Well, western Fiji has been a different set of sunshine for us.

Musket Cove which is a resort/marina complex. It is also where the Moorings used to have a charter boat base, but no more. Musket cove reminds me of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean or Georgetown, Exumas, in the Bahamas. Lots of boats from where cruisers venture out from yet return for the conveniences. Lots of drinking and barbeques on shore. At Musket Cove there are more cruising boats than we have seen in all the previous months of cruising eastern Fiji combined. Here we caught up with friends we last saw in Pago Pago and who suffered through the tsunami. We also caught up with friends we last saw in New Zealand.

At Musket Cove a yacht can have repair items sent from the U.S.. and so we made the detour for our spare GPS before heading across the short span of water to the city of Lautoka.

In Lautuka, we did the paperwork formalities at the customs office, and then explored town. The people were all nice, but we seemed to bump in to more unsavory people here than in Suva, or in all of Fiji combined. Unsavory people like the guy kindly asking to give us some bills for a fifty we might have "Well, how about a twenty?" "Pal, I only have a two dollar bill." (yes most countries have two dollar bills) That is a quick change money scam where you walk away with a bunch of small bills totaling $20 and he runs off with your $50.

We found nice vegetables and fruits at the market, cheap internet, and everything else we needed in pretty short order and were ready to leave there too, in just a couple of days. We set sail not really knowing where our next destination was we just went to where the wind blew us which was back to Musket Cove. We had another 24 hours there - I didn't even go ashore but Patrick did. He got up before sunup to spend an hour hiking the hilly island. Cruising is not strenuous and he felt the need to work out a bit to help stay in shape for snorkeling and chasing fish and lobsters. We then invited Aaron from "Wayward Wind" over for breakfast. We first met Aaron in the Marquesas and last saw him in Auckland, NZ. After breakfast we sailed out the harbor.

After an anchorage on the northwest side of Musket Cove island, and a bumpy night in Mana, we eventually wound up at the island of Monuriki