Ni sa bula,
Our trips to the states all always looked forward to. We love visiting with family and friends. This year was no exception. The thing that was different this year was that John and his grandson, Frankie, went to Texas with Linda to visit Trish and her family. We all had a great time, especially Frankie!
After much packing, unpacking and packing again with a break in between for Linda to have a day of kayaking with friends Georgie and Paula, we were off to return to HAWKEYE which was on a cyclone mooring in Savusavu, Figi. The three different airlines we flew, all had different requirements as far as number of bags and weight per bag. In the long run, it was well worth the time spent on the packing as we only had to pay an additional $20 USD on excess weight.
When we arrived at the airport in Nadi, Fiji, we were concerned with getting through customs. There was a very long line and John went up to an official stating we had a connecting flight. The official asked what we had to declare and he said, “Nuts (we always bring back an assortment of nuts for baking and technically nuts and seeds are not allowed.).” The agent said to get our things and come over to him. He then proceeded to usher us passed everyone, including the other agents and we were out the door! We will remember this ploy in the future. Just so you know, we did have a connecting flight but it wasn’t for a couple of hours…..
We had received word from other cruisers that the airport in Savusavu was closed as it was unsafe. Unsafe? They didn’t tell us that when we flew out three months before!! It seems the runway is too low and too short; mmmmmmm.
Our domestic flight was to Labasa pronounced Lambasa. The Fijians are great in putting in the sound of “m” in words but not the letter. From the airport, we were not looking forward to the bus into town and then a 3 hour bus ride over gravel roads through the mountains in an open bus (tarps roll down the sides if it rains) to Savusavu. Upon arriving at the airport in Labasa, Linda discovered a small air conditioned bus and inquired as to where it was going-Savusavu. Yes!! Can we get a ride? How much per person? And, I’ll be right back with one other person and our luggage. PLEASE DON’T LEAVE! After getting John and all our luggage, we got on our air conditioned bus for the small fee of $20 per person. The ride only took 2 hours and they gave us a nice lunch which turned out to be our dinner also. The bus had been hired by the Cousteau Resort to pick up a family of 4 and there was plenty of room for us. They delivered us to the marina and we were most thankful.
The bad news was when we arrived back on board. We had paid for the boat to be looked after. HAWKEYE was supposed to be opened and aired out on a regular basis including removing any mildew down below. This was not done, however, and we spent the rest of the day and the next 2 days cleaning up the interior, removing all mildew and making her sparkling clean again. After unpacking, John started on the long list of repairs and addition of new things to be installed. This list is never fully completed as there is ALWAYS more to be added than removed no matter how much we try! John installed new steering chain and cable, a new autopilot, a new GPS, a propane sniffer and many repairs.
After 3 weeks, we felt we were ready to head out to the anchorages. Our first anchorage was near the beautiful, exclusive, Jean Michele Cousteau Resort where they fly guests in on seaplanes each day. They have some villas as well as bures where the rich and famous stay. We love this anchorage as “split rock” is a football field away with awesome snorkeling. In the prevailing winds, it is a very protected anchorage. We stayed there a few days working on small jobs like cleaning the bottom of the boat and relaxing, listening to the drums at sundown from the resort, watching the full moon rise, and just being happy to be where we are.We were anxious to get back up to Viani Bay and snorkel the Rainbow Reef we had enjoyed just before we headed to the states. Once again, we met Jack Fisher, the local guide and made arrangements to have him take us out snorkeling. Linda had her new underwater housing to try out and managed to take quite a few pictures.
A few days later, John decided to take a hike over to another bay. John did not have a good day. He missed the trail and got lost in the bush. He had to go through thick brush to get to a hill so that he could see where he needed to go. He ended up pulling a muscle in his leg and had quite a strenuous time getting back.
Linda, on the other hand, went out to the reef with Jack Fisher and a couple from Holland and did two tank dives. Both dives were exceptional and it was a good day for her. That afternoon, Linda went with the couple from Holland to Jack’s village for a visit. It was Friday afternoon and the village was having a fund raiser. The children from the village were going to travel by boat to Taviuni to compete in sports events and they were playing card games with donated prizes and selling kava to raise the money. By the time we got there, the card games were over but the kava drinking was far from being over. We had a few bowls of kava and visited with the families before heading back to the boats before dark as we had to go around the reef to get there. 
