We have arrived at our most northern point yet - Qelelevu Lagoon. We'll try and describe
how unique the lagoon is. It is is even bigger than Minerva Reef - 7 nM from the pass to
the islands at the other end of the lagoon. We anchored well off the main island as the
water got very shallow offshore and dinghied in. We found the island was deserted. The
village has been abandoned not long ago as the government could no longer justify
manitaining the infrastructure. It meant we were able to collect lots of pawpaw, bananas,
and cassava from the overgrown gardens, but most importantly was able to collect some water
by climbing on top of one of the water tanks and dunking our container.

The islands have been declared a pest free bird sanctuary, however we were greeted by two
very friendly dogs that have been left behind by the villagers! They looked very well fed
and so we can only imagine they are eating birds and eggs. Despite their efforts we saw
some great bird life - including a red footed booby bird up very close - and lots of huge
black lizards. We tried to catch one as we thought a pet lizard might be quite good for
keeping Riada II bug-free :-)

We have done a little free diving in the crystalline lagoon near to our anchorage and the
fish are almost tame - more curious than we were.


Despite our stunning surrounds we won't be staying any longer as we don't have settled
weather and so the lagoon is a bit bumpy and not really comfortable to sit in at anchor
and so this afternoon we'll leave for Duff Reef and the Lau Group.

Until the next update, moce,
Carolyn and Dave