11/07/2009
Sat. 7th Nov Opua, Bay of Islands, New Zealand
The morning before we left was a busy one, Ian finally got the generator going with the part we'd had to get shipped from NZ, which arrived the day before. But at least there's now going to be hot water available on passage, and a lot of the other cruisers are telling us we'll need it after we cross the Tropic of Capricorn. After a detour for one final surf check at the infamous CloudBreak, we enter Namotu Passage with a fleet of about 15 yachts and soon found ourselves close reaching into 25+ knots of breeze. It was rough, and fast and wet, but we had left our sea legs back in Fiji, so for the next 2 days we felt like crapp, and didn't eat much. There were normally lights from other yachts visible on the night shifts, and the full moon helped too but on one occasion we were surprised to pass a large catamaran with no sails up, no sign of anyone on board, and no response on the VHF when we tried calling them. A few hours later, Ian notices the same catamaran on our stern with full sails up, so we spent the whole night sailing hard, making sure we stayed in front, the race was on! Seas were uncomfortable and the starboard tramp even blew out, so it made walking up the bow a bit precarious, when a wave hit.
Day 3 had the wind dropping away to nothing so motors were turned on, with an odd hour of gusts here or there but this didn't stop for near 3 days. We still had the main up for the Mon and Tues, but on Wed. evening Ida had heard a 'twang, thud' on deck, Ian then heard the same noise early next morning, so after scouring the rig and decks, we realize 3 batons had punched out the baton tension bolts, therefore we drop the main to fix the prob and keep motoring in unusually light variable winds. Thankfully the winds were so light that an albatross just circled and sat in the water beside Ishka as we motored along at 6 kts putting 'temporary' tension holders in the main sail. We came to the conclusion the whole falafel was worth it being able to see this magnificent bird. [and he was delicious!!!]
On Friday we get a Southerly change....30+ knt on the nose, when you want wind it comes from the wrong direction, but we're still up with the front 6 yachts so let's just hope the wind is veering West enough for Ishka to get into her momentum of 8 knts. Nope....its a Sth Easterly change at 10am Friday morn....bugger because now we know its not going to be a NZ arrival until early Sat morning. Whatever....'On..On' as our good 'Hash House Harrier' mates would say, and by 3pm we see New Zealand, with 36NM to go before the Nine Pins mark, we have a celebratory G&T knowing then its just a couple of hours after that before we're berthed by the Land of the Long White Cloud. [Check out the photo, because it really is true!]. As we approach sunset with earl grey tea in hand because the G&T's are finished, a pod of dolphins welcome us, getting us more and more excited for the final landing.
Of course it has turned much colder, so now we are happily salvaging from the stores, socks, leggings, long-johns, vests, wooly jumpers, turtle necks [!!!], that haven't been worn for however long its taken the moulds to attach themselves to these items of clothing, and we may smell like camphor but we are warm, cozy and happy to be presently tied up to the Q wharf in Opua Marina, New Zealand. It's now 02.50 am, Sat. 7th Nov and we have already had a few welcome drinks with 'Splash Tango' and 'Innovation', but Customs are coming tomorrow morning early, so....good night.
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10/29/2009
Fri. 30th Oct Musket Cove, Fiji
Back in French Polynesia we gave a lift to a young Irish Guy called Brian, who had hitched a ride across the Pacific on a lovely old timber boat named 'Inherit the Wind'. After spending 62 days at sea with no motor and a leaking hull, Brian thought it would be wise to change horses so to speak for the rest of his journey. Well it was a good decision as we heard 'Inherit the Wind' sank off Rangiroa in the Southern Cook Islands a couple of weeks ago! And Sylvain, the very nice French/Canadian owner, spent 3 days drifting in his little dinghy with his Jack Russell by his side before being thankfully being rescued by Cook Island authorities. Glad you're safe Sylvain.
A few times on our walks along the beach here we've noticed a pile of logs strapped together in the shape of a raft, well it turns out they're not logs, they are carefully crafted bits of steel and fibre glass, and the raft was actually the one used by Tom Hanks in the movie 'Castaway', which was filmed around here. We searched hard but unfortunately didn't find 'Wilson'.