Those of you who haven’t experienced kava drinking, here is an abbreviated version. Yaqona, a root, is pounded into a powder and then put in a rag. This is washed through water in a 3 legged large bowl and looks like dirty dishwater. This is then called kava. Kava is served with some ceremony. A half of a coconut is used as a “cup”. You are presented with a cup (everyone drinks from the same cup) of usually ½ tide for the palanges. You clap once, take the cup in both hands between thumbs and index fingers and drink it down in one swift go. You then hand back the cup and clap 3 times. After you have had the initial cup of kava, you can refuse, but it is considered poor etiquette to refuse the first cup. It tastes very “root” and leaves a sort of scum on your teeth and can make your lips numb. This is all done sitting in a circle on a mat on the ground. You must sit with your legs bent at the knees and crossed. The bottom of your feet must never be toward the center. Shoulders and knees must be covered at all times. It gets mighty uncomfortable sitting on the ground with your legs crossed for any length of time and even harder to get up!The next day we went ashore to visit with Jack and his wife, Sophie and their daughter. We were given pumpkins (squash) from their garden and we gave them fishing line, soap and yeast. It is hard to keep “even” on this trading thing. It always seems that these people that have very little always end up giving us more.
That afternoon we sailed with GAIA, the Dutch boat to another secluded bay where we stayed two nights. They snorkeled the reef close to the anchorage but Linda had an ear infection and had been taking amoxicillin and ear drops since the onset a few days previous.
Our next passage was to Rabi Island (sounds like Rambi) about 20 miles away. We anchored in Albert Bay inside the reef and went ashore to present our sevusevu-the y
aqona to the women on the beach. We were welcomed and given permission to anchor in the bay. There are 12 people living in the small village at Albert Bay. They originally came from Tuvalu, a country that is sinking into the Pacific due to global warming. These people live in very primitive huts made from sticks with mats on the sand floor made of palm fronds. We were invited into one of the homes sort of igloo shaped . They speak both Fijian and English. We were given 2 papaya and a freshly caught fish. We asked what they needed and they said batteries for their torches (flashlights). By looking around, we could see that they could use just about anything. Linda was given a hand made necklace that they sell and she agreed to pay for it the next day.We went through our “give away” supply the next morning and were able to get together some things we knew they could use. We gave them batteries, paper, pencils, tea, sugar, hair ties, fishing line, lures, Band-Aids, aspirin and an inflatable globe which caused quite a bit of discussion as to where we are from and our path followed to arrive in Fiji.
The eldest woman told us she was 57 and her husband was 62. They were very surprised to hear that Linda is 67 and John 75. They told us we looked much younger; and , compared to them, we do look much younger. These people lead a very hard life just trying to feed themselves on a daily basis. They subsist on mostly fish which the men spend most of the day or night trying to get. They do grow fruit and some vegetables. They probably never see a doctor as their village is so remote; however, our friends Dan & Brenda Paull were headed that way. Dan is a retired cardiologist from Seattle.
They wanted us to take pictures of them and so we did. We made some copies for them and they were very pleased to receive them. There was one young couple that was particularly handsome with two little girls. They dressed in their finest for the picture. There is some hope that these people will make quite a bit of money when they decide to sell their yaqona. It is now three years old and should bring top Fijian dollar in a few years. We wish them well.
In the afternoon, while we were relaxing reading, there was a sharp rap on the hull. John went up and there was one of the men handing up a nice lobster which we had for dinner that night. Our next trip in we gave them a pumpkin and explained that they could plant the seeds in their garden. We also gave them some ginger which they could plant. They gave us egg plant and drinking coconuts as a parting gift. At this point, we felt we were close to being “even” in the gift department but we are richer by far with the memories of this little village and its’ people.
At 6 a.m., sunup, we headed from Rabi Island north and west around the most northern tip of Vanua Levu and very large reef. Once around the top of the reef, we were in calm waters after a boisterous 15 mile run. We had dragged a meat line from Rabi without a bite but once around the reef and timed perfectly, we snagged a 12 lb mahi mahi. By the time we got it cleaned and in the refer, it was time to take down the sails before entering the pass to the approach to Also Island. Jim Bandy is the morning “Rag Net” net control. He monitors boats on passage from Samoa in the east to Australia in the west and from the Marshalls Islands in the north to New 
Zealand in the south. He gives extensive weather reports and assists cruisers in any way he can. We first met Jim and his wife Kioko on their Passport 42 ALSO II, in the Sea of Cortez back in 2000. They crossed the Pacific in 2001 and got this far. They met the villagers and helped them by actually purchasing and putting in a new motor in the village boat. Jim & Kioko were “given” an island as a “vinaka (thank you)” . Kioko said this is where she wants to spend the rest of her life and so they have developed ALSO ISLAND. Jim has a boat building-repair business in which he has locals working for him. He teaches them how to build boats and repair motors. They also have a few guest houses on the property, an extensive garden, hiking trails, a coconut oil “factory”, a small general store , are collecting and selling honey, and hold open house each afternoon at 4 p.m. when tea is served and lively conversation abounds. 
