Arriving in Fiji after an 8 day passage from New Zealand - a bit weary.....
It was a very late departure from New Zealand this year due (firstly) to a backlog of boat projects and (secondly) nasty weather and little opportunity to head north. We finally departed Saturday July 14th and arrived in Lautoka a week later – Saturday 21st.
In the end, the trip north went quite well – no heavy winds or overly uncomfortable seas to speak of and we made very good time.
The first 10 days in Fiji we had Laura and Adam on board and had a very pleasant time sailing through the Mamanuca and Yasawa island groups to the west of Viti Levu, the main Fiji island. Very much a resort area, there are some local villages left but the lifestyle, including jobs, now revolves around the resorts and what they bring to the area.
Sailing in the Mamanucas
On the beach in Somosomo Village with Laura's "adopted" family - they adopted her..........
The highlight was being anchored in Manta Ray Bay in southern Naviti Island. We found out that manta rays are known to swim through the shallow pass each high tide – Laura and Adam took to the water and actually found one. They swam above it for some time while it hovered below feeding on the tide. Excitement plus!
Once repairs were made we spent a week in the northern Yasawas, mostly sheltering from the strong winds at various anchorages, among them the very famous Blue Lagoon. It certainly lives up to it’s name, with turquoise seas, lively coral reefs to snorkel on and a delightful little resort that served excellent meals. We treated ourselves to dinner one might.Sadly, we have not had the chance to explore further afield in Fiji – we had some gear failure on the way north that has required repairs, and then lost our engine room blower which basically meant we could not use the engine safely,. It took the best part of 4 weeks to have one shipped in, the only bonus was that we were in Port Denarau, and able to catch the local free bus, the “bula bus” around the resorts on Denarau Island and spent our afternoons on their beaches and around the pools. Very spoilt!
So now it’s time to leave the resorts of western Fiji and head to the remote Banks Island group in northern Vanuatu. The next 6-7 weeks will be spent working our way south from village to village, island to island, finally arriving in Port Vila around the end of October. The schools supply project will be in full swing from here on – we have at least 4 small book libraries on board and will be looking to ascertain the most in need schools on our route to give them to on behalf of all the sponsors of the project.
We will be out of internet access for most of the next 6 weeks but will take photos and share the experiences and results with all as soon as we can document and upload them.
