The news you find out here
28 November 2011 | Vuda Point Marina
Raining
While out cruising, you don't get much news so you tend to listen and read what you can once you get shore(at least I do). We heard yesterday on the radio that Fiji is out of passports for the rest of the year and won't have any till the first quarter of next year. Now you can still get an "Emergency" passport but you pay through the nose for that(just like the US). But alas, no regular passports are now available. Not sure what they plan on doing about it but it should be interesting to follow the outcome. Can't imagine how you run out of passports.
I found the following article in the Fiji Times newspaper from last Saturday:
COW URINE DRINK WILL BE CREATED
NEW DELHI: A company in India is working in a soft drink made from cow urine.
The Cow Protection Department of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS)is hoping to create the beverage-which is known as "gau-jal", which means "cow water"-by the end of the year. Despite concerns about the drink, Om Prakash-the head of the department in charge of the beverage-insists it will be tasty.
The RSS have claims cow urine can be used to treat a number of ailments such as cancer and liver disease.
With a great deal of Fiji having originally come from India(where the cow is sacred), I can understand why this story might be of interest to the locals. Unfortunately, it may be a hoax started by another company as an April Fools Joke last year though I have found it listed all over Google as a real product. To each their own I guess but I can't imagine it ever replacing Coke or Pepsi as the drink of choice.
We're just about set to leave Vuda Point for Musket Cove out at Malolo Island for a few days to just get away. I know, get away from what? Being in the same place day after day, seeing the same thing day after day gets old so it's time to explore more of Fiji. We hoped the bus into Lautoka yesterday to get clearance papers to leave the main island of Fiji. We have to check out of Lautoka in order to cruise out to another island even if it is for only one day. If you plan on sailing around the south side of Fiji heading for Suva(the capital) you need the same documents. When you return, you have to go back to Lautoka and check back in all over again. You have never left the country but the "feds" want to know where you are(foreigners)at all time. Military coups will cause that. So we are all checked out and will be taking down the tarps later this afternoon(between rain storms) so we will be all set to go. It's all of 14 miles to the island but it will be fun to get out exploring again even if it's for just 4 or 5 days. By US standards, it like having to get a permit from the US Gevernment to leave Denver and go to Colorado Springs and having to check back in with them upon your return. I don't think that would sit well with the US people. Out here, it's just another hoop to have to jump through.
The picture for todays post is of the burial field for boats in storage for the cyclone season. Each was lifted out of the water and then had it's hull pressure washed and then slowly lowered into a pit having it's hull supported by tires along each side with the base of the keel no longer supporting the rest of the boat. It's the safest way to go through the cyclone season Not much will affect your boat. It sure as heck can't fall over.