Somosomo

Religion was as strong here as in Tonga. Probably just as well because we would have been in the pot if they had remained cannibals. Fandango Salad (see earlier blog) would have a frightening new recipe. Not good for much needed tourism.

First stop after Savusavu was Coconut point for lunch then murky Bua Bay for the night. Fiji was infested with coral and we had our first (and hopefully last) contact here, resulting in a scrape on the keel. Nothing serious as we had been proceeding slowly.

The next day we reached Cukuvou "Harbour" on Yadua Island. A nice sandy beach but very windy. We were the first of the four boats there to leave and had an excellent run to the caves at Sawa-i-Lau. We visited the village and offered our first sevusevu from our stock of yaqona roots which are used for making kava. We returned with some specific medical and other presents.

The keeper of the caves did not tell us about the dive through, so ask if you go there. It was disappointing to find that few things are made in the village nowadays. Mostly Chinese junk jewellery offered at twice the price you can buy it in town.

The famous "Blue Lagoon" was our next bit of paradise. Another resort had been built but the green hut for a local family selling traditional food was still there. Blue Lagoon Cruises land nearby every week. It was still very enjoyable, but for how long?

Somosomo Bay had a good snorkelling spot that was our goal. We noticed two surf ski paddlers in the middle of the bay and left them to it until they started whistling. As we approached it appeared that they had been trying to stop one of the craft from sinking. Bernard hopped (well, not quite "hopped", if you know Bernard) into Thunderbird 1 (alias "Dingo" our tender) and the rescue was "go". A few minutes later the craft was hoisted aboard and a shy, shivering teenage girl with a bleeding toe was ushered into the cockpit. Her uncle then joined us but had damaged his hip. Some first aid, a few presents for their family and big grins all round as we motored back to their village.

We presented sevusevu and were surprised to find that this was one of those rare cases where the chief was a woman. Her husband in the next village had died so she returned to her village. Being a chief's daughter she became the chief and her entourage were female too. She was very elderly and more traditional, so the ceremony was done in Fijian and with more feeling than the younger chiefs can be bothered with.

The village was full of kids and women but few men. Had they eaten them? Why were they looking at big Bernard like that? No, they had left or were leaving for their monthly "secret men's business" on another part of the island. The women have one too, a bit like our aborigines.

We wandered around and the kids had fun with Bernard. Heather and I were taken by a few youngsters to see the pigs in bamboo pens. We also saw a large turtle shell being scraped for meat. No wonder the nearby reefs had only small fish and we never saw a turtle.

The usual, mostly Chinese made junk jewellery at crazy prices was offered. So sad.

We went away from the village to enjoy some really good snorkelling nearby. Afterwards, on our way south we stopped to look for manta rays. Only one was seen.

We found a superb spot just south of Waya Island. Good coral and fish life, all to our selves in this spot not marked on the chart as an anchorage. The next day we set off for Mana Island but the wind came up just as we were entering the slalom course channel to get into the lagoon. Realising that this anchorage would not be pleasant in these winds, we headed further south for Musket Cove with its variety of resorts. It rained heavily at times that night. The yachties' bar has been modernised a little but a do it yourself barbecue deal is still available. We caught up with others that we had met previously.

Over to try out newish Port Denauru. Nearly touched bottom on the way in and found the anchorage gave us about 200mm of clearance over the mud at low tide. PD has almost everything you could need including a F$3.00 bar (about AUD 1.80) for a cold mug of the local amber fluid. PD also had soot in the air from burning off the nearby sugar cane. This made a mess of Fandango's decks and will join bits of Monserrat (see earlier blog) to keep us busy cleaning whenever it rains. The curries have been excellent but Indian restaurants and shops are more likely to surcharge you for using a credit card.

Nadi is a short cab drive away and is still a hole, perhaps more so. Looking at labels in shops there and in PD, revealed that most of the clothing is now made in China or Thailand.

Party animal Bernard went off for a couple of nights on the town whilst Heather and I celebrated only a month to go before Fandango arrived in Airlie Beach.

Heather flew back to Oz and Di came over from MacKay. Joy was staying in the same hotel as Bernard and asked to come along for our second circuit around the local isles. He liked it so much he decided to stay on 'till Mackay.

Fandango left Port Denauru, revisited some spots and tried others. We caught an excellent Spanish mackerel and Bernard did wonders with curried fish. The weather was perfect but when we got back to Musket Cove it rained even more than on the first visit.