The weeks fly by lately as we luxuriate in "Island mode" but we soon start scratching at our itchy feet. New Zealand will be our new frontier and the call of the wild is getting stronger, we have spent our time fixing the generator and going for long walks, fixing the generator some more and going surfing, golfing, fixing the generator again and........well there are dinner party's, sand bar party's, Island bar party's and sometimes we just hang out on Ishka and have a private party. Mix that up with boat maintenance and preparation for the trip south and all of a sudden the time to leave is upon us. We are fuelled up, stocked up, scrubbed clean above and below the water, so today we clear customs and will be joining a few other cruisers from the departing to NZ fleet for a 'Farewell to Fiji' party. What a great country, we look forward to visiting again. We'll blog you from New Zealand.
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10/16/2009
Fri 16th Oct Port Denarau,
We didn't get to visit the old lady and the spitfire wreck next day as there had been another earthquake off Vanautu and Fiji had another tsunamis warning in place the next morning, so we upped our anchor and headed out of Narewa Bay in the Yasawas, for deeper water. Thankfully we didn't experience any consequences from the earthquake and we later heard it was a lot less devastating than the Samoan one. We continued down to the Octopus resort in LikuLiku Bay, Waya Island and anchored for the night. A strong SE howled all through the night getting up to 40-45 knots at times and when we woke at 6am realized we'd dragged our anchor about 50 metres, stopping because it got caught on a bit of reef. Oh we lost a couple of cushions too but that's nothing, thank goodness this wasn't a crowded anchorage [there was 1 other yacht] otherwise the shit would really have hit the 'sand'! So with tea in hand we leave by 7am and head back to Musket Cove, arriving early arvo.
We had a few items to stock up on, and also on a bigger note, had a starter motor from the generator to get fixed so decided to sail over to Port Denarau on the mainland for a change of scenery. This place is made for the cruise ships that visit, with lots of top end boutiques, plenty of bars/restaurants and Fijian musicians playing their repertoires on the beautifully landscaped coves and streets. As this is too top end for us, once Ian gets his starter motor rebuilt by a few of the local engineers, we grab a cab to Nadi town. Nadi is also aimed at the tourist industry due to the nearby international airport, but it is a lot more 'real', unkempt and affordable! A place you can shop and get fresh 'unpolished' tomatoes, not so 'fake orange' carrots, bunches of organic coriander from the market, unpackaged, hot, whole meal bread from the bakery, cheap DVDs from Mr Anonomous, and experience a bubbling, busy, smokey Indian/Fijian atmosphere.
We've got all we need here so we're sailing back to MC, Malolo Lailai, its late Fri arvo and should have a great sunset cruise. Got to go and get the head sail out............
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10/11/2009
Sun. 11th Oct. Yasawa Islands, Fiji
We did leave Vuda Point on the Wednesday, not before hearing about the earthquake and subsequent tsunami which had happened off Samoa that morning. Warnings went out to all Pacific Islands around this area including Vanuatu, Tonga and here in Fiji. We thankfully felt no consequences but many of our cruising friends are scattered around these islands and everyone was sending e-mails and texts just to let each other know they were safe. We have since heard of the disaster that there were many fatalities and lots of destruction, especially around Samoa and Northern Tonga. Our hearts go out to all those families who have lost dear ones, and to the cruisers in Pago Pago, namely Joan from the sailing vessel 'Mainly', who lost her husband Dan. We are so sorry and you all have our sympathies.
Since this Samoan earthquake and tsunami, there have been a few more in this part of the world. So we are forever vigilant, checking weather and listening to SSB or VHF reports daily, and will follow the best plan to sail towards deep water if another sub-earthquake happens. The cruiser 'grape-vine' is on high alert.
We have spent the past week or so sailing up around the Mamanuca and Yasawa Groups of Islands, which lie about 20-70 miles W & NW of Lautoka. Many of Fiji's resorts are on the Mamanuaca Group with the Yasawa Group being a lot more remote, having many traditional Fijian villages and they really are untouched jewels. There wasn't much wind to get some good sailing in, but as these waters are dotted with lots of shallow reefs, we generally choose to do our traveling between 10am and 2pm, so that we have clearer view of the reefs as the sun is above us. This provides a very leisurely style of cruising as we skipped from island to island. Highlights were...............
......Ian finds a cracking little left hander reef break, which he gets to surf alone for 3 days. [After the 'bloody' Huahine experience in French Polynesia, Ida is waiting to get more surf-savy before she tries her hand at reef breaks again.]
