We spent a few days in Matagi trying to escape the fury of the wind god and also because we needed to be closer to Taveuni where the small airport is located. We didn't escape as the wind blew from everywherre and Mauliola, being so light and sprighty, danced around the anchor in a fast spin. We deployed our special sea anchor, designed for us by our friend Bob Evans, a super smart and competent guy in New Zealand, and Mauliola thus restrained, came to a much slower dance. We picked up our friend Sue at the airport and after a quick trip to the small village of Somosomo to restock our basked of fruit we sailed to Albert Cove in Rabi. There we stayed 4 exciting days, snrokeling in the pristine reef. The wind continued to blow while we were there but at least the anchorage was comfortable. There were other 3 boats at the bay, one of them Whistler, we had met a few tiimes before, owned by a fun Canadian couple, who told us about a trail we could hike to see the other side of the bay. Sue and I went ashore and met Maria and her husband Joseph. They live part time in a small hut on the beach. They were going to take the trail to the other side to go fishing with a net and told us that we could go witth them. We accepeted the invitation and I am glad we did as they gave us a guided tour. Maria pointed the fruit trees like sour sup, cacau, bread fruit, papayas and Joseph showed us the vines that are full of water that can be taken if one is thirsty. He also showed us the vines that kills the trees by hugging them tight. Maria had a badly infected cut in her leg, which was much better by then thanks to some medication given to her by one of the cruisers. There is no way for them to get any help except from the occasional cruiser that stops by or if they go in their small canoe to the village which is at least 2 hours away, if the weather condition allows the trip to be taken. They asked me to take a photo of them which I did and printed it. We also took some clothes and food for them. Joseph has a guitar and he played a lovely song as Maria sung along with him. We left yesterday morning, with the wind still blowing hard, 25 to 30kts. We put 2 reefs on the main sail to bring Mauliola to second gear. The seas were pretty flat, to our suprise and delight and a few hours later we were in Taveuni. We had a great dinner at a small restaurant called Tramonto, owned by a Fijian family. Neta is a beautiful, tall Fijian who cooks and runs the restaurant. She has been a great souce of information and shares local knowledge with us. We wanted to stay longer but the anchorage is too bouncy. We sailed down to the south tip of Taveuni and are now in a nice and callm anchorage. I will write more later. Time to get some sleep. Aloha to all.