(170 07’ South, 1790 06’ East)
Looks like a sleeping dragon, eh. But more about that in a
minute.So, let’s see, were did we leave off the story... We still haven’t gotten very far, still within 60 miles of Savusavu were we first started our Fiji adventure. This NE part of Fiji is really hard to leave, the people are lovely, the islands pristine, it’s all laid back, the diving has been incredible. Our diving guide in Viani Bay, Jack, has looked after us well, though he did pass along his cold, first to Sally and then a week later the skipper got it. That of course was just as I was getting over an ear infection. Bugger. I had to start on antibiotics to deal with that. I shouldn’t have kept diving, but it was too hard to pass up, so did two more dives. But that was in the last email I think.
The weather hasn’t been that great the last few weeks, so have had some rest, but still kept going in any case. Some new friends on a boat called Migration out of California had a movie projector and I had “Finding Nemo”, so they organized a “movie night” for the kids in a village on the island of Rambi. We hung a white sheet on the wall, set up a small generator and projector, and wa-la, a movie theatre came to life and about 50 small kids showed up, not to mention many parents, etc. The place was packed and all good fun. Otherwise, life has been fairly simple and enjoyable, hot and muggy, but generally cools down at night. Lots of kayaking and swimming and general exploring. And lots of getting over colds.
But we reckon it’s time to move west, so we came back to Savusavu (again J) to fuel up and re-provision for a day, and then set off SW towards Viti Levu, the main island, and then west to the Yasawa island group. However, we found out that Bruce on Migration had to fly back to the states because his mum was real sick and that left Alene all alone, maybe for a month, so we offered to take her with us on a trip down to Namena island and atoll for a couple of days. She agreed and we left the next day as the weather was really settled and it looked like some great diving in the offer.
Well, that is an understatement, I think it is our best yet. It’s a small island (about a mile across) surrounded by reef which is a marine preserve in the middle western part of the Koro sea. The island has a small lovely resort that looks after it and collects the $25 fees. It’s nesting grounds for the tropical Boobies and frigate birds. The trees are covered with birds, the jungle lush and the beaches white coral sand. Just stunning.
But the best part was the diving. There’s a couple of
moorings that were put in to help protect the reefs and make it easy for
visiting boats. We left Savusavu at 7:30 and got there at 11:00, found a
mooring just behind the reef, hooked up and everyone was so excited, we got our
act together and Sally and Alene did the first dive to check it out while I was
captain of the dingy. An hour later, they came up with these huge grins on
their faces. Needless to say, we stayed a couple of more days diving the same
wall. We worked out the tides and current drift, where to anchor the dingy on
the top of the reef and how to get back to the dingy. It was a bit of a
production, but well worth it.
So, the reef was a vertical wall, flat on the top in chest
high water (great for snorkelling), but fell off absolutely vertical on the
outside, which is what we did. It was bottomless as far as we could tell, so
was like floating in space. Here was our tour guide. JIt really was vertical and we could just float along. It was full of all kinds of soft and hard corals and the visibility was pretty good. Here’s Sally and Alene gliding along past a big soft fan coral. Good hairdo Sally. J
And of course there was heaps of fish all about.
Not to mention some of the big guys. Here’s a big Grey shark
on patrol along with a tuna.
So, we are on the move again. We’ve got a few weeks left in Fiji before we start looking for a weather window to Vanuatu. My dear friend and mate Julie will join us on the 18th, so need to be in Port Vila before then. Both Sally and I (particularly me J) look forward to her arrival.
So, that’s the news from EQ, where the winds are fair, the seas following and the crew content.
J
Ps. My solar panels quit working, but the manufacturer said they’d replace them free of charge, including shipping. They’ve got a 25 year warranty, so we’ll see how that goes. They said they had some problems with them back then, so no arguments. Not sure I’ll get them before Vanuatu though.
Pss. I checked my Sailmail account and saw some notes. Sorry, maybe I wasn’t clear. Since being in Fiji, we have a broadband internet stick that works most of the time, depending on local coverage, at least so far. So I haven’t been doing the Sailmail thing as it’s a bit more challenging. I will use that when we are offshore or can’t get cell coverage, which I suspect will be the case in Vanuatu. Also, Sailmail is mostly used for letting people know what’s happening when on passage. It’s simple slow text only so would like to use it sparingly.
Cheers...