......Visiting the village of Somosomo, being presented to the Chief, and going through the sevusevu ceremony, which involves giving him some Kava roots for permission to visit his island, then he blesses and chants his gratefulness at the gift and grants us our welcome as we sit on his bare lounge room floor clapping our hands and saying 'vinaka' [thank-you]. Then we tell Tina, the lady who has brought us to the Chief, that we have a lot of books, pencils, paints, etc for the local primary school. But she tells us it is a 2 hour walk away, on the other side of the island, however there is a pre-school here and we can go there instead. She takes us to a small little shed where about 20 beautiful young kids sing us welcome songs, hold our hands [after we've taken them from our ears as these kids can sing at seriously high decibels], and ask us questions like "where you from", "where's your boat", "why's your hair yellow" and " why don't you have hair" .....A beautiful experience and as we walk back to the dinghy, thanking everyone for their welcome, Ida lets Ian know she wants to adopt all of the kids! Ian quickly gets the dinghy, says "goodbye, 'vinaka' and Ida, get in."
......We anchored of Drawaqa Island for a couple of days, because there are meant to be so many manta rays here at every high tide, and swimming with them is magnificent. Unfortunately the days we anchored, there weren't any rays but lots of other fish life, and superb coral to snorkel, so something ventured, something gained.....again.
......After getting permission from the chief to explore Naviti, we finally find the track which a cruising friend has told us about, across to 'an old 100 year old Fijian lady's house', where apparently there is a WW2 spitfire wreck to snorkel. So we trudge through the vines, pampas grass, thorns and come to some well manicured tapioca patches with other plants we have never seen! We have some pasta, corned beef, tinned tomatoes and fresh garlic for the old lady but unfortunately, she isn't home, and no one is. We walk through the small dwellings to the beach at the other side and Ida runs to greet a big man with a machete! Sonny is his name, but he doesn't speak much, let alone, English: so he thinks we are lost, therefore tells us in a powerful machete sort of way to follow him. In many ways it felt like we were hastily being escorted from the premises, but knowing Fijian people this would not have been the case, it was a mere miscommunication. Also the giant smile with his one tooth as he thanks us for the can of corned beef we'd given him, reassured us of his kindly intentions and that that was enough trekking for today, so we'll maybe visit the 'old lady' and the spitfire tomorrow.
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09/28/2009
Mon. 28th Sept. Suva, Fiji
Yesterday early we got in the car, keen to hit the highway and head to Suva. Ian was a little too keen actually because a few miles down the road a strange man came running out of the bushes, waving us down. Our first thought is 'what the hell does he want' and then we see his police car tucked out of sight.
Ian protests "How can 91 kph on the highway be speeding?" but the big smiley Fijian police officer just says "License please" and "come with me sir".
The speed limit is actually 80 kph so Ian hands over $50 FJD to the other smiley officer and since they don't have a receipt or copy of the ticket, they promise to settle his fine when they get back to the station. They also warn us there are a few other cops hiding up the road, so we stick to the limit for the next couple of hours, before arriving at the Royal Suva Yacht Club for some lunch. The RSYC is a relic from an era that no longer exists here, Fijis colonial past. A place on the waterfront where expats would have sat, swilling pink gin, complaining of the heat and be-moaning to themselves that the locals are so 'Un-English'. In 1970, Fiji gained independence and was declared a republic. We settled in for a nice lunch on the lawn and then took a drive along the waterfront. The mansions of the elite seem well fortified and the once magnificent Grand Hotel now sits crumbling and derelict, occupied only by the army. It's getting on in the afternoon so we drive back to our room at the Novotel, which is the first night we've had away from Ishka in nearly 14 months. We were upgraded to the newly renovated wing, and the room has a great view looking out over Snake Island in Lami Bay, so after a superb dinner and tired from the drive, we fall asleep after checking all the doors are locked, even though the hotel is surrounded by water and there is 24 hour security, you can never be too complacent. At 2.30 am we are awoken by a shout from the room next door. The man wakes to find a stranger standing beside his bed taking his wallet, he hadn't locked the verandah door! There were more shouts as the burglar flees, the poor victim rings security and staff run down the corridor to the room beside ours! This falafel goes on for a few hours as police are called, statements are taken and the grounds outside our two rooms are searched by men with torches and big sticks [the local weapon of choice!], the whole time we lie nervously in bed thinking the thief must have tried our door first, but it was locked, thank God!!!
