation isn't affecting us personally, apart from some seemingly illogical laws concerning movement of yachts. An explanation given in the Fiji Times newspaper for one of the changes was that boats are responsible for the spread of drugs and prostitution!!!! It doesn't fit with the type of people we're meeting but I suppose you never know.
Daryl and Sascha were at the Yacht Club happy hour last night enjoying a quiet beer with fellow cruisers. They were out on the deck soaking up sunset over the harbour, when the deck immediately below them collapsed, dropping themselves, their friends and the table about a foot. All was well, but both had had momentary visions of an unplanned swim. Hopefully very soon we will be heading out of the harbour and we'll begin a month of island hopping our way down to Suva.
All the best
Laurel, Daryl and Sascha.