We had arranged with Jim back in April to come to Also Island and use his facilities while we varnished the interior of HAWKEYE. It turned out to be a great place to do this. We moved everything from the main saloon to the forepeak and aft cabin, removed all pieces of wood we could which we took to shore and Linda sanded and varnished there while John worked on the sanding and varnishing of all parts that could not be removed. We stayed in one of their rooms and had our meals there also. It worked out very well.
Over a period of five days, we completed the job and put
HAWKEYE back together. She now looks much better down below. That old saying is true, “Cruising is working on your boat in exotic places.”On Sunday, Linda and Kioko went to the village to attend church. We wore the proper attire of a dress covering the shoulders and knees and went by boat. Upon arriving to the bay where the village is, we discovered that the tide was going out and we had to walk in mud ankle deep to get to shore. Once there, we were able to wash out feet in fresh water and put on our sandals. Kioko is known by all in the village and we visited several families in their homes. We sat on mats on the floor with children running around shouting “Palanges!”. They all wanted their pictures taken and Linda obliged. When shown the picture in the camera, they would all point at each other and giggle.
The Methodist church service was in Fijian, but the a capella singing was so beautiful it didn’t matter what language. Beautiful floral arrangements supplied by the villagers adorned the pulpit. After the service, those we had not visited, stood outside the church and introduced themselves with handshakes and beautiful smiles.We were invited for lunch to one of the homes and sat on a large mat on the floor. A bowl is passed to wash your hands and a towel. It was a typical Fijian meal of taro, bele in coconut milk (like a strong spinach), cabbage and juice made from “lemons” a very tart orange centered
fruit. The only utensil was a large spoon as they eat mostly with their fingers. No home has screens so flies are everywhere and makes it difficult to eat. All in all, it was a wonderful experience with these oh so friendly people.While waiting for the trades to settle down and so we are now working our way along the north coast of Vanua Levu another boat showed up. BARBARA ANN, with a family of 4, are from Miami, FL. We ended up buddy boating with them for the next few weeks. After leaving Also Island, we had a wonderful sail in and out of the reefs enjoying incredible scenery. One night we anchored off Vorovoro Island which is where the Adventure Vacation facility of “Tribe Wanted” is located. It seems to be a successful operation at this time with plans to expand their “village” where people come to live the working life of a Fijian for a few weeks. After a tour of the village, we raised our anchor and sailed 5 miles and anchored off a lumber mill. We were able to get a truck to Labasa with our
buddy boat, BARBARA ANN, and had lunch and did some much needed grocery shopping after being away from any stores for over a month. We decided to stay the night at that anchorage and BARBARA ANN sailed another 8 miles to the next anchorage where we joined them the next morning. We visited the beautiful resort of Palmlea Farms and had lunch and dinner there while visiting with the owners. They are raising some special goats for the meat and also have 4 guest bures. The next day we sailed down to yet another anchorage where we visited another resort on the island of Nukubati. Yet another upscale resort.
The reinforced trades held. We moved on to other anchorages bobbing and weaving through the reefs which at times were quite scary as there is a problem with our Max Sea on both computers. The system keeps crashing and John has spent hours working on it with help from other cruisers over the ham radio. As of yet, he has not found the problem and so traveling is quite stressful as there are so many reefs. We hope to get into Savusavu safely over the next few days and see if we can get the problem fixed. This will greatly affect our traveling further at this time.
A tip for cruisers or to be cruisers. We don’t have a freezer. Linda’s daughter made a real find for us this summer. She found a brand new food saver at a garage sale for $5 and picked it up for us. We can now vacuum pack meat and it will keep in the bottom of our 1.5 cubic foot refer for 3 weeks or more. Now all our spare parts are vacuum packaged, including our spare GPS, which makes them waterproof.
We have loved our stay in Fiji and would love to stay longer but our visa runs out during cyclone season so we must leave soon and head north to the Marshall Islands which are north of the equator and out of the cyclone area. Another adventure awaits!
Vinaka vaca levu, John & Linda
