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Fiji
We had a boisterous 445-mile sail from Tonga to Fiji, initially in strong winds and a rough sea. Just when we had only 33 miles to go the wind died completely and we had to use the iron sail. We anchored in the harbour at Suva, the capital city situated on Viti Levu island at noon on Tuesday and called Suva port control as required to inform the authorities of our arrival. Arriving in Fiji on a yacht is complicated. Yachts are required to email a form to customs at least 48 hours before arrival. We radioed Suva port control about an hour before arrival and they arranged for the authorities to visit us. We were not to leave the boat until they came. It poured with rain all Tuesday afternoon, so I think they got rained off. Anyway they all arrived Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock. Quarantine, health, customs and immigration, with a shed load of paperwork. There was a charge of 105 Fijian dollars for the launch that brought them and $33 for health. The exchange rate is two Fijian to one US dollar, or 3.3 to the pound. We couldn't pay not having any local currency yet. No problem, just bring the money to the office in the afternoon. At the office, guess what, they repeated the paper work! We needed a cruising permit to visit the islands and getting it became our mission for Thursday. This involved a tour round a number of government departments before finding the right place. It was free and everyone was very friendly helping us negotiate this bureaucratic maze, plus we did get to see the city.
Suva is a lively multicultural city but not the most beautiful place and crime is a problem, tourist information has closed due to lack of business. There is however the very interesting museum of Fiji, set in a pleasant park with orchids and a colony of mongooses, which I have never seen before. The fruit and veg market is huge and above it is the kava and spice market. We purchased some kava roots to take as a gift for the chief on the islands we planned to visit, as is the custom. The roots are ground up, or traditionally chewed up and mixed with water to make a drink, which looks like dish water, has similar effects to alcohol, plus it makes your mouth go numb! It is served in a bowl, the contents of which are drunk down in one. I am sticking to rum and coke. Eating out is very cheap, we had a very good curry for $6.50 and a Chinese eat all you can buffet in a lovely restaurant for $11.50. Beer is about half the price in England.
We were required to check out of Suva before going to Lautoka, from where we can visit the islands. We filled the same forms in triplicate before leaving Suva and once more on arrival in Lautoka. I am getting writers cramp. Lautoka is the second largest city and has a huge sugar refinery near the wharf, which gives off dirty smelly smoke. We didn't stay long, moving down the coast to Vuda point marina, which is lovely, inexpensive, good facilities, very friendly and a great view from the yacht club. The only drawback is the bow to mooring; you have to climb over the front of the boat and step onto a platform to get ashore. The gap can be quite large, too wide to step across, so we stepped onto the bow line which pulls the boat towards the platform. This was fine for lightweights like Nancy and me. Unfortunately when Jim executed this maneuver, the line went down much further and he gently sank into the water. So he got an unscheduled swim, fully clothed and all his money and cards got wet.
We sailed to the Yasawa islands on Thursday. Here we found the beautiful Fiji with white sandy beaches and coral reefs. The reefs made navigation tricky, especially as the charts were out by as much as quarter of a mile. Hence we only traveled in good light when we could see the reefs. Our first anchorage was Yalobi bay on Waya Island. The wind picked up and blew down the hills into the anchorage in gusts of 30 plus knots. During a calm period we ventured ashore at Yalobi village. We did Suva Suva as required to get permission from the chief to visit the island. We presented our gift of kava and were invited to sit down with the chief. He welcomed us and blessed the kava in Fijian. We then gave a few more small gifts and the ladies of the village displayed their handcrafts. They sell shell jewelry, bookmarks, decorated shells, dyed cloth and tapa cloth. Nancy and I bought a pretty cloth decorated with a turtle pattern. A young boy showed us round the village. The houses are traditionally thatched but the newer ones are concrete with corrugated iron roofs. There was a Methodist church and a large primary school which serves all four villages on the island. Children from the other villages board during the week.
We went on to Nanuya Lailai Island and had an excellent meal at the Nanuya island resort. This is the same island where the movie 'The Blue Lagoon' was filmed. Across the bay was Sese village. We took our kava and gifts and visited. I fell foul of the dress code by wearing trousers, ladies are not allowed to wear men's clothes, which is odd in a place where men wear skirts! The kava was given to the minister of the Methodist church, which we found amusing as Methodists are supposed to be tea total. Next day we moved to Naviti Island, anchoring in the beautiful Vunayawa bay. From the beach we walked over the hill to Clare's place. For some reason, probably wishful thinking on my part, we thought this was a tea room. It was in fact the home of a lovely old couple and their grandson, her name being Clare. We were made very welcome. Thursday was William's birthday, so we returned to Vuda marina to celebrate at the yacht club.
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