Wandering in Fiji
25 August 2015 | Viti Levu Bay
Ange
We headed off from Savu Savu last Tuesday & made our way around to Viani Bay & the Dakuniba Pass on the far eastern side of Vanua Levu. We popped across to Taveuni for a day & walked the lovely Tavoro water falls (sore legs the next day!) & bought some lovely fresh produce at Nagara. Taveuni is definitely Fiji's Garden Islands – very beautiful & lush and great fruit & vegetables. We visited a small village near Dakuniba Pass to ask permission to anchor & present the village chief with a gift of waka (kava root). Unfortunately he was away in another village & we did not get to attend a sevusevu with him. Maybe next time.
We then headed south to Koro Island where we picked up a mooring ball in Dere Bay for the night. It was very quiet here & not much to do. We did go ashore to pay for our mooring at the resort (which had only 3 rooms). We stopped for a beer on their balcony but were attacked by so many mossies we headed back to the boat.
Our sailing continued yesterday to the island of Ovalau. We had a good wildlife day, seeing a couple of pods of pilot whales & a lovely big manta ray jumping up above the waves. The main town Levuka, formerly the capital of Fiji, was listed as the country's first World Heritage Site in 2013 as a “rare & outstanding example of later 19th century Pacific port settlements.” We thought it would be OK to check out. We anchored in the harbour just on sunset & were immediately assaulted by an extremely unpleasant & strong fish smell. We are guessing there is a cannery here behind the commercial wharf. We spent the night with the hatches closed! We took the tender to shore this morning to have a look around & try & get some medication for Steve's chest & sinus problem – which is still causing him grief. The town itself was pretty disappointing – we were expecting some lovely old 1800s buildings in a village full of character & history. Most of the buildings were in disrepair & boarded up as they were no longer were used, the streets were filthy & in general the town was pretty depressing & in need of a huge cash injection. We did find a small shop to get some medication & then we were back on PANNIKIN & heading north to the large island of Viti Levu. We didn't quite make the top of the island & have anchored for the night in a large bay called Viti Levu Bay. It isn't marked on our charts as an anchorage, but it is keeping us well out of the wind & swell & we've waved & said G'Day to a couple of families & fisherman as they head home for the night.