Bula Bula my friends. Say it. Just once, maybe twice. It is hard to say the words without a smile immediately parting from your lips. Go ahead...try it. The word is heard everywhere in Fiji. Bula originates from the Fijian culture and means anything from hello, goodbye, welcome, love and more. It means LIFE. A blessing of health and happiness to all of you.
We made the passage from Opua, NZ to Fiji is just under 8 days. In fact, we had to slow down 3 days out to arrive at 8 AM on Wednesday morning to avoid overtime fees. We had a few calm days with no wind and a few rolly days and Kim was thinking we had a bad passage until I talked with several other cruisers that came after us. Notoriously fast sailboats took nine, ten and eleven days. Some arrived with broken boat parts and ripped sails and enclosures. One boat came in at night, was holed on a reef and was trying to arrange help to get re-floated. All in all, I think we did quite well.
We arrived in Savusavu and had a hassle-free check in, with polite and efficient officials. Waitui mooring staff brought out all of the officials to our boat since we had tied on to one of their moorings (and one night was free since we are SSCA Commodores). No food or liqueur was taken or bonded which surprised us after what we had read to expect. Within 1 1/2 hours, we were free to go ashore and explore.
We found cheap tasty Indian food and all of us had a nice lunch for about $40 Fiji. Two Fiji dollars cost about $1 US dollar, which was a nice break from New Zealand. We got hooked up with a USB phone drive for internet and got some of the local currency and some Kava (more on that in a later post). Emily went sailing with some local kids at the local yacht club and we did some snorkeling.
We discovered a small problem with our generator, but it was quickly diagnosed by the Captain as a bad capacitor since he had replaced one about a year ago. We found a local guy to have one flown in from Suva and 3 days later we had it running like a top and we moved out to see some of the country.
Our first stop was Fawn harbor on the southeast coast of Vanua Levu. There was a narrow entrance through the reef, but the charts were accurate and visibility was very good. It was nice and calm inside and we dropped the hook in 30 feet of water had a great night sleep. The next morning we took the dingy up a narrow creek at the 8:30 AM high tide to see our first Fiji village. We had to look a while to find the creek entrance but then we enjoyed a long winding ride up through the mangroves with overhanging vines to the village. Along the way, we saw a cage with two pigs on the riverbank and ultimately came to a bridge which we tied up to. We walked into the town and gave one local some powdered Kava to pass on to the village mayor. Because of the tide, we could not stay long and had to get back out of the creek before the tide got too low. We did just that and by 9:30 we had pulled up the anchor and were making the 2-hour passage to Viani Bay.
At Viani Bay, we took the dingy into a school and asked around to find Jack Fisher. Jack's family has lived here for three generations and has been helping cruisers to enjoy this area. Sure enough, Jack was volunteering at the school weed whacking and soon he had agreed to meet us the next morning to take us snorkeling and SCUBA diving. All along Viani Bay, there is a big reef called Rainbow reef that is world famous for diving. Jack drove us out there in our dingy for $10 Fiji and while we are diving, he follows our air bubbles and picks us up when we surface. This is really important since there are strong currents and we can then just drift with the current and not worry about the dingy. While Kim and I explored the reef wall, Emily snorkeled 60 feet above us and looked at the shallow reef. We saw our first hammerhead shark and some beautiful soft corals. There was a bit of surge from an off-shore storm and Kim was a little nervous on this dive. We got back into the dingy and Jack dropped us off at another shallower reef. Tom went with SCUBA again while Kim and Emily snorkeled above. It was very nice and Jack came back to our boat and we all shared lunch aboard Emily Grace.
The next day was Sunday and we asked Jack if it was possible for us to join the village for Church services. He was delighted and agreed to pick us up by dingy in the morning. We were welcomed by all and had a very nice time with them. Emily had really bonded with Jack's 13 year old granddaughter, Tiara, and all of Jack's family was invited for dinner aboard Emily Grace that night. They gave Emily a traditional Fiji dress as a present. While we made arrangements to go on another SCUBA trip on Monday, the girls had other ideas. Tiara convinced Emily to join her in school and she enthusiastically agreed. The next morning Jack rowed out to pick up Emily and we watched Emily put on a borrowed school uniform blue dress on the beach and depart for a Fiji school day.
The seas had calmed down quite a bit and Kim and I had a long, peaceful SCUBA dive at the White Wall. We had returned from the dive and had everything cleaned and stowed by the time Emily returned. She had a wonderful time and told us of the morning prayers and songs, attending 6th grade and already knowing the material, sharing lunch with the other kids and teaching them a few games at recess. She showed the kids on a wall map where we had come from and our route so far. She had a great time and Sofie rowed out with a nice dinner she had cooked and again we enjoyed a shared meal aboard Emily Grace. Emily and Tiara played down in her stateroom and there were long faces when we had to say goodbye. We gave Tiara some of Emily's clothes that she had outgrown and she was overjoyed. It was interesting to note that this Fiji girl was smaller than Emily even though she was 3 years older.
Our next stop was the island of Matangi which has a nice curved bay on is north side. We found it and worked our way into the center and dropped the hook. We had the white sandy beach and cove to ourselves. We saw a small buree (or hut) on the beach and upon further investigation with the binoculars, we saw a white couple lounging around. We later found out that a "couples only" 5-star resort (Matangi private island resort ) was located around the corner and couples were brought here for a two-hour deserted-beach experience. Between couples, we saw the buree up close and were even given a tour by resort staff. Inside included a bed suspended by ropes from the ceiling, fluffy towels, private bath and kayaks and water toys to use. We saw about 4 couples in the two days we were there and wondered if they got a reduced rate since we were spoiling their view (and privacy).
We also snorkeled and walked the beach when we had it to ourselves. We did not eat at the resort since children under 16 were not normally allowed and we decided not to press them for an exception. We had a little roll in the harbor and way too much rain. Almost every day since our arrival, we had experienced rain. It would come fast, last for an hour or two and dump copious amount of rain; and then the sun would blaze. This was good for catching drinking water, but tiring on the crew for opening and closing hatches. It is so warm and humid here, a closed up boat quickly becomes a sauna. Temperatures have been consistently in the upper 80s and it rarely would drop below 80 at night. I had heard that the island of Viti Levu had considerably less rain and the crew was ready for some sunshine. So off we go...
Tom