This morning with tired eyes we check out of Novotel Lami and drive back into Suva centre, to experience a busy Monday morning and get some breakfast. Where can we park the hire car that's safe........no worries we find an empty short term car park in the city centre with an 'absent' attendant to guard our belongings while we explore downtown Suva. If you have bright blonde hair, are reasonably pale skinned, are wearing crocs and have 'tourist' written all over you, be careful of the hawkers when you start walking the streets. They come from all sides and appear to be the friendliest 'big' men, following you everywhere, wanting to give you hand crafted gifts for coming to their country, but they are after your cash! $70 FJD later we finally get rid of 'Eric' and look for somewhere that does a breakfast other than rice, fish or chips, so after walking for an hour past closed Indian takeaways and more soggy, deep-fried fish joints, we go to McDonalds.
The surf is meant to be good on this South Coast, with many waves happening around the river mouths and outer reefs, so as the boards are on the roof racks, we call into a few surf camps we'd heard about. Waidroka is a more expensive resort which sits remotely overlooking Taunovo Bay, giving guests a chance to pay big bucks for surf trips out to world class waves such as Frigates and Pipe. It's not for us, we just wanted to check out the set up, experience the views and see what the rooms were like for that much money. We drive on to the next camp at Sigatoka, and it's difficult to find with no signage anywhere, but after asking a few locals, we drive down the long dirt road to Masa Camp. A vacant [we think], badly run down 'house', guarded by a shy, mangy, ringworm ridden dog, and surrounded by sand dunes, this appears to be at the other end of the scale. We park the car, try not to pet the dog and walk up the dunes to check out the waves, and if the wind was right, which isn't today unfortunately, it would be an ideal spot for good a beach break. Walking back, loving the view and the wild horses, we meet the camp owners/squatters, who appear like two nice lads that live life to surf and don't care about normal routines such as washing and hair cutting. It takes Ian back to the good old days in Victoria, when he didn't wash so much and had hair!
We get back to Vuda Point early this evening and decide to leave the marina on Wednesday, after filling up with gas, fuel and supplies from Lautoka tomorrow. We'll head up to the Yasawa Group of Islands, which are NW of Vita Levu, with our little bags of accoutrements in order to trade for some fresh fruit & veg with the locals. Doubt there is going to be any internet so until we blog again......
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09/26/2009
Sat. 26th Sept. Vuda Point Marina
Most of our cruising mates have now gone after spending final days watching important rugby games, having 'farewell' meals on various vessels, helping with hauling and been given unneeded kava roots, corned beef and immaterial Western accoutrements like pencil sharpeners, nail varnish or colouring books, for our trip up to less populated Fijian Islands, where the chiefs expect these sort of presents in return for being allowed to cruise their islands. Its been great meeting and getting to know you Blaze 2, Blues, Calysta, Drimia, Equinox, Hilde, Mikado, Nemesis, Newtsville, Orono 1, Silk Sheets, Taku Tori, T-Rex and last but by no means least because its alphabetical.....White Hawk. Have safe trips for your future passages and we look forward to catching up with any of you again, someplace, sometime, soon.
We have been here in Vuda Point getting quotes, and planning some stainless and vinyl work. All the staff here are real friendly but because the marina is a little cut off from Lautoka town, the taxi drivers Abdul 1 & Abdul 2 are the main men to organize anything, with contacts and business cards for any yacht's needs, so we ring a few of these 'friends/associates/family' businesses to do our work. Its Saturday afternoon, 12 days later, and we're sitting on Ishka, pissed off with Fijian trades people because they haven't turned up, or they tried to electrocute us by leaving our switch panel live for a few days before returning to cut another wire ['Rama' was his name and we'd like to rama screwdriver up his........!], or they have arrived with unpolished bits of steel a 4 year old could have cut better; another term to summarize the time here is 'frustrating', so we've cancelled all jobs, and will get them done with a more 'professional' guarantee in NZ. The decision to forgo any work being done here is a big weight off our shoulders, now we can look forward to exploring more of Fiji with less stress and more money. We have decided to hire a car tomorrow for a couple of days and drive to the capital, Suva, check out some inland Fiji and hopefully get to surf. It's also the AFL Grand Final this evening, so we will join a few new cruising mates at the bar later to watch the game. We're living on a cat from Geelong, but hopefully the Saints win because our good mates the Prestos in Melbourne, deserve it.
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