Since the last entry, the electrician and mechanic have been back aboard twice, but we think we can finally say with a fair amount of confidence that the generator is fixed! Hooray! We will be giving it and the new autopilot a good test run when we leave tomorrow morning for Robinson Crusoe Island on the south side of Viti Levu. We were hoping to leave this morning, but it is rainy and gray - not the right conditions for navigating around reefs! A boat just recently "grounded" on the barrier reef right outside the island, and another one "bounced off" a big coral head just inside the reef. We're not taking any chances!

Last night as we were celebrating Jenny's successful "full body" overhaul and George's new heart, we started listing all the other challenges we've dealt with since arriving in Fiji - here's our list... "popped" dinghy replaced by Little Dot (from Elusive), "flopping" chain stripper on the windless was reinforced with a metal backing plate, the pump head on the water maker was replaced with a new one sent from the US, the 12 volt refrigeration system had two leaks soldered and was re-gassed, a switch in the 110 freezer system was adjusted to run more efficiently, a spring-loaded hinge that holds up the dining table was re-welded, and Glen stripped and re-varnished the deteriorated finish on the table top. There are a few more replacements we need to find... a wind vane (for the one that blew off the top of the mast during the crossing), a new Fijian flag (ours blew away in 40+k of wind while at anchor in Musket Cove), and a stainless steel drain for the bottom of the kitchen sink (they use a different size here!). Luckily, none of these are critical and we can easily make do without them.

So, other than "projects," what else have we been up to? Well, yesterday we went to a place called The Garden of the Sleeping Giant. It is a beautiful botanical garden tucked beneath the foothills of the Sabeto mountain range and it specializes in orchids. Raymond Burr, of Perry Mason fame, founded the garden back in 1977 to house his own orchid collection. It now displays over 2,000 varieties! We went with friends from Morning Light, Jaime and Christine, in Abdul's taxi. The grounds are so lush and it was wonderful strolling past orchids, water lilies, and tons of other tropical vegetation. I'm always amazed to see plants that we might have difficulties keeping alive as house plants back home, thrive in the ground. Of course I took way too many pictures and will try to limit my choices when adding to the gallery! Isn't the tree in this picture really neat? We're not sure what type it is, but when you knock on the bumps, it sounds like a drum! (Cute outfit ! Thanks again Gladys!)

Something we've had to do far too often lately is to say goodbye to members of our cruising family. Most of the other boats are either leaving to continue on to Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Australia or have left their boats in Fiji for the upcoming summer season and flown home. It's amazing how quickly you become close to people out here when you basically rely on each other for everything. Many tears have been spilled in the last couple of weeks saying farewell to Bold Spirit, Destiny, Charisma, Baraka, Airwego, and Warm Rain. When we leave tomorrow, we will also have to say good-bye to Morning Light, Kind of Blue, Tin Soldier, Nukualofa, and quite a few others. When we leave Fiji at the end of this month, we officially start our trip home and will be heading out alone. Niuatoputapu (northern Tonga), Samoa, American Samoa, Christmas and Fanning (in the Line Islands), and then Hawaii are our planned destinations for now, but it will all be dependent on weather and wind direction.

A couple of weeks ago, I went on another "girl's day" trip to Nadi. We had heard about an Australian butcher shop that has wonderful meat and we just had to go check it out. Of course, all the other little stores in town were calling our names, too!My shopping goal of the day, other than a couple of steaks and maybe some lunch meat (very hard to find out here!), was a new pair of flip flops for Glen - his last pair went the way of Jimmy Buffet's! Barb had the same agenda and after looking at many options, Glen and Frank ended up with matching pairs (I'm only mentioning it here to continue the teasing about how cute it is they have matching shoes!). After a wonderful lunch and some craft market shopping, we went to visit the Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple right at the end of the bustling Main St. It is a Hindu temple that worships Lord Murugan. He is the guardian deity of seasonal rains and we were told that worshiping him is equivalent to the worship of nature. The colorful temple is decorated with carved wooden deities from India. I'll add pictures of it to the gallery. It was interesting to check out, but unfortunately we were not allowed to enter because we had not kept a vegetarian diet that day! Guess heading to the butcher shop right after that might have seemed rude, but we did it anyhow and found the best looking meat we've seen in quite some time. Can you say "Moo?!!" The rumors of sandwich meats were true as well, and I loaded us up with sliced ham, salami and both roast and corned beef - Yum! After this trip, we'll never take Oscar Meyer for granted again. We also visited the Nadi vegetable market and I bought our first fresh black eyed peas. I felt a little like "Aunt Bea" sitting around shelling them, but boy did they turn out yummy. It was so nice trying something new.

Let's see, have we been up to anything else? Hmmm. Oh yeah, Glen has been playing sax every Sunday afternoon with a group from Suva at the yacht club here at Vuda. The singers in the group are incredible and, as always, Glen adds such a great sound. If he tries to show up without his sax, they make him go back and get it. We also had a fun music/karaoke night on board The Dorothy Marie. Anita (Kind of Blue) brought her accordion and a New Zealander named Neil brought his Irish tenor voice. With Glen added on sax, they were excellent! When it got too dark for Anita to see her music, we turned on the karaoke machine and everyone sang their hearts out. At one point, we had 19 people on board! It was a very fun night. (And Marcus, Glen says you're on - he can't wait to jam with you in Encinitas!)

Some updates and answers to questions that have be asked recently... Our old buddy boating friends from Orca III are now back home in Canada - it took them 21 days from Hawaii. Malachi was with them for this crossing and both boats had a fairly easy time of it. Steve and Wendy from Elusive are doing well "on land" traveling. Steve is coming back to Fiji to help Jim on Blue Plains Drifter make the crossing to Australia. They were so grateful for everyone's thoughts and prayers. We're so happy to hear a friend from home, Mike Moreno (Marcy's husband), made it through a five way by-pass surgery after a heart attack - we're still sending positive vibes your way Mike and Marcy! Glen hasn't done much surfing while on the islands because anyplace with good wave action breaks right on coral reefs - not good for an 'ol long boarder (he bleeds enough just from daily life!)! He did have a great time surfing along with the outriggers in the Marquesas, however. Marie Michelle - what a lovely name as well! "The Dorothy Marie" was named after Glen's spunky mother who loved the ocean and who has been traveling with us as our guardian angel! She lived to be 93, but wanted to see even more of the world. We're sure she now has! Thanks for all the wonderful comments and questions lately. We sure love to keep hearing from you guys back home! :